Flight Safety Information December 20, 2019 - No. 262 In This Issue Reality Intrudes On Boeing And The FAA FlyersRights Sues FAA For Refusal To Release Boeing 737 MAX Records Incident: Delta B764 near Buenos Aires on Dec 18th 2019, smoke in cabin Beechcraft B300 King Air 350 - Ground Collision (California) Audit: FAA needs to improve oversight to address maintenance issues at Allegiant Air Pilot in Amazon Cargo Plane Crash Repeatedly Flunked Flight Tests Contractors to help Air Force manage shortage of experienced pilots, technicians (Canada) FAA Issues Important Charter Guidance to Pilots and Passengers Global flight tracking progresses as IATA proposes distress repository Will 2020 Mark The End Of Emotional Support Animals On Airlines? American Airlines Donates The Last Of Its MD-80 Aircraft NASA'S $247.5 MILLION 'QUIET' SUPERSONIC PASSENGER JET TO LAUNCH FIRST FLIGHT IN 2021 Mitsubishi jet turns to Europe while awaiting US takeoff Boeing Starliner Spacecraft Launches on Historic 1st Mission to Space Station Laura Taber Barbour Aviation Scholarship Fund Position:...Corporate Safety Investigator Call for Papers - ISASI 2020 Reality Intrudes On Boeing And The FAA Boeing and its chief federal regulator continue to engage in magical thinking about the fiasco known as the 737 MAX - and reality continues to intrude. After months of insisting that its flawed best-seller would be tweaked and flying again by the end of this year, Boeing found itself weighing the cost of a review process that will extend into 2020. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Boeing planned to either cut back or suspend production of the MAX; after a two-day board meeting, the company announced it would temporarily stop making the MAX altogether in light of the ongoing regulatory review. Boeing has pledged to avoid layoffs, but roughly 12,000 workers will be reassigned in consequence of the production halt. There is still no date in sight for when regulators might approve the upgrades Boeing is making to the fleet to fix the flawed flight-control system known as MCAS, which led to the crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 that together killed 346 people. Even when American regulators eventually give their blessing, it will not be enough. Foreign aviation authorities no longer trust our safety review process and have promised to make their own assessments before they allow the 737 MAX to fly in their airspace once more. Some regulators, including the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, have said they will also take a more proactive role in evaluating forthcoming jets from Boeing. A House committee report issued earlier this month demonstrates how right those foreign regulators are to distrust the U.S. process. In November 2018, weeks after the crash of a Lion Air MAX jet in Indonesia killed 189 people, the Federal Aviation Administration concluded in an internal analysis that the jet could be expected to have an accident on average once every two to three years - far more often than is expected or acceptable in a modern commercial airliner. Yet the FAA talked itself (and allowed Boeing to help talk it) into allowing the MAX to continue flying with no more than a cautionary briefing for pilots. A few months later, an Ethiopian Airlines jet screamed full-speed into the ground, taking another 157 lives. Rep. Peter DeFazio, the Oregon Democrat who chairs the House Transportation Committee, aptly summed it up: "Despite its own calculations, the FAA rolled the dice on the safety of the traveling public and let the 737 MAX continue to fly." The FAA (then under Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell) only got around to grounding the MAX after foreign regulators acted and President Trump ordered it. Yet new FAA chief Steve Dickson insisted to DeFazio's committee that "The system is not broken." If this is a working system for protecting passengers and crew, what would a broken system look like? The MAX is no longer a safety threat to people in the air and on the ground, which is progress. Yet the aircraft promises to wreak commercial havoc far into 2020. Domestic and foreign airlines have had to scramble and re-scramble their schedules to accommodate planes they either have and can't fly, or expected to have but can't receive. Southwest Airlines, the largest operator of the MAX, is short at least 75 planes between grounded aircraft already in its fleet and unfilled orders it had expected to receive this year. Meanwhile, Boeing has set aside more than $6 billion to compensate its customers, while its own workforce and its suppliers shoulder much of the resulting economic burden. Even the U.S. trade deficit is worse off, as one of the nation's biggest exporters can't deliver its best-selling product. Bad as all this is, the long-term reputational damage to Boeing, and to U.S. aviation in general, may prove even worse. Yet Boeing and its regulators still seem to accept reality only when it forces itself upon them. It's dispiriting to watch for those of us who closely follow corporate and government policy. At the same time, it is a fascinating public experiment in human psychology and organizational behavior. The scale of the screw-ups was so great, and the consequences so terrible, that even after more than a year the top decision-makers seem unable to appreciate what their organizations have wrought. But those of us who are not caught up in their emotional drama can see this colossal failure and its results for exactly what they are. https://www.palisadeshudson.com/2019/12/reality-intrudes-on-boeing-and-the-faa/ Back to Top FlyersRights Sues FAA For Refusal To Release Boeing 737 MAX Records Supported by a Team of Aviation Professionals Arguing for Transparency and Independent Analysis Before Any Decision to Unground the MAX is Made WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FlyersRights.org, the largest airline passenger organization, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. (1:19-cv-03749-CKK) seeking release of the Boeing Corporation's proposed changes to the 737 MAX submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). FlyersRights.org previously submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the records on November 1st seeking expedited treatment, but the FAA failed to respond. Supporting the lawsuit are seven aviation experts who declared that they need the FAA to release technical details to them and other independent experts in order to be able to evaluate whether the 737 MAX is safe to fly. Paul Hudson, President of FlyersRights.org and member of the FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee since 1993, explained, "Trust in the FAA and Boeing has been shattered due to astounding revelations of misfeasance and incompetence in originally certifying the 737 MAX aircraft as safe. Accordingly, to regain public confidence, the flying public needs and deserves independent expert evaluations of the changes that Boeing and FAA may deem sufficient to unground the aircraft." The seven aviation experts who have submitted declarations in favor of transparency and independent evaluation are: 1. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger- Retired airline captain, famous for the "Miracle on the Hudson" landing and aviation safety expert for over four decades 2. Association of Flight Attendants-CWA- The largest flight attendants union, with nearly 50,000 members at 20 airlines 3. Michael Neely- Thirty-three years of experience in commercial and military aircraft development programs since 1983, working for Boeing from 1995-2016 serving in Multi-Discipline Engineering and Program Office roles 4. Javier de Luis- PhD Aeronautical engineer and scientist for 30 years and former lecturer at MIT 5. Michael Goldfarb- Aviation safety management consultant and former Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Adviser to the FAA Administrator 6. Gregory Travis- Computer software engineer with over 40 years of experience and pilot with over 30 years of experience 7. Paul Hudson- President of FlyersRights.org and long-time airline passenger safety advocate The FOIA request can be found here: https://flyersrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/FlyersRights-10.31.19-FAA-FOIA-Expedited-Request.pdf The complaint can be found here: https://flyersrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/FlyersRights-v-FAA-Boeing-MAX-FOIA-Complaint.pdf FlyersRights.org is represented in court by Joseph E. Sandler of Sandler, Reiff, Lamb, Rosenstein & Birkenstock P.C., Washington, D.C. FlyersRights.org, established in 2007, is the largest airline passenger organization. It publishes a bi-weekly newsletter, operates a free hotline for airline passengers 877- FLYERS6, advocates for passenger rights and interests, represents passengers on the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee dealing with air safety, and maintains a staffed office in Washington, D.C. See: FlyersRights.org or https://twitter.com/FlyersRights. Media line 800- 662-1859. FlyersRights.org, 4411 Bee Ridge Road, 274, Sarasota, FL 34233 SOURCE FlyersRights.org https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flyersrights-sues-faa-for-refusal-to-release-boeing-737-max-records-300978034.html Back to Top Incident: Delta B764 near Buenos Aires on Dec 18th 2019, smoke in cabin A Delta Airlines Boeing 767-400, registration N843MH performing flight DL-110 from Buenos Aires,BA (Argentina) to Atlanta,GA (USA), was enroute at FL310 about 350nm north of Buenos Aires when the crew turned the aircraft around due to smoke in the cabin and returned to Buenos Aires, where the aircraft landed safely about one hour later. Passengers reported smoke developed in the cabin. Argentina's JIAAC reported N843MH was involved in an occurrence, there were no injuries and no damage. The JIAAC's headquarter opened an investigation. http://avherald.com/h?article=4d0ce8f5&opt=0 Back to Top Back to Top Beechcraft B300 King Air 350 - Ground Collision (California) Date: Tuesday 17 December 2019 Time: ca 11:00 Type: Beechcraft B300 King Air 350 Operator: Ritch Air LLC Registration: N160RW C/n / msn: FL-226 First flight: 1998 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: Visalia Airport, CA (VIS) ( United States of America) Phase: Taxi (TXI) Nature: Unknown Departure airport: Visalia Airport, CA (VIS/KVIS), United States of America Destination airport: ? Narrative: A Socata TBM930 (N961GG) struck the right-hand wing of the Beech King Air while taxiing for takeoff at Visalia Municipal Airport, California, USA. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20191217-0 Back to Top Audit: FAA needs to improve oversight to address maintenance issues at Allegiant Air Following an audit, the Office of Inspector General concluded that the FAA needs to improve its oversight to address maintenance issues impacting safety at Allegiant Air. Low cost airline Allegiant Air, the 11th largest passenger airline in the United States, grew faster than the airline industry as a whole in 2018 by carrying approximately 14 million passengers. However, incidents at this air carrier - including a series of in-flight engine shutdowns, aborted takeoffs, and unscheduled landings - have raised concerns about its maintenance practices. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Transportation thus initiated an audit in 2018 to assess FAA's processes for investigating improper maintenance practices at Allegiant Air. Specifically, FAA's (1) oversight of longstanding maintenance issues impacting safety at Allegiant Air and (2) process for ensuring Allegiant Air implemented effective corrective actions to address the root causes of maintenance problems. The OIG found that since 2011, FAA inspectors have not consistently documented risks associated with 36 Allegiant Air in-flight engine shutdowns for its MD-80 fleet or correctly assessed the root cause of maintenance issues. This was because inspectors did not follow FAA's inspector guidance that requires them to document changes in their oversight once they have identified areas of increased risk. Also, FAA's Compliance Program and inspector guidance do not include key factors related to carriers' violations of Federal regulations. Specifically, they do not contain provisions for inspectors to consider the severity of outcomes when deciding what action to take following a non-compliance. As a result, FAA is missing opportunities to address maintenance issues and mitigate safety risks in a timely manner. Nine safety recommendations were issued to the FAA. https://news.aviation-safety.net/2019/12/19/audit-faa-needs-to-improve-oversight-to-address-maintenance-issues-at-allegiant-air/ Back to Top Pilot in Amazon Cargo Plane Crash Repeatedly Flunked Flight Tests A helicopter flies overhead as emergency personnel work the scene of a plane crash site in Trinity Bay in Anahuac, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. The Federal Aviation Administration said a Boeing 767 cargo plane went down approximately 30 miles southeast of Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. BY ALAN LEVIN Apilot on a jet carrying Amazon.com packages that crashed near Houston in February had a record of repeatedly flunking flight tests and may have become disoriented in clouds, according to newly released documents. The pilot mistakenly thought the plane's nose was pointed too high and jerked the jet down so steeply that the Boeing Co. 767 dove into a marsh, even as the captain fought to pull up, according to National Transportation Safety Board records released Thursday. "Lord...you have my soul," Conrad Jules Aska shouted a second before the high-speed impact of the Atlas Air cargo plane, according to a transcript of the cockpit recording. Packages strewn Aska, serving as copilot on the flight, Captain Ricky Blakely and a third pilot for another airline, Sean Archuleta, who was sitting at the rear of the cockpit, died in the crash on Feb. 23. The impact littered a bay near Houston with packages and debris. The NTSB released 2,279 pages of raw investigative reports, providing the first insights into what led to the crash of the jet, which was on a contract flight for Amazon. They stopped short of providing any formal conclusions of the cause, but raised issues with pilot hiring practices and the availability of previous records of failures. The safety board will conclude the cause of the crash sometime in 2020. Atlas, a division of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc., said in an emailed statement it is cooperating with the NTSB's investigation. Routine descent "We remain devastated by the loss of Flight 3591 that claimed the lives of two of our valued pilots and a colleague," the company said in the statement. Atlas' training and workforce "meet or exceed all government safety standards" and the company continually evaluates its hiring procedures, the company said. The jet was descending routinely toward Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport when it hit turbulence at 12:38 p.m. local time, according to the NTSB. The copilot made two comments about being in an aerodynamic stall, which can cause a dangerous loss of lift on the wings. However, the plane was flying normally and nowhere near a stall, according to investigators. The copilot then added full takeoff power without informing his captain, as is required. A few seconds later, possibly due to being disoriented and thinking the plane's nose was pointed too high, he pushed forward on the control column and the plane nosed over. Training failures It reached speeds of about 500 miles (805 kilometers) per hour, according to NTSB data. The copilot's previous history of failures during training is likely to become an issue in the accident investigation. The NTSB cited similar issues after a crash on now-defunct Colgan Air killed 50 in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. https://time.com/5753435/amazon-atlas-air-cargo-crash/ Back to Top Contractors to help Air Force manage shortage of experienced pilots, technicians (Canada) An RCAF CF-18 takes off from CFB Bagotville, Que. on Thursday, June 7, 2018. Canada's air force is turning to contractors as it seeks to manage a shortage of experienced military pilots and aircraft technicians. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan OTTAWA - Canada's air force is turning to contractors as it seeks to manage a shortage of experienced military pilots and aircraft technicians. The Royal Canadian Air Force is short hundreds of experienced pilots and technicians, which has created difficulties when it comes to training new aviators and maintaining Canada's military aircraft. It has been trying to retain these personnel by better supporting military families and ensuring pilots get to spend more time in the air, instead of at their desks. But Air Force commander Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger tells The Canadian Press the air force plans to add contractors to the mix to fill some pilot-instructor positions, so experienced military pilots can continue to fly real missions. The measure follows the recent addition of contracted technicians, many of them retired air force members, which Meinzinger says have helped address personnel shortages at Canada's fighter-jet bases in Bagotville, Que., and Cold Lake, Alta. The Air Force commander says the contractors are meant to be a short-term fix while the military works to attract and retain more personnel to meet its needs over the long term. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2019. The Canadian Press https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/12/20/contractors-to-help-air-force-manage-shortage-of-experienced-pilots-technicians/ Back to Top FAA Issues Important Charter Guidance to Pilots and Passengers Today, booking a charter flight can be as easy as tapping a few buttons on your mobile device. But that doesn't mean the flight is legal or safe. The FAA's top priority is ensuring the safety of the traveling public, and it's critical that both pilots and passengers (PDF) confirm that the charter flights they're providing and receiving comply with all applicable Federal Aviation Regulations. If you pay for a charter flight, you are entitled to a higher level of safety than is required from a free flight from a friend. Among other things, pilots who transport paying passengers must have the required qualifications and training, are subject to random drug and alcohol testing, and the aircraft used must be maintained to the high standards that the FAA's charter regulations require. The FAA recently sent a letter about this issue (PDF) to a company called Blackbird Air that created a web-based application that connects passengers with pilots. The letter emphasizes an FAA policy (PDF) about the requirements for pilots who are paid to fly passengers. The policy states that pilots who are paid to fly passengers generally can't just hold the required Commercial or Airline Transport pilot license - they also must be employed by the company operating the flight, which must hold a certificate issued under Part 119 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Or the pilots must themselves hold a Part 119 certificate. Any pilot who provides charter flights without complying with the Part 119 certificate requirement would be violating the Federal Aviation Regulations - even if they possess a Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot license. The FAA's determination has been upheld in federal court (PDF). A current listing of FAA-licensed charter providers is available on our website. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/business-general-aviation/press-release/21118895/federal-aviation-administration-faa-faa-issues-important-charter-guidance-to-pilots-and-passengers Back to Top Global flight tracking progresses as IATA proposes distress repository Ten years after the disappearance of Air France Flight 447, and five years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which remains a mystery, the airline industry is still not tracking 100% of the global aircraft fleet. The ICAO requirement that aircraft flying under normal operating conditions be tracked every 15 minutes or less went into effect in November 2018. But an IATA survey of members, conducted eight months ago, showed that only 70% of airlines operating flights in remote regions had implemented aircraft tracking solutions that meet the GADSS requirements. A few airlines that might not have been compliant at the time assured IATA they had plans in place and dates for compliance. During the International Air Transport Association's Media Days recently in Geneva, IATA senior vice president, safety and flight operations Gilberto Lopez Meyer said it's difficult to get an exact number on compliant aircraft in part because of the exceptions accepted when GADSS was drafted. He told Runway Girl Network: We have tried to get the best numbers available. What we have seen is a delay in the countries implementing the requirement in their own national law. [The way] the system works is that you have an ICAO standard; the ICAO standard obliges the countries and the countries make their own rules, laws, regulations to oblige the airline operators and the airports as well. We have seen that not all countries have been doing that on time. Or some of the countries have said that they will implement [GADSS] at a certain date with some differences from the ICAO requirement, which they are allowed to do. The only requirement is that they need to notify ICAO of the difference of their own regulations. So, the system is moving, relatively slowly, but in the right direction. Some examples of exceptions include the world's most active airline markets. "Europe and US have said, 'Yes, we will comply, but with certain specific differences based on the availability of equipment and possibilities to upgrade equipment'," said Lopez Meyer. "In general, nobody has said no. Countries can say no. Even if ICAO establishes a mandate, countries have the ability to say no to certain conditions. But nobody has said no." Part of the reason for these exceptions is that GADSS requirements do not apply for airline operations in areas largely covered by air navigation services. "Most airlines are flying in areas where there is a system already available. Some airlines have 20-30% of their fleet - or even 10% - flying on those remote parts of the world and the rest of their fleet is flying in other areas where they don't have to do anything. So, it's really difficult to measure what is the status in terms of percentage of compliance to ICAO requirements," said Lopez Meyer. "The industry generally is moving well. We are happy with that. But within the first and second quarter of next year we will do another survey to understand where we are and determine what countries or airlines need a little help or incentivize [them] to do just the normal aircraft tracking." While public aircraft ADS-B tracking sites are gaining popularity and becoming a go-to resource for media and social media when something goes wrong with a flight, Lopez Meyer said this is not a reliable substitute for GADSS reporting, echoing comments made by SITAONAIR. "Public information is not really accurate enough," he said. "It is a very useful external source of information because before we had nothing. But for the purpose of a permanent, professional aircraft tracking [solution], the systems that we have now, in some cases, are not accurate enough. Where they are accurate is when the plane is flying over Switzerland, for example. But when the aircraft is flying in the South Pacific, those sources of information are not enough." The critical GADSS requirement, to prevent another aircraft disappearance like MH370, will not go into effect until 1 January 2021. The requirement for distressed aircraft tracking will require aircraft to be automatically triggered into reporting their position every minute when a set of distress parameters are met, or when activated by the pilot. "Aircraft are traveling six nautical miles per minute, so if you have a precise location every minute, you reduce the search to a radius of six nautical miles. That is incredibly useful, because with every fifteen minutes, you are talking about a radius of 90 nautical miles. The automatic distress will allow us to reduce the area of initial search and rescue to six nautical miles with increased probability to locate the aircraft quickly and precisely," said Lopez Meyer. The challenge for adoption is that it is a very expensive system to implement, said Lopez Meyer, and thus it is only being required on new aircraft. Another challenge of GADSS is the multiple reporting requirements on aircraft position. If airlines are flying over a part of the Pacific Ocean controlled by the Hawaiian control center, for example, the flight must report to the control center, and to search and rescue, and to any other entity that the airline's regulatory authority has decided needs to be informed on the positioning of their aircraft. "It's going to be very difficult for any airlines flying a single flight across multiple jurisdictions to have a way to communicate [their position]," said Lopez Meyer. To resolve this reporting burden, ICAO has proposed the Location of an Aircraft in Distress Repository (LADR) system, which would be responsible for collection and distribution of aircraft positioning data. "[ICAO] sent an official state letter, a few months ago, asking for voluntary contributions to create this repository for the benefit of everyone," said Lopez Meyer. "Several countries have agreed and IATA is going to contribute. So we solve the problem and we simplify the problem. We expect that it will be ready to operate fully by January 2021. We have a year to develop the system." Still, Lopez Meyer acknowledged that even now an aircraft disappearance like MH370 is not impossible. "The final answers about [MH370] are not known. It is a very rare event. But what we have seen is that with the implementation of the new system, we are much better than we were before MH370. That [type of event] can happen, but it will be much more rare to happen because of the implementation of normal aircraft tracking. We are much better off than where we were before MH370, because many airlines trying to understand what happened [on MH370], have made the decision to implement tracking even before the mandate," he said. "It has been very difficult to measure where we are, but we expect that for the next survey it will be better than eight months ago. It's an important investment, and the airlines understand that it is important. I don't see a reaction against it, but it is just a matter of time." https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2019/12/19/global-flight-tracking-gradually-progresses-as-iata-proposes-distress-repository/ Back to Top Will 2020 Mark The End Of Emotional Support Animals On Airlines? Service dog portrait on white background Young Golden-doodle service dog for emotional support isolated against a white background.GETTY In 2020, the issue of Emotional Support Animals (ESA) on planes may come to a head. Airlines for America, an airline lobbying group, is pushing for new rules for "animals in the sky" that would effectively limit the service category to trained animals, such as guide dogs. This would eliminate untrained ESA animals who purportedly provide psychological support to their owners. To many, the topic brings a menagerie to mind, with airline tales of emotional support snakes, ferrets, hamsters, and monkeys. American Airlines had to banish an 80-pound support pig after it squealed and defecated in the aisle. Dexter the emotional support peacock was turned away from a United flight and subsequently died. Last summer, a flight attendant was reportedly bitten by an emotional support dog during an American Eagle flight from Dallas to Greensboro, North Carolina. The flight attendant required five stitches in her hand. Today In: Lifestyle Airlines for America is leading an effort to get the Department of Transportation (DOT) to change the definition of "service animal" on aircraft to match that of the American Disability Act. The ADA definition of service animal is "any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Tasks performed can include...pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication, or pressing an elevator button." The key word is probably "trained." An airline spokesperson told me it was all about the explosive growth in untrained ESA animals and their "uncontrolled" behavior. Airlines for America, which represents US airlines like American, United, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue and Hawaiian, enlisted 80 non-profit organizations in their effort to get DOT to change the rules. These include the Airline Pilots Association, Association of Flight Attendants, the American Kennel Club, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Travelers United and K9s for Warriors. Blind Person With Service Dog A blind person and their service dog are outdoors on a summer day. The airlines group notes the doubling of ESA certifications in the last three years, with websites selling on-line certifications from psychiatrists, harnesses and tags. Some allege this is a scam for pets to fly free, instead of their owners paying airlines up to $125 each way. The number of emotional support animals flown has grown from 500,000 to over a million since 2016. Yet the issue may not be as clear-cut as portrayed. Under the Air Carrier Access Act, (ACAA) and separately, under Federal housing laws, an animal doesn't have to be trained for a specific task to be considered an emotional support. Professor Rebecca F. Wisch of the Michigan State University College of Law wrote, "An emotional support animal is an animal...that provides a therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship. The animal provides emotional support and comfort to individuals with psychiatric disabilities and other mental impairments. The animal is not specifically trained to perform tasks for a person who suffers from emotional disabilities." Such assistance animals are recognized as a "reasonable accommodation" for a person with a disability under the Federal Fair Housing Act, based on documentation of a disability. Wisch writes, "Emotional support animals have been known to assist disabled individuals with severe depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and many other emotional and psychiatric disabilities." For the airlines, under DOT rules the current definition of service animal is "any animal that is individually trained or able to provide assistance to a person with a disability; or any animal that assists persons with disabilities by providing emotional support." Documentation, such as a doctor's note, "may be required of passengers needing to travel with an emotional support or psychiatric service animal." To the airlines, the issues are clear. They want to be in control of the cabin, without untrained animals posing a nuisance or danger. There may also be concern with loss of income from owners reclassifying their pets as ESA animals. The new rulemaking submitted for comment to the DOT last year by the airlines will "address the appropriate definition of a service animal and include safeguards to ensure safety and reduce the likelihood that passengers wishing to travel with their pets on aircraft will be able to falsely claim that their pets are service animals." "They'd have to change the law. They're trying to make an end run," says Professor Favre, Professor of Law at Michigan State University and head of the Animal Legal Web Center. "I don't think Federal law will let them do that. Emotional support animals arose in the context of housing. It was broadly supported. There was no requirement of training, as the animal wasn't going to do anything but be there. You did need to get a letter proving you had a psychiatric assistance animal [to present to the landlord.]" Other than housing, "The airplane is the only other place that animal is allowed to go. You can't bring your emotional support chihuahua to Starbucks," says Professor Favre. "There are people with phobias about flying-I could see an emotional support animal being very helpful. The difficulty is who really needs it." "There needs to be a middle ground-too many people are abusing the system. All of these animals on the ESA side are crowding out the true service animals. Now people are getting looked at funny if they show up with a trained Labrador because the public thinks it's another fraud," adds Prof. Favre. Professor Favre cited Delta Airlines as a potential ESA model. "Delta ha on their website the requirement that paperwork be filed in advance. That's a good step for filtering ESA requests. The Delta profile might work well for the airline industry. If the animal shows up and seems to be a risk, they can say no. But I'd go with the presumption that the paperwork represents a legitimate position." Statistics say that up to one in five Americans has a mental illness. Is there a continuing need for emotional support animals to help people get through our traumatic air travel system? The airline industry might get the rule change they seek, says Prof. Favre. "There's nobody organized on the other side." But that might not be the last step in the ESA saga. "A lawsuit is possible, because it is going too far." https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2019/12/19/will-2020-mark-the-end-of-emotional-support-animals-on-airlines/#7ef2b7452f7a Back to Top American Airlines Donates The Last Of Its MD-80 Aircraft TULSA, Oklahoma - American Airlines is saying farewell to its final two MD-80 airplanes this week. It's donating them to CareerTech in Oklahoma City and Lewis University in Illinois. This is the end of an era for American Airlines and the MD-80s after the planes served as the company's workhorse for decades. The MD-80 is wrapping up nearly 40 years of service for American Airlines. The last of the fleet was retired in September. It was affectionately called the "Super 80" by its pilots and mechanics, who say it was a reliable airplane. "It probably takes a little bit more of the old flying skills," American Airlines Captain David Clark said. Captain David Clark has been a pilot with American for close to 30 years. Much of that time was spent flying the Super 80. He estimates he has about 9,000 hours of flight time with just that aircraft alone. Clark says it was an older technology, but that wasn't a bad thing. "Some of us enjoy that, because there's a real seat-of-the-pants flying, you can feel the airplane," Clark said. The MD-80s have been replaced by planes with more computerized cockpit controls, and interiors. But Clark says it's a testament to the maintenance crews for keeping this fleet in working order. That includes Aircraft Maintenance Technician Harley Thomas, who played a key role for more than 28 years. He's done just about everything on these planes. "It's been a fantastic airplane," Thomas said. He's out watching the final departures this week, and he was also among more than a thousand employees who flew on its last commercial flight. "That was something that I'll always remember," Thomas said. It goes without saying, it's a bittersweet moment for both Harley, and Clark, who said the trips may be over, but the journey isn't done just yet. "It's not come to an end because it's going to an aviation mechanic school in Oklahoma, so certainly it still has purpose which is great. Anytime you're in Oklahoma you'll be able to see an American MD-80 for years to come," Clark said. There will be special dedication ceremonies for the planes at both schools early next year. https://www.newson6.com/story/41478776/american-airlines-retires-the-last-of-its-md80-aircraft Back to Top NASA'S $247.5 MILLION 'QUIET' SUPERSONIC PASSENGER JET TO LAUNCH FIRST FLIGHT IN 2021 NASA's new "quiet" supersonic plane-which could make Concorde-style supersonic flights, allowing passengers to fly faster than the speed of sound a reality-has received a green light for construction. The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft got its final approval for assembly following a major project review known as Key Decision Point-D (KDP-D), putting the plane on track for construction by 2020 and its first flight in 2021, NASA announced this week. "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," Bob Pearce, NASA's Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, said in a statement. The new aircraft is designed to reduce the loudness of the deafening sonic boom noise normally associated with superfast planes to "that of a gentle thump, if it is heard at all," NASA said. Its construction will be managed under NASA's Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) project. Speaking to Newsweek, LBFD Associate Project Manager Heather Maliska said: "Supersonic flight has the potential to approximately cut flight times in half. The X-59 is a purpose-built aircraft that is being built with a near term focus of overcoming the technical and regulatory barriers to quiet supersonic flight overland." The new plane will be flown over select U.S. communities to gather data from sensors and people on the ground. "Our goal is to use the X-59 aircraft to collect and deliver data on community response to quiet overflight sounds to support the development of en route certification standards based on acceptable sound levels," Maliska told Newsweek. Mark Mangelsdorf, X-59 Deputy Chief Engineer, also told Newsweek: "There is a whole host of technologies that contribute to this aircraft. The ability to accurately predict how the shape affects the sonic boom is the big technology advancement over the last decade. So, one of the primary technologies that contribute to making the sonic boom quieter is the outer shape of the aircraft." NASA Supersonic Tech Cuts Transcontinental Flight TimeREAD MORE The new plane would be a cut above the most recent supersonic passenger jet that was available for commercial travel-the Concorde, which was limited in the destinations to which it could travel due to the sound boom issue and engine noise problems. The latest aircraft is NASA's first large-scale piloted X-plane-a series of experimental aircraft and rockets from NASA-in more than three decades, the space agency notes. Its construction will be undertaken by global aerospace company Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor. Its revenue from the U.S. government alone is estimated to be more than the combined budgets of the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, according to USA Today. The plane will be assembled over three major work areas, with the integration of its systems, including a new "cockpit eXternal Visibility System," and final assembly slated for completion by late 2020 when it will be reviewed for approval for its first flight in 2021. The X-59 aircraft will be built under a $247.5 million contract plus incentive fees and will be assembled at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company's Skunk Works factory-also known as Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP)-in Palmdale, California, NASA said. It has yet to be determined which commercial airlines will be among the first carriers to operate supersonic aircraft, but "the interest is certainly there," Maliska told Newsweek. "With the global demand for air travel growing, this places a demand on speed and opens a large potential market for supersonic flight for business aircraft and larger commercial aircraft. So the interest is certainly there. NASA plays a central role in developing the data needed for the regulation change that is essential to enabling this new market," Maliska noted to Newsweek. "That said, the X-59, as a purpose-built aircraft, will be used to generate the quiet overflight sounds that will support the development of certification standards based on acceptable sound levels, but what happens beyond the science will be in the hands of the industry," she added. Plans for the X-59 jet have been in the works since around 2017 but the latest announcement marks the first step toward its construction. Back in 2017, Denver-based Boom Technology also unveiled plans to build new supersonic jets that would travel 2.2 times the speed of sound, with a view to operating supersonic commercial flights in partnership with Japan Airlines by the mid-2020s. In 2016, Virgin also revealed it was working with Boom Technology to construct supersonic jets that would fly at speeds of up to 1,451 miles per hour, which is reportedly 10 percent faster than Concorde's top speed and fast enough to travel from New York to London in 3.5 hours. https://www.newsweek.com/nasa-supersonic-plane-x-59-quiet-commercial-aircraft-flight-1478058 Back to Top Mitsubishi jet turns to Europe while awaiting US takeoff Orders reach 490 as Japanese plane maker aims to leave delays behind TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Aircraft is winning orders for its SpaceJet plane outside its home market, including in Europe, as it fights to become Japan's first global commercial aircraft maker despite numerous setbacks. The prospective orders, which came last week in the form of memorandums of understanding and commitment letters, bring the total number of orders for the SpaceJet to 490 from 400, said people familiar with the matter. The latest orders are for the SpaceJet M100, a 76-seat regional jet, plans for which were announced at the Paris Air Show in June. The Nagoya-based company, a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, believes it can rake in another 400 orders in early 2020, the people added. The new orders are likely to be MOUs, but the strong indications of interest may encourage the parent company to formally launch the M100. That aircraft is a smaller version of the company's M90, which is aimed at the Japan market and is still in the process of certification. The M100 targets North America, where pilots unions and big airlines have agreements limiting the size of planes that affiliated regional carriers can fly. Mitsubishi Aircraft sees North America as potentially its biggest market, with demand for more than 2,000 planes expected over the next 20 years, or 40% of the global total. But Europe is its next priority, and the company is conducting a market study for the 100-seat M200, the people said. The M100 highlights Mitsubishi Heavy's determination to become a global player in complete aircraft, rather than limiting itself to the Japanese market. In June the company agreed to take control of Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier's regional jet business. A Mitsubishi SpaceJet aircraft undergoes flight testing in the U.S. state of Washington. (Jiji) Mitsubishi's worldwide expansion drive began in earnest in 2016 but has been slowed by a number of challenges. The company's organizational structure and aircraft design had to be overhauled, leading to delays and prompting complaints from Japanese buyers of the SpaceJet, ANA and Japan Airlines. Mitsubishi Aircraft's global marketing shows no sign of slackening. "In order for us to succeed as a company, we have to succeed where the market is, and the market right now is in the U.S.," said one company official. Success in the U.S. will "give us the credibility, the experience and the income to continue to grow our business and the Japanese aviation industry." ANA declined to comment on the SpaceJet. JAL, which has placed orders for 32 planes to replace its Embraer E170 and E190 aircraft, says the Brazilian jets still have a useful service life and there is no rush to retire them. Embraer will offer the main competition to the SpaceJet. Boeing's purchase of 80% of Embraer's commercial aircraft business this year is still another challenge for Mitsubishi. To survive the competition, Mitsubishi will need to push ahead with its global expansion, according to David Pritchard, associate professor at the State University of New York's Empire State College. He argues that Mitsubishi on its own, even after buying Bombardier's operations, is no match for the Boeing-Embraer alliance. "Currently, Mitsubishi ... doesn't have any global risk-sharing partners for the airframe. This, along with their small manufacturing footprint in Japan, doesn't allow them to expand their production capabilities," Pritchard said. The M90 regional jet being assembled in this 2015 photo in Toyoyama, central Japan, is still undergoing certification by civil avaition authorities in Japan. (AP Photo/Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp.) © AP "For the Mitubishi SpaceJet program to be successful in the long term and compete with the [Boeing-Embraer alliance], Mitsubishi needs to find a joint venture partner that has financial, servicing and marketing resources to support their program," he said. Prichard added that U.S. President Donald Trump could hit a new Japanese competitor with tariffs. But Mitsubishi believes it can fend off the threat of trade barriers by pointing out that more than 50% of the aircraft's components are from the U.S. It might also offer to set up a local assembly line to build the planes. Mitsubishi has a more immediate problem: getting its first commercial jet, the M90, off the ground. Originally scheduled for delivery in 2013, the M90 has been beset with delays, prompting the parent company to bring in a large number of engineers from abroad in 2016 to overhaul the program. That resulted in about 900 design changes. They included changes to the avionics bay, where dozens of computers are stored under the floor and control the brakes, cockpit displays and flight controls. The original design did not have enough separation between these computers and their backups, necessitating a complete redesign of the bay and wiring. Mitsubishi Aircraft hopes to have the SpaceJet certified by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, and in commercial service by mid-2020, although there is talk of yet another delay. Once the aircraft is approved in Japan, certification in the U.S. should follow in short order. The company says it is pushing its engineers to complete their work as quickly as possible. "For the first time ever," one official said, "we now see the light at the end of the tunnel." https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Aerospace-Defense/Mitsubishi-jet-turns-to-Europe-while-awaiting-US-takeoff Back to Top Boeing Starliner Spacecraft Launches on Historic 1st Mission to Space Station Atlas V launches Starliner Update for 7:20 a.m. ET: Boeing has delayed Starliner's orbit insertion burn because the spacecraft is not at the correct attitude, or orientation. Starliner is in a stable orbit, however, and the team is now working on next steps to correct Starliner's attitude before they can put it in the correct orbit. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Boeing's reusable CST-100 Starliner spacecraft launched on its first uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station today (Dec. 20). At 6:36 a.m. EST (1136 GMT) this morning, the CST-100 Starliner capsule launched atop the United Launch Alliance "N22" Atlas V rocket (N22 is a new version of the Atlas V that has no fairing, two solid rocket boosters and two engines on the vehicle's Centaur upper stage). It lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the morning twilight, about half an hour before sunrise, making for a visually stunning event. The vehicle launched with 595 lbs. (270 kilograms) of cargo on board, including holiday gifts for the astronauts of Expedition 61, radiation testing hardware and an anthropometric test dummy named Rosie. An Atlas V rocket launches Boeing's CST-100 Starliner on its first uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station. The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 20, 2019 at 6:36 a.m. EST (1136 GMT). "Liftoff! The rise of Starliner and a new era of human spaceflight," a Boeing spokesperson said during a live webcast of today's launch. "It was stunning to see," NASA spokesperson Marie Lewis added. "We could feel the rumble." This mission, known as the Orbital Flight Test (OFT), is meant to serve as a dress rehearsal for crewed Starliner missions, which are tentatively scheduled to begin sometime in 2020. The Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing's Starliner spacecraft soars into the morning sky over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Image credit: Chelsea Gohd/Space.com) Nearly 26 hours following liftoff, the Starliner spacecraft is scheduled dock with the space station, where astronauts will begin bringing its cargo on board. It will spend about a week in space before making a short, approximately 4-hour, trip back to Earth and landing at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, on Dec. 28. The cargo on board Starliner today contains clothing, food, radiation monitoring equipment, some holiday presents for the six crewmembers on board the station and an anthropometric test device (ATD) or flight test dummy named "Rosie the Astronaut," or just Rosie for short. The test device, named after Rosie the Riveter, an inspirational figure for working women during World War II (and still today), is equipped with a number of special sensors that will collect data to inform Boeing and NASA about how Starliner's journey to and from space will likely affect future human crewmembers. The capsule's cargo also contains commemorative items that, after returning from space, will be distributed to people across the country who helped to make this successful mission possible. Among the items are American flags, Starliner coins, Starliner program decals and a handful of other unique items. An anthropometric test dummy named "Rosie the Astronaut" is riding to the International Space Station on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. OFT is "the first step in this next venture for commercial crew, especially the Starliner," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Thursday (Dec. 19) during a news conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following OFT, Boeing will launch the Crew Flight Test (CFT), the first-ever crewed Starliner mission, which will send NASA astronauts Michael Fincke and Nicole Mann and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson to the space station. "We consider this a dress rehearsal for CFT," Pat Forrester, head of NASA's Astronaut Office, said at a news conference on Tuesday (Dec. 17). Following the first crewed trip on Starliner, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Josh Cassada will fly as part of Starliner's first operational mission. Starliner, a reusable capsule, will be refurbished and updated after each landing before sending the next crew up to space. "We have more under development right now than at any point in NASA's history," Bridenstine said. "We have two commercial crew programs that are under development and, of course, we've got our big program, which is going back to the moon under the title Artemis, where we're going to send the first woman and the next man to the south pole of the moon within five years." In 2014, NASA chose commercial space companies Boeing and SpaceX to develop commercial spaceflight vehicles to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX completed the first uncrewed test flight of its Crew Dragon spacecraft in March, in a weeklong mission called Demo 1 that was similar to Starliner's OFT mission. The Crew Dragon is currently scheduled for its first crewed flight to the space station in February. Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon will decrease NASA's dependence on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to send humans to the space station and, for the first time since the last space shuttle flight in 2011, launch astronauts from American soil. "When we start launching into space, it's going to be a great time to be an American, because we are going to, in fact, launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil for the first time since the retirement of the space shuttle," Bridenstine added at the briefing, repeating a line that has become such a staple in NASA's vision for human spaceflight that Bridenstine noticed a member of the audience mouthing the words along with him. "I see you mouthing the words because I'm gonna keep saying it, it's overdue!" Bridenstine said. https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner-orbital-flight-test-launch-success.html Back to Top Back to Top Position: Corporate Safety Investigator (Contract position reporting directly to Delta Air Lines) Responsibilities: The Corporate Safety Investigator will be responsible for conducting in-depth investigations into employee injuries, ground safety events and reports of general safety issues. These investigations will include but are not limited to: traveling to the incident scene, liaising with Government officials, conducting human factors focused interviews, analyzing data, developing recommendations, reporting findings to senior leaders, and writing detailed technical reports. The Investigator will support the Corporate Safety team on a variety of airline operations safety programs and projects. This position will be included on an on-call rotation, maintaining the ability to monitor operational incidents 24/7 during the rotation, identifying critical and major injury incidents, and reporting incidents to the appropriate leaders. Approximately 30% travel is required, sometimes at short notice. The position will report to the Manager of Corporate Safety Investigations and Compliance. Qualifications: The Corporate Safety Investigator must have investigative and technical writing experience. The Investigator should have a working knowledge of airline operations. Must be flexible, with the ability to think critically in a fast-paced environment. The Investigator must be able to communicate effectively communicate both verbally and orally with all levels of employees, from front line employees to senior executives. The Corporate Safety Investigator must be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and internet applications. Preferred qualifications include experience in OSHA investigations and completion of OSHA 30. To apply for the position, please email a cover letter and resume to David Hammack (Manager of Corporate Safety Investigations and Compliance, Delta Air Lines, Inc.) at David.hammack@delta.com. 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