Flight Safety Information September 15, 2020 - No. 187 In This Issue Incident: Solomon DHC6 at Atoifi on Sep 7th 2020, rejected takeoff Incident: American A320 at San Antonio on Sep 12th 2020, engine fire Incident: Azul E195 at Salvador on Sep 8th 2020, slat flap lever disagreed Cessna T210N Turbo Centurion II - Landing Accident (Germany) CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder - Accident (Pakistan) Senators Back Tighter Aircraft Oversight, Quicker Plane Crash Data Disclosure Is the Boeing 737 Max now safe to fly? HAI Looks To Reboot Safety Accreditation Program The Navy suffered four Class A aviation mishaps last month Ampaire Flies Second Hybrid-Electric Prototype American Airlines to Make DFW a Hub for Flights to Asia US Air Force launches new 'eSeries' aircraft designation NAV CANADA launches remote air traffic services trial with Searidge Technologies The Future of Private Jets Airbus CEO warns of compulsory layoffs as airline crisis deepens United Airlines says to close flight attendant base at Japan's Narita Delta spins off its cash-cow frequent flyer program to serve as collateral for a $6.5 billion loan Blue Origin's human lunar lander all-star space team completes first key milestone for moon mission Trinity College Dublin and EASA Air Ops Community Survey on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on aviation workers SURVEY:...GA PILOTS AND PIREPs. Graduate Research Survey (1) Incident: Solomon DHC6 at Atoifi on Sep 7th 2020, rejected takeoff A Solomon Airlines de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, registration H4-OTA performing a flight from Atoifi to Manaoba (Solomon Islands), was accelerating for takeoff from Atoifi's grass runway (about 800 meters/2750 feet long, approx. direction 14/32, position S8.8725 E161.0113) when the crew rejected takeoff stopping the aircraft safely on the runway. A passenger reported the aircraft was accelerating when there was a big bang, the aircraft lowered its nose and slowed, the engines were no longer operating. The aircraft was disabled, locals pushed the aircraft off the muddy runway back to the apron. Another local reported the aircraft was fixed the same day. http://avherald.com/h?article=4dc9f471&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: American A320 at San Antonio on Sep 12th 2020, engine fire An American Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration N111US performing flight AA-2441 from Charlotte,NC to San Antonio,TX (USA) with 75 people on board, was on approach to San Antonio's runway 13R when the crew declared Mayday reporting the failure of the left hand engine (CFM56) and requested to make a left turn and was cleared to continue the left hand turn. The crew shut the engine down, flew a left hand orbit and continued for a safe landing on runway 13R with emergency services on stand by. The aircraft taxied to the apron with emergency services in trail. On Sep 14th 2020 the FAA reported the aircraft landed with a left engine fire. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in San Antonio about 37 hours after landing. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2441/history/20200913/0045Z/KCLT/KSAT http://avherald.com/h?article=4dc9c5db&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Azul E195 at Salvador on Sep 8th 2020, slat flap lever disagreed An Azul Linhas Aereas Embraer ERJ-195, registration PR-AYW performing flight AD-9543 from Goiana,GO to Salvador,BA (Brazil) with 48 passengers and 5 crew, was on approach to Salvador,BA (longest runway 3000 meters/9850 feet) when the crew received a "SLAT FLAP LEVER DISAGREE" message. The crew aborted the approach, worked the related checklists and decided to diver to their alternate aerodrome Recife,PE (longest runway 3010 meters/9870 feet) about 350nm northwest of Salvador. The aircraft landed safely in Recife about one hour later. The aircraft returned to service about 17 hours later. http://avherald.com/h?article=4dc9ba2a&opt=0 Back to Top Cessna T210N Turbo Centurion II - Landing Accident (Germany) Date: 14-SEP-2020 Time: 11:00 Type: Cessna T210N Turbo Centurion II Owner/operator: Private Registration: D-EDAY C/n / msn: 21064305 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Category: Accident Location: Borkum Airfield (BMK/EDWR) - Germany Phase: Landing Nature: Private Departure airport: Bielefeld Airfield (BFE/EDLI) Destination airport: Borkum Airfield (BMK/EDWR) Investigating agency: BFU Germany Narrative: A Cessna T210N Turbo Centurion II crashed in front of the runway during a landing attempt at Borkum Airfield (BMK/EDWR) and was completely destroyed by fire. The pilot sustained serious burning injuries and was airlifted to hospital by Airbus H135 PH-DOC "Lifeliner 4". https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/241399 Back to Top CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder - Accident (Pakistan) Date: 15-SEP-2020 Time: Type: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder Owner/operator: Pakistan Air Force Registration: C/n / msn: Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Pindigheb, Attock - Pakistan Phase: En route Nature: Military Departure airport: Destination airport: Narrative: Pakistan Air Force jet crashes during routine training flight. Pilot ejected safely https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/241510 The PAC JF-17 Thunder, or CAC FC-1 Xiaolong, is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAC/PAC_JF-17_Thunder Back to Top Senators Back Tighter Aircraft Oversight, Quicker Plane Crash Data Disclosure The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will vote on Wednesday to require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to quickly disclose risk assessments after fatal air crashes in a bid to significantly tighten industry oversight. Senate Commerce Committee chairman Roger Wicker, a Republican, and the committee's top Democrat Maria Cantwell, said on Friday they had agreed on a bipartisan series of sweeping reforms to how the FAA certifies new aircraft, according to the 70-page joint proposal seen by Reuters. The measure marks the most significant effort toward adopting reforms since the 2018 and 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people. It includes additional reforms since the senators first proposed legislation in June. Wicker said the changes "strengthen the aircraft safety certification process, bolster whistleblower protections and reduce opportunities for undue pressure, and promote international collaboration on aviation safety efforts." Boeing Co. and the FAA did not comment. In the aftermath of the October 2018 Lion Air 737 MAX crash, the FAA conducted a risk assessment that calculated that without a fix to a key safety system called MCAS there would be an estimated 15 additional fatal accidents over the lifetime of the 737 MAX. "Despite its own calculations, the FAA rolled the dice on the safety of the traveling public and let the Max continue to fly until Boeing could overhaul its MCAS software," said House Transportation Committee chairman Peter DeFazio in December 2019, adding the FAA's analysis "never saw the light of day beyond the closed doors of the FAA and Boeing." The Senate bill would require disclosure of any future risk assessment by FAA to Congress within seven days in a briefing by the administrator and a separate review by the Transportation Research Board of the assessment's methodology. Cantwell said the bill would strengthen aircraft certification laws and upgrade technical expertise. New changed production certification rules would require "a comprehensive integrated systems safety analysis which would have helped uncover problems like the ones with" MCAS, Cantwell said. The bill grants the FAA new power over the long-standing practice of delegating some certification tasks to aircraft manufacturer employees. It also would create new whistleblower protections and bolster misconduct investigations and discipline management at the FAA and require a review of FAA certification expertise. Boeing is working to win regulatory approvals to resume 737 MAX commercial service since the plane was grounded in March 2019. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2020/09/14/582273.htm Back to Top Is the Boeing 737 Max now safe to fly? Here's a look at the jet's past problems and future challenges. Shrouded by the darkest clouds in its history from the unprecedented pandemic-driven collapse of the airliner business, Chicago-based Boeing has one glimmer of a silver lining left for 2020: The 737 Max may finally fly passengers again. The Federal Aviation Administration in August laid out the proposed fixes for the design flaws in the Max's automated flight controls, starting a clock that could see Boeing get the green light sometime next month - with U.S. airlines then scrambling to get a few Max jets flying by year end. On the two fatal Max flights, an erroneous signal triggered software - the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System - that repeatedly pushed each plane's nose downward until it crashed. Is fixing that flight control software good enough? Will the updated 737 Max really be safe? Former jet-fighter pilot and aeronautical engineer Bjorn Fehrm is convinced. Though he calls the design flaws that caused the two 737 Max crashes "absolutely unforgivable," he believes Boeing has definitively fixed them. Fehrm, a France-based analyst with aviation consulting firm Leeham Co., says that with the updated flight control software, scenarios similar to the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes simply cannot recur and the aircraft is no longer dangerous. And Mike Gerzanics, a 737 captain with a major U.S. airline, is ready to fly a Max - despite a Boeing whistleblower's scathing critique that even with the planned upgrade, the jet's decades-old flight deck systems fall far short of the latest safety standards and in the two Max crashes created confusion in the cockpit. Gerzanics, a former Air Force and Boeing test pilot and an aviation safety expert, concedes the dated Max flight deck is far from ideal. "It's basically 1960s technology with some 21st century technology grafted onto it. The overhead panels could be right out of the 707," he said. "But I've been flying it since 1996. I'm used to it. It's safe and it works." Fallen credibility Boeing's missteps this year - from leaving behind debris in the wing tanks of the grounded Max jets to the latest quality control lapses in assembly of the 787 Dreamliner - have piled up and shaken public trust in the company's safety assurances. The FAA's credibility is similarly shaken. The agency's safety protocols that largely delegate oversight to Boeing itself - a system criticized by various independent investigations into the crashes - are still in place. And the families of the 346 people who died in the Indonesian and Ethiopian Max crashes remain bitter over the refusal of Boeing leaders to unequivocally admit that the poor design of MCAS brought the jets down. In a statement, the FAA said that in collaboration with three major foreign aviation safety regulators it has extensively evaluated the Max redesign. "The modified aircraft will be fully compliant with the applicable rules, using the most conservative means of compliance," the FAA said. After a grounding that's stretched now to 18 months and counting, and the close attention of regulators from all over the world, Boeing insists the Max will be the most scrutinized and safest airplane ever when it comes back. Still, even though the European and Canadian air safety regulators seem set to follow the FAA in green-lighting the Max's return to service, both are pressing Boeing sometime afterward to make further design changes. And Boeing concedes that the new generation of younger pilots may need more training focused on automation. The FAA still has to finalize the pilot training it will mandate before the Max can fly again. Airframe stability Ralph Nader, the longtime consumer advocate and nemesis of powerful corporations, has a personal stake in examining the Max crashes: His niece, Samya Stumo, died in the Ethiopian crash. Nader questions even the basic stability of the Max airframe. He says unnamed experts have told him that the MCAS software, even in its updated form, "remains a Band-Aid" to disguise "a physical aerodynamic design flaw." He's called for a complete redesign of the airframe, claiming the Max's bigger engines placed further forward on its wings make the jet "inherently unstable." Aviation experts reject that idea. A stable jet design ensures that if the airplane pitches nose-up for any momentary reason, say a gust of wind, the balance of the airframe makes it tend to right itself and pitch down to a normal position. An unstable design, if the nose pitches up to a higher "angle of attack," tends to pitch up even more, heading to a possible stall and complete loss of control. Boeing put MCAS on the plane not to make it stable in maneuvers approaching a stall but to make it handle and feel exactly the same as the earlier model 737NG. A former senior Boeing engineer familiar with the Max design, who asked not to be identified, said this was a key design goal because major 737 customers such as Southwest, Alaska and Ryanair will be flying both NGs and Maxs and want to use the same pilot pool for both. If the pilots had to think about different procedures on different 737s, it could lead to dangerous confusion. "You don't want pilots questioning, 'What airplane am I on?'" said the former senior engineer. "There's an inherent safety aspect to having them feel and operate the same way." To prove the plane's stability, both Boeing and the FAA test pilots have now conducted extreme flight test maneuvers close to a stall, both with MCAS on and with the system turned off. "If MCAS is deactivated, you can still fly the aircraft and it is not unstable," said Fehrm. "The Max without MCAS is a perfectly flyable aircraft." It's also more efficient and cheaper for an airline with a 737 fleet that the Max retains the 737 legacy flight deck. A pilot trained on the 737NG will be comfortable with the virtually identical instrument panel on the Max. The systems that feed information to the pilot on a Max - providing, for example, the jet's airspeed or its angle of attack, or a warning that something is faulty - are the same basic systems as on much earlier versions of the 737. When Boeing certified the Max, the FAA granted it exemptions so that these older systems were approved without having to meet regulatory standards designed for later, more automated jets. After the second crash, Boeing flight controls engineer Curtis Ewbank filed an internal ethics complaint alleging that an upgrade to the air data systems - called "synthetic airspeed," a software system installed on Boeing's latest jet, the 787 - might have prevented the crashes but was rejected because of the cost. Similarly, he wrote, after the FAA granted exemptions, flight crew alerts were not upgraded to the latest regulatory standards on the Max. When Ewbank reiterated his concerns in a letter to a U.S. Senate committee this summer, he listed a series of specific shortcomings. For example, the Max crew-alerting system activates a "clacker" making a very loud clicking sound to warn pilots when the jet is flying too fast. But it lacks an upgrade Boeing introduced after the 1996 crash of a 757 in the Dominican Republic killed 189 people. Following that crash - Birgenair Flight 301 - Boeing decided pilots needed a way to acknowledge the overspeed warning and then silence the sound "to prevent crew distraction in critical troubleshooting times." This capability is now standard on all Boeing models except the 737. And Ewbank pointedly noted that on the Ethiopian Max crash flight, the clacker "was sounding continuously during the last minutes of flight." Cost was certainly a major consideration when airlines told Boeing they wanted the Max to look the same to their pilots as the earlier 737NG. Gerzanics, the U.S. airline 737 captain, said that Boeing would have installed new flight deck systems if some airline customers had wanted them. But that would have required the airline to provide more pilot training in flight simulators and to buy extra spare parts. He said a more modern crew-alerting system - one that for example allowed you to silence that overspeed warning - would be nice from a pilot's perspective but not necessarily from an airline's. "An airline may not want to incur increased costs when they have a system that works," Gerzanics said. And it does work, said Fehrm, the Leeham analyst, adding that over 50 years the 737 has proven it's "fundamentally a sound design." "There is no better testament to the safety of an aircraft than millions of flight hours with a very low accident rate," he said. Boeing's view is that, aside from fixing MCAS, it's better not to add extra bells and whistles to an airplane that otherwise had a good safety record, not just to save costs but also to maintain safety. Dropping a new software system such as Ewbank's synthetic airspeed into the middle of an old system architecture is a complex task that would require significant design and test resources. The former senior Boeing engineer who worked on the Max said it would risk unintended consequences in some unforeseen flight scenario. "You've got to be very careful anytime you want to add some new feature to a very proven reliable airplane," he said. Peter Lemme, a former Boeing engineer specializing in automatic flight controls, agreed. He said that after Boeing's 2011 decision to upgrade the 737 rather than design an all-new plane, it's best not to mess too much with the old 737 systems architecture. "It would have been better to build an all-new narrowbody design," Lemme said. "But the die is cast. It's best to leave it alone." Still, European regulator EASA as well as Transport Canada are asking for flight deck design changes to address at least some of Ewbank's concern about multiple crew alerts that caused cockpit confusion on the two crash flights. After the two Max crashes, both safety agencies are dissatisfied that a faulty angle of attack sensor not only activated MCAS but also inundated the pilots with multiple confusing warnings. EASA does not believe the 737s two angle of attack sensors are enough, since if they differ, the computer won't know which is correct. It's pushing for some way to add to the Max a third angle of attack measurement. That could be some kind of software-derived, "synthetic" measure - something perhaps like Ewbank's synthetic airspeed. But EASA said that isn't an immediate risk to flight safety and so the modification can come after the Max returns to service. Transport Canada focused particularly on the "stick shaker," an alert that vigorously vibrates the pilot's control column to warn of an approaching stall. In a statement, Transport Canada said it will require Boeing to add some way for pilots to disable the stick shaker if it goes off erroneously, "to reduce pilot workload and distraction." Boeing has proposed for now that the pilots could pull certain circuit breakers to stop the stick shaker, though that's not seen as a good long-term fix. Boeing is working to develop an alternative means of stopping an erroneous stick shaker that could be added after the Max returns to service. In its statement, Transport Canada said that if needed it will take unilateral action to mandate "supplementary procedures and training in Canada." And the agency added that since the same stick shaker system is also on the 737NG, a review of whether to require the same modification on that jet "is ongoing." As a solution to EASA's concerns, Boeing has continued to resist Ewbank's idea of adding synthetic airspeed. The Boeing senior engineer said the company hopes that with MCAS fixed, the stick shaker silenced and pilots trained with new alert checklists, that will prove enough to satisfy EASA too. EASA, which has completed its own set of Max flight tests in Vancouver, British Columbia, declined to comment. Pilot skills needed Boeing has conceded that the assumptions it made about how pilots would react to a malfunction of the MCAS system proved totally wrong. This has led to broad questions about whether the explosive growth of the worldwide pilot cadre in the last 10 years has produced pilots less skilled at handling an airplane with older technology like the 737. Historically, U.S. airline pilots typically came up through the military, then flew regional aircraft before promotion to mainline jets. This gave them a broad range of aircraft experience, including flying manually with minimal automation - sometimes referred to as "flying by the seat of the pants." On the 737, the flight surfaces are moved directly via cables, giving the pilot a tight physical feel for how the surfaces move in response to control column commands. Later Boeing planes, the 777 and 787, are "fly-by-wire" with the control surfaces moved electrically by computer after pilot input. Even then, Boeing lets the pilot overrule the automation. In contrast, on Airbus jets, which are also fly-by-wire, the automated flight control software won't allow a pilot command to move a surface more than the computer permits. Despite these divergent safety philosophies, the Airbus A320 rival to the 737 has a very similar safety record, no better. Today, there are fewer pilots moving up the ranks by flying aircraft that require seat-of-the-pants skills. 737 captain Gerzanics said, "The pilot pool has changed and moved away from flying older technology airplanes." "For the 737, it's a change for the worse," he said. This is not only a Max issue. Both Airbus and Boeing will have to adapt future new airplane designs so they can be flown safely by pilots less capable of handling seat-of-the-pants flying. For current airplanes, including the Max, the manufacturers and the airlines will have to gear up training and skills checks and sort out pilots who are demonstrably not apt at handling an aircraft that requires more from the pilot. "We need a broader look at the spectrum of pilots who are flying," said the former Boeing engineer. "Boeing has recognized that." The FAA and foreign regulators are still working on the updated Max flight manual checklists and the details of the mandatory flight simulator training all pilots will have to complete before they can fly the Max. Glitches likely ahead One thing Boeing is gearing up for when the Max begins scheduled flights again is intense scrutiny of anything more going wrong, however minor. For airplanes in regular service, flight diversions happen routinely for various reasons, and planes land safely. "We'll have to watch the Maxs when they come back. The minute you have a Max divert, it will cause people to become a bit nervous," said the former Boeing engineer. "Boeing will be on top of that. We know something can happen." Fehrm, the former fighter pilot, barely contains his anger at Boeing over the design of MCAS. He calls "really criminal" the way the design failed to deactivate the system once the Lion Air and Ethiopian pilots first countered it. But he's satisfied that can never happen again. He's ready to board a 737 Max. https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-boeing-737-max-redesign-faa-recertification-20200914-h2n34l3wezckhk4wq5krlpg5je-story.html Back to Top HAI Looks To Reboot Safety Accreditation Program The Helicopter Association International (HAI) is looking to reboot its Accreditation Program of Safety (APS) later this year, HAI president James Viola told AIN. APS is based on two sets of performance standards: the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) and the HAI-APS Helicopter Mission Specific Standards (HMSS). HAI developed the latter standards to address safety for specific missions flown by helicopter operators. Viola and HAI senior staff agreed that the APS's past close coupling with the IS-BAO standards, which are geared toward fixed-wing operators, had discouraged wider participation in the program. Begun in 2016, APS has drawn limited industry interest to date with only a half-dozen organizations presently holding current accreditation and two auditors supporting the program. Viola, who came to HAI in January from the FAA, said he initially considered dropping APS as a cost-saving measure. After consulting helicopter operators and upon further examination, he saw the enormous value the program could have if it were made more relevant to helicopter operators. "Cost of insurance is the number-one concern when it comes to operating a [helicopter] business," he said. "If there are operators who aren't good operators, who just do the bare minimum, the insurance companies will help" to identify them by canceling coverage or raising their rates. "The APS will help identify risk" and good operators, he said. "You need to have a safety level higher than the government requirement, to operate as safely as you can at all times to be accredited [under APS]. If you do flight data management and everything else you can do to stop an accident from occurring, then you are certainly operating at a higher level than the regulations, and that is what we want to do [with APS]." But since its inception, APS has been less than a roaring success, not even gleaning support of some companies represented on HAI's board. "I have board members who don't use APS," Viola acknowledged. A key component of APS is its incorporation of the IS-BAO audit architecture as a foundation, and that made APS overly complex and has proven a barrier in attracting small and medium companies to the APS program, HAI v-p of operations Chris Martino acknowledges. That is going to change in "APS 2.0," he said. "IS-BAO will not be the minimum foundation requirement, but it might be contained in a suite of add-on options." HAI vice president of safety Chris Hill finds parallels between APS using IS-BAO as a foundation and an audit of safety programs he participated in while in the U.S. Coast Guard. The USCG, said Hill, "went through some significant overhauls of audits and processes. They found that they were so cumbersome that they were actually increasing risk in the fleet because people spent so much time preparing for, and completing and assessing, their operations that they really weren't making smart risk-based decisions." After an overhaul of the audit process, the USCG was able to drop certain audit overhead and line items "that were just fluff" and accounted for 70 to 80 percent of the audits. "We can't say that we will meet those same types of numbers but that is the concept we are shooting for, to get rid of the time-consuming fluff and focus heavily on risk-based [safety management systems] and the things that really matter, that can get people hurt." Hill said HAI had already received "a fair amount of feedback from previous operators and the auditors themselves. They will be a key feature of this revamp." The IS-BAO standard can be cumbersome to apply to helicopter operations, Hill acknowledged. "The barriers to entry to small and midsize operators is to have the IS-BAO standard as your entry requirement. It was never developed from the ground up to be accommodative or responsive to your typical rotary-wing operation. That is probably the biggest objection we encounter with the [APS] program" as currently constituted. Hill is quick to emphasize that HAI is not denigrating IS-BAO. "Operators that want to get that certification added on should go ahead. But everything is being looked at, and whether the solution set has one, two, or three options has yet to be determined. We already have a fair amount of feedback from previous operators and the auditors themselves, and they will be a key feature of this revamp." Martino said that for "APS 2.0" to be successful, it must be well publicized and offer a compelling value proposition. "It has to be something that provides clear value. The helicopter operator has to say, 'I can't afford not to do that.' The industry has to look at it and has to see there is no reason not to participate, that the value is unquestionable, bringing best practices and higher levels of safety." The focus has to be the small and medium operator, Hill said. "We do not think large operators would be interested in the program because they already have fairly robust oversight by their clients and other entities that are stakeholders in their operations." HAI's own board will be a key focus group for APS 2.0. "We have to make some changes to motivate our own board and all our own working group members to participate in the program. That is going to be one of our top priorities is to get the board and our safety group members behind APS 2.0 and absolutely recommend it to their organizations. Anything short of that and we really need to go back to the drawing board and make some changes." Viola said the program will benefit all operators but could provide substantial savings to Part 141 helicopter flight schools if the FAA accepts the new APS 2.0 standard. If the FAA approves APS 2.0, it could conceivably be used as a standard to streamline the approval process of Part 141 schools, thereby saving them months of delay and enormous concurrent costs as they await an FAA audit before opening. With a valid APS, schools could open/continue operations and the FAA and TSA could confine their routine oversight to auditing the APS audit as time permitted. "When you talk to FAA employees, they really don't want to be auditors, they want to come out and do the [actual] safety work," said Viola, who last served there as manager of the general aviation and commercial division. "There is room for HAI to be the middle man, especially with the NTSB picking on the FAA for trying to do too much and being spread too thin. That is my vision." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/general-aviation/2020-09-14/hai-looks-reboot-safety-accreditation-program Back to Top The Navy suffered four Class A aviation mishaps last month Class A is the most-severe mishap level and generally involves at least $1 million in damage, or the loss of life or serious injury. A Fire Scout drone clipped a building on the base at about 12:20 p.m. on Aug. 14 before crashing to the ground, according to a Navy statement. No injuries were reported and the building suffered what the Navy described as "superficial" damage. While there was no fire or explosion as a result of the mishap, local fire crews responded and doused the wrecked drone with firefighting foam as a precaution. Military aviation mishaps and deaths are declining for the first time in years The military is bringing down aviation mishap numbers, but dangerous and deadly crashes still plague the services. The 31-foot, 3,150-pound Fire Scouts provide reconnaissance, situational awareness and targeting support to forces at sea, and the drone that crashed was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23. The Navy suffered three other major aviation mishaps last month, according to its data. An E-2C Hawkeye crashed during a training mission off Virginia on Aug. 31, and the crew was able to bail out safely. Eight days earlier, another Hawkeye struck the mounted missile on a parked F/A-18 Super Hornet jet when the Hawkeye's hook failed to grab a landing cable on the aircraft carrier Nimitz. No injuries were reported in that incident. And on Aug. 3, an EA-18G Growler jet suffered a port engine failure while conducting an "Initiated Built in Test," which resulted in metal debris and cracks in the exhaust section, according to Navy records. Officials have not yet disclosed the particulars regarding what transpired in that mishap. Four out of the 10 reported naval aviation Class A mishaps occurred in August this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, according to Navy data. This year's 10 Class A aviation mishaps already eclipse the eight Class As reported by the sea service in 2019. The military's overall number of major aviation mishaps declined slightly from 2018 to 2019, from 1,036 to 1,005, respectively, according to a Military Times analysis of Defense Department data. https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2020/09/14/the-navy-suffered-four-class-a-aviation-mishaps-last-month/ Back to Top Ampaire Flies Second Hybrid-Electric Prototype • VIDEO California-based electric aviation company Ampaire flew its second hybrid-electric technology demonstrator for the first time last week. Ampaire's "Electric EEL" is a converted Cessna 337 Skymaster powered by tail-mounted 310-horsepower Continental IO-550 and a 200kW-limited to 120 kW-electric motor in the nose. In partnership with Mokulele Airlines and climate change solutions company Elemental Excelerator, Ampaire plans to use the prototype to conduct a series of flight trials in Hawaii later this year. "Since flying our first Electric EEL last year, we have made substantial improvements to the power train for efficiency, increased performance, reliability and safety," said Ampaire CEO Kevin Noertker. "This technology is scalable with wide applications for scheduled passenger and cargo services, as well as charter services. Our flights with Mokulele will be an opportunity to test both the aircraft and the infrastructure required to advance electric aviation and transport access in Hawaii." According to the company, changes made on the second prototype include moving the battery pack from inside the cabin to the underside of the fuselage, using a lighter, more efficient electric power unit (EPU) and improving cockpit instrumentation and power controls. The demonstrator is designed to cruise at 120 knots with an endurance of 1 hour and 15 minutes plus a 30-minute reserve. As previously reported by AVweb, Ampaire's first hybrid-electric Skymaster demonstrator completed its initial flight in June 2019. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/ampaire-flies-second-hybrid-electric-prototype/ Back to Top American Airlines to Make DFW a Hub for Flights to Asia Saying it would be more profitable to fly to Asia-Pacific of its home base at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, American Airlines is shifting its business from Los Angeles International. According to The Dallas Morning News, American Airlines made the decision despite knowing that, logistically, Dallas is not exactly conducive to flying to markets such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and even Auckland, New Zealand. "Dallas certainly doesn't have the best geography for an Asian hub," said Brian Znotins, American's vice president of network and schedule planning. "But it does have some advantages in connecting people in the Southeast [United States] to Asia." The Morning News noted that American's emphasis on its DFW hub started even before the coronavirus pandemic decimated air travel in the U.S. About 26 percent of all of American's traffic goes through DFW, almost twice as much as what goes through its next biggest hub in Charlotte, N.C. "What American is probably thinking is to capitalize on the huge amount of connectivity that they get here," said Nico Mirman, a Dallas-based aviation consultant with Ailevon Pacific. "That's something Los Angeles cannot offer for them." "In a lot of ways, this is more about reducing L.A. than boosting DFW," Znotins said. "Every Asian carrier feels the need to serve L.A. and that creates overcapacity. Even going into the pandemic, we were losing money on those L.A. flights." https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines/american-airlines-to-make-dfw-a-hub-for-flights-to-asia.html Back to Top US Air Force launches new 'eSeries' aircraft designation. The internet has questions. WASHINGTON - Aircraft, satellites and other weapons that are designed using digital engineering will be designated as part of the Air Force's new "eSeries" and receive the prefix "e," Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett announced Monday. The move is mean to "inspire companies to embrace the possibilities embraced by digital engineering," Barrett said during a Sept. 14 speech at the Air Force Association's Air, Space and Cyber conference. Service leaders - including Barrett and Air Force acquisition exec Will Roper - see digital engineering as a key enabler to reduce the cost and time needed to develop new weapon systems, using virtual modeling and simulation tools to design and test the product before a physical prototype is produced. Boeing's T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet will be the first aircraft to receive the new eSeries designator, Barrett said. "The eT-7 is just the first in our vision of a long line of e-planes and e-sats," she said. "For 73 years, the entire history of the Air Force, X-planes have represented technological innovation. Today, the e-plane and e-sat will join them in making history and ensuring airmen and space professionals have modern tools to protect our nation." The announcement initially prompted confusion over social media as users pointed out that the U.S. military already uses the prefix "E" to designate aircraft that carry equipment for electronic warfare, airborne early warning and airborne command and control missions, as well as those that provide communications relay and tactical data links. These aircraft include the Navy's EA-18 Growler electronic attack plane, the Air Force's E-8 JSTARS surveillance aircraft and the E-6 Mercury, used as an airborne command post for launching intercontinental ballistic missiles. "Usually aircraft designations are designed with functionality in mind," said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group. "It's never been used to describe how they were developed, and I'm not so sure what that has to do with anything that the people who need to keep track of designations need to know. What's the objective here?" The new designation "breaks with precedent in replacing functionality with branding, it's completely confusing for the users, and it's already been taken," Aboulafia said. "Other than that, it's a great idea." The Air Force then clarified that the eSeries designator "e" should be rendered in lowercase to differentiate it from electronic warfare and early warning aircraft that get the "E" prefix. "Instruction 16-401 is being updated to include the process for determining and assigning the 'ePlane' designation," Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said. "The Service Acquisition Executive (SAE) will determine whether an acquisition program meets the digital acquisition threshold. If the system meets the digital acquisition requirements, the "e" designation will be authorized for use on that program." The service also noted that the "e" designator is temporary and that "the program office will request the aircraft mission design series update to drop [the] 'e' [designator]" once the program moves into production, Stefanek said. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/air-force-association/2020/09/14/the-air-force-launched-a-new-eseries-aircraft-designation-the-internet-had-questions/ Back to Top NAV CANADA launches remote air traffic services trial with Searidge Technologies OTTAWA, Sept. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NAV CANADA has commenced a trial to provide Aerodrome Advisory Services (AAS) at Fredericton International Airport (CYFC) remotely from Saint John, New Brunswick (CYSJ) using Searidge Technologies' Enhanced Airport Vision Display (EAVD). The trial, which integrates the EAVD platform into NAV CANADA's operational display suite, aims to demonstrate how certified video technology can increase levels of safety, efficiency and flexibility in air traffic services and aircraft operations. Flight Service Specialists will benefit from increased situational awareness with a clear and real-time view of the airfield operating areas and surrounding airspace, which will support service enhancements such as the control of vehicles on the ground. This remote services trial builds upon past successes with Searidge Technologies, where installations in Red Deer, Kingston, Lethbridge, London, Vancouver and Winnipeg have leveraged camera technologies to enhance operations by providing air traffic services staff with the ability to see beyond line-of-sight obstacles. The trial, which is anticipated to run until the fall, has received Transport Canada approval and will assess safety and efficiency benefits of the new service enhancements enabled through aviation-grade video capability. Quotes "This made-in-Canada technology has the potential to become an important, adaptive service delivery solution, allowing NAV CANADA to respond cost-effectively and efficiently to changes in demand while enhancing safety through increased situational awareness," said Ben Girard, Vice President and Chief of Operations. "Being a Canadian company, we are extremely proud to be supporting NAV CANADA and Transport Canada as they assess the benefits of our Enhanced Airport Vision Display platform for domestic operations. NAV CANADA has been a close partner of ours for many years, this is an excellent demonstration of how, together, we continue to bring innovation to air traffic management," said Moodie Cheikh, CEO, Searidge Technologies. "ATSAC looks forward to proving this technology. With it, Flight Service Specialists will have another tool to move the flying public into and out of airports across this Country with added safety. Great collaboration between the 3 entities involved," said Elizabeth O'Hurley, President, Air Traffic Specialist Association of Canada. Quick Facts • The Transport Canada-approved trial will allow Flight Service Specialist to deliver Aerodrome Advisory Services (AAS) remotely, adding an important layer of situational awareness to existing surveillance displays. • Searidge Technologies has deployed this technology at many international locations around the world as part of their digital tower platform, where digitalization provides increased safety and efficiency benefits to airport and air traffic management operations. • NAV CANADA's ATM platform is fully integrated with Searidge technology to provide seamless operations for flight service specialists. • Facilities across Canada benefiting by combining digital technology with existing operations include Red Deer, Kingston and Lethbridge FSS, and London, Vancouver Harbour, Vancouver International and Winnipeg Towers. About NAV CANADA NAV CANADA is a private, not-for-profit company, established in 1996, providing air traffic control, airport advisory services, weather briefings and aeronautical information services for more than 18 million square kilometres of Canadian domestic and international airspace. The Company is internationally recognized for its safety record, and technology innovation. Air traffic management systems developed by NAV CANADA are used by air navigation service providers in countries worldwide. About Searidge Technologies Searidge develops innovative technology to improve safety and efficiency in the aviation market. With technology at over 35 sites in 25 countries, we are a global leader and preferred partner for Digital Towers and Advanced Airport solutions. Through operational enhancements, collaboration, AI and automation, our team helps our customers proactively transform the way they offer and deliver services to meet changing demands. For more information and to view our video gallery, visit www.searidgetech.com https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/09/14/2092980/0/en/NAV-CANADA-launches-remote-air-traffic-services-trial-with-Searidge-Technologies.html Back to Top The Future of Private Jets While economic uncertainty may have an impact on the future of the private jet industry in the near-term, industry insiders are bullish on the long-term prospects for private aviation. Leaders of the nation's top private jet management, fractional ownership, charter, and membership companies recently shared their outlooks for the post-Covid world with Penta. Berkshire Hathaway unit NetJets is the largest private jet operator in the world. It provides fractional ownership, lease, and jet card programs. Patrick Gallagher is NetJets' president of sales and marketing. "This is a great growth opportunity for our business and the industry as a whole, and we could arguably come back from the pandemic even stronger. In the past, this business was all about the flexibility, service, and access we afforded our customers, but now safetyand security are playing major roles. "Traditionally, the mix has been fairly evenly split between business and personal flying, and the personal flying is coming back first. However, our corporate customers have told us that they fully intend to start flying privately and to do more of it." Flexjet operates 140 aircraft and offers fractional ownership, lease, and the Flexjet 25 jet card. Michael Silvestro is CEO. "Flexjet has had year-over-year growth for the last four years. But in the third week of March it just fell off a cliff. In May, the company noticed an uptick in flying and it has steadily increased. "Meanwhile, the company is taking action to allay customers' Covid concerns such as treating all our aircraft with [antimicrobial coating] MicroShield 360 and taking our crews off the airlines [for repositioning] and transporting them on internal shuttles. Essentially, we've created an internal airline and we're going to do that at least through September." Wheels Up currently has a valuation of $1 billion and operates a fleet of 300 aircraft. Kenny Dichter is CEO. "As we think about a post-pandemic world, we are confident that the overall market for domestic private aviation will grow significantly, as what was once seen as a luxury is now often considered a necessity. Our most important role is to continue to ensure the health and safety of our members while they are traveling. "Philanthropy has also always been at the heart of the company with the Wheels Up Cares program supporting breast and ovarian cancer awareness, heart health, and military families. During the Covid19 crisis, we [created] a new initiative, Meals Up, to supply millions of meals through Feeding America to the food insecure and those facing hunger due to the pandemic. We will continue to leverage our network in order to make a difference throughout the recovery process." Jet Linx is the nation's second-largest private aviation management company, with the second-largest fleet of commercially managed private jets in the country. Jamie Walker is president and CEO. "While the future of travel is still uncertain, we anticipate seeing lasting, positive effects across the industry as a result of the safety initiatives private aviation companies have implemented in efforts to create peace of mind for travelers. As more travelers focus on their health and safety, we expect there will be an increase in those who prefer to fly privately. "We have enhanced our already rigorous sanitation protocols in response to the pandemic and introduced new products to further safeguard our clients and meet this new demand, such as treating our 100-plus fleet aircraft and our private terminals nationwide with the Bioprotect Us System. We also introduced a new Aliate Jet Card Membership, which offers a 90-day private jet travel solution for those in need of an alternative flight solution for necessary travel." Vista Global is a $2.5 billion worldwide operator of more than 70 mid- to large-cabin business jets. Thomas Flohr is its chairman. "We expect to see continued demand for business flights and an increased number of first-time private fliers as they look for more safe and reliable flight solutions. Since commercial airlines have been limiting service to certain areas and at times retreating full from some of their operating regions, the popularity of private jet travel is increasing. Only 10% of people who can afford to fly private currently do. And 71% of our new incoming sales calls at VistaJet are from people who have not regularly used business jets." Correction: Wheels Up has a fleet of 300 planes. At press time, it had 190. Thomas Flohr is chairman of Vista Jet. A previous version incorrectly identified him as CEO. https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-future-of-private-jets-01600091528 Back to Top Airbus CEO warns of compulsory layoffs as airline crisis deepens TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - Airbus has stepped up warnings of compulsory layoffs as air travel fails to recover as quickly as expected from the coronavirus crisis, putting itself on a potential collision course with unions and the French government. The warning in a letter to its 130,000 staff from Chief Executive Guillaume Faury, seen by Reuters, marks a more pessimistic tone from the planemaker, which had previously said only that it could not rule out compulsory measures. "I owe it to you to be transparent: it's unlikely that voluntary departures will be enough," Faury wrote in the letter distributed on Friday evening. Unions and the French government have urged the Toulouse-based planemaker to avoid compulsory layoffs as it sheds up to 15,000 posts to cope with plummeting travel demand. Airbus has repeatedly warned that the outlook is uncertain as the industry's worst crisis hits aircraft deliveries and severely weakens airline finances. But a disappointing rise in air travel over the summer has cast a fresh pall over the company's biggest ever restructuring plans. "Unfortunately, the recovery in airline traffic over the summer period has not been at the level the industry was counting on," Faury wrote. "We must now prepare for a crisis that will probably be even deeper and longer than the previous scenarios suggested". The group representing most of the world's airlines, the International Air Transport Association, said last week that air traffic had failed to recover as quickly as expected during July, a key part of the peak season for airline revenues. July traffic was down 80% compared with the same month of 2019, compared with a 94% drop at the low point in April. IATA says inconsistent border rules are hampering the recovery, making it difficult for airlines to plan ahead. Airbus reported solid deliveries for August, but industry sources say many aircraft are going straight into storage. An Airbus spokesman confirmed that Faury had issued a "general business update" to staff. "This is part of the constant dialogue between Airbus' top management and employees, which is crucial in these challenging times in order to ensure transparency and share information with our global workforce," the spokesman said by email. He declined further comment. An official with France's CGT union accused Airbus of deliberately stoking up staff anxieties ahead of further labour negotiations starting in one week. Airbus has so far launched an internal call for voluntary departures and early retirements, in a scheme expected to run until the end of the year. https://www.yahoo.com/news/airbus-ceo-warns-compulsory-layoffs-125531978.html Back to Top United Airlines says to close flight attendant base at Japan's Narita TOKYO (Reuters) - United Airlines said it would close its flight attendant base at Japan's Narita airport on Oct. 1, a move that will affect 270 flight attendants. Some of the 270 flight attendants may be eligible for a transfer to the United States, a spokeswoman said on Monday, confirming a plan first reported by Reuters in June that also affects the airline's flight crew bases in Frankfurt and Hong Kong. Chicago-based United said earlier this month it was preparing to furlough 16,370 U.S. workers when federal aid expires on Oct. 1 as the pandemic continues to devastate the airline industry. The job cuts include 6,920 flight attendants. https://www.yahoo.com/news/united-airlines-close-japans-narita-114150127.html Back to Top Delta spins off its cash-cow frequent flyer program to serve as collateral for a $6.5 billion loan amidst the airline industry bloodbath Delta Air Lines said it will raise $6.5 billion by mortgaging its SkyMiles frequent flyer program. The airline will spin the program off into a separate holding company for the deal, something United pioneered with a similar deal in July. Airlines, including Delta, continue to hemmorhage cash during the coronavirus pandemic. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Delta Air Lines will become the latest airline to raise cash by using the billions it earns from its frequent flyer program as collateral. The airline said on Monday that it would raise $6.5 billion in loans backed by its SkyMiles program in a private notes offering. Airlines have raised cash through the pandemic largely by offering physical assets like aircraft as collateral, as well as airline business assets such as slots, routes, and airport gates. For US airlines, however, frequent flyer programs, with valuations in the tens of billions of dollars, offer another lifeline. While airlines frame their frequent flyer programs - fairly, in many cases - as being valuable for passengers, the rewards programs earn significantly more for airlines than they cost them. Airlines make billions per year by selling frequent-flyer miles to their credit-card partners. In turn, the credit card companies issue them to cardholders as spending rewards. For example, American Express, which issues co-branded credit cards with Delta, purchases the airline's miles and issues them to customers as a reward for spending, typically at a rate of 1-2 miles per dollar spent on the relevant credit card. American Express paid Delta $4.1 billion for miles in 2019, according to a Delta filing with the Securities and Exchanges Commission. The airline earned a grossed $6.1 billion last year from mileage sales. The loan offer required Delta to spin the SkyMiles program off into a separate, wholly-owned subsidiary: SkyMiles IP Ltd. Airlines have seen revenue plummet during the coronavirus pandemic, with demand falling as much as 97% during the peak of the crisis in April. Although there has been a slight recovery, travel demand remains stagnant at about 30% of 2019 levels, and airlines say they do not expect a complete recovery until 2024. Delta is still burning $27 million per day as the demand recovery stalls. The $6.5 billion loan would give it an additional 240 days of runway at current burn rates, but the airline has told shareholders it will get its daily cash losses down to zero by the end of the year through staff leaves, reduced work schedules, and other cost-cutting measures such as grounding or retiring some of its older planes.. It also has $16.5 billion in liquidity on hand in addition to this loan. Spinning the frequent flyer program off allows the airline to issue the program as collateral without exposing the rest of its business to creditors, while still maintaining full control over the program. United raised $6.8 billion in July using a similar maneuver. American similarly offered its frequent flyer program as collateral for a $4.8 billion government loan through the CARES Act. Delta is also eligible for a loan under that program, but is seeking credit through private lenders instead. In past downturns, airlines have sold large amounts of miles to credit card partners in advance. However, airlines typically have to offer a discount rate for such a sale, which would hurt potential future revenue. https://www.yahoo.com/news/delta-spins-off-cash-cow-161824872.html Back to Top Blue Origin's human lunar lander all-star space team completes first key milestone for moon mission Photo Courtesy: Blue Origin Blue Origin, along with it partners Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper, was one of three companies to be awarded contracts by NASA to develop human lunar landers for future moon missions. Blue Origin's so-called "National Team" is focused on developing a Human Landing System (HLS) for NASA to support its efforts to return human astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2024, and today it announced that along with its partners, it has achieved the first crucial step of defining the requirements of the mission, including any space and ground vehicles used. This is a key first step, which amounts to having established a checklist of thousands of items that will make up the parameters of the National Team's HLS mission. It means that the company can now move ahead to further NASA reviews (it has already agreed with the agency on a number of the proposed design and build standards) and ultimately, the preliminary design phase. Blue Origin and its partners won't be starting from scratch with their design, which is one advantage to the Bezos -founded space company working with established industry partners like Lockheed, Northrop and Draper. They're "evolving" much of their landing system design from existing spacecraft including Orion, the reusable spacecraft that will take NASA's astronauts from Earth back to the moon via the Artemis program, which was built in part by Lockheed Martin. Ultimately, the HLS will be made up of a descent element supplied by Blue Origin, as well as a reusable ascent element provided by Lockheed Martin, and an orbital transfer element from Northrop that gets the lander in position for its last-leg trip to the lunar surface. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blue-origins-human-lunar-lander-154625080.html SURVEY: GA PILOTS AND PIREPs "Dear GA pilot, Researchers at Purdue University are seeking general aviation (GA) pilots to participate in an online study, partially funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) NextGen Weather Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC) program. The goal of this study is to evaluate opportunities for speech-based or other "hands-free" technologies that GA pilots might use to submit PIREPs. If you are able and willing to participate, you will be asked to review a set of 6 weather-related flight scenarios and record PIREPs as if you are flying. The study will last approximately 20 minutes and can be completed using a laptop or desktop computer. Participation in this study is completely voluntary. You can withdraw your participation at any time during the study for any reason. If you agree to participate, you will be asked to acknowledge your voluntary participation. Then there are 4 questions about your flight history, 6 weather scenarios, and 4 questions about PIREPs. Responses to the survey will be completely anonymous. We ask that you complete the study in a quiet location free from background noise. You must be at least 18 years of age or older to participate. When you are ready to begin, please click here: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6lZhv409DcoV8KF and follow the instructions in Qualtrics. Please feel free to share this link with other pilots you know. Email any questions or concerns to Mayur Deo and Dr. Brandon Pitts at nhance@purdue.edu." Back to Top Graduate Research Survey (1) Stress and Wellbeing for Global Aviation Professionals Dear colleagues, I am inviting you to participate in a research project on wellbeing in the aviation industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation has affected aviation professionals around the world, and this research seeks to identify wellbeing strategies that work across professions, employers, families, and nations. All responses to this survey are anonymous. The findings of this research will inform future work by the USC Aviation Safety and Security Program and the Flight Safety Foundation to improve wellbeing for aviation professionals during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Please click or copy the link below to access the survey, and please share it with any interested colleagues. https://usc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cC2nlWEAazl22TX This research will support a treatise towards a Master of Science in Applied Psychology degree at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. The researcher is also on the staff of the USC Aviation Safety and Security Program. Thank you, and please contact us with any questions, Daniel Scalese - Researcher scalese@usc.edu Michael Nguyen - Faculty Advisor nguyenmv@usc.edu Curt Lewis