Flight Safety Information [November 9, 2020] [No. 226] In This Issue : Incident: Ethiopian A359 near Mumbai on Nov 8th 2020, hydraulic leak : Incident: UPS B752 at Seattle on Nov 6th 2020, bird strike : Incident: EAT Leipzig A306 at London on Oct 24th 2020, smoke in cockpit : Pakistani airlines may be banned from flying to 188 countries over pilots issue : New Qualification Program to Enhance Aviation Safety, COVID-19 Response : EasyJet cuts more flights and sells planes after new Covid controls : Chinese airlines are shunning some deliveries of Airbus aircraft amid pandemic : China launches 13 satellites on a single Long March 6 rocket : Impact of COVID-19 on Aviation & Fatigue Survey (Round 1) : PIREP SURVEY Incident: Ethiopian A359 near Mumbai on Nov 8th 2020, hydraulic leak An Ethiopian Airlines Airbus A350-900, registration ET-ATY performing flight ET-690 from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to Bangalore (India) with 8 crew and freight on board, was enroute at FL410 about 160nm south of Mumbai (India) when the crew decided to divert to Mumbai due to a hydraulic leak. The aircraft landed safely on Mumbai's runway 27 about 45 minutes later. http://avherald.com/h?article=4dee9d0e&opt=0 Incident: UPS B752 at Seattle on Nov 6th 2020, bird strike A UPS United Parcel Service Boeing 757-200, registration N453UP performing freight flight 5X-958 from Seattle Boeing Field,WA to Portland,OR (USA), was departing Boeing Field's runway 32L when upon rotation the aircraft encountered a bird strike. Tower advised the crew they saw a little dust coming up at their left hand side. The crew advised they had just had a bird strike. The crew stopped the climb at 4000 feet, joined a left downwind and landed safely on runway 32L about 18 minutes after departure. The aircraft stopped on the runway, the crew requested emergency services to check the left rear part of the aircraft for any damage e.g. like hydraulic or other fluids caused by the bird strike. Emergency services reported they did not see any leaks or damage to wings, engines or tail plane. The aircraft is still on the ground at Boeing Field about 7.5 hours after landing back. The airport reported the aircraft ingested birds into one of its engines. A runway inspection did not find any debris on the runway. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UPS958/history/20201106/1231Z/KBFI/KPDX http://avherald.com/h?article=4ded7749&opt=0 Incident: EAT Leipzig A306 at London on Oct 24th 2020, smoke in cockpit An EAT Leipzig Airbus A300-600 freighter on behalf of DHL, registration D-AEAT performing flight QY-6757 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Milan Malpensa (Italy), was climbing out of Heathrow's runway 27L when the crew declared Mayday, Mayday reporting smoke in the cockpit and stopped the climb at 5000 feet MSL. The crew subsequently donned their oxygen masks. The aircraft returned to Heathrow for a safe landing on runway 27L about 15 minutes after departure and vacated the runway. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 18.5 hours before returning to service. On Nov 6th 2020 the AAIB reported (editorial note: misstating the occurrence date as Oct 27th with all other details matching), that the crew felt smoke, a smoke detector activated. The crew declared Mayday and return to Heathrow for a safe landing at 22:08Z. http://avherald.com/h?article=4de52d0c&opt=0 Quest Kodiak 100 - Fatal Accident (Guatemala) Date: 08-NOV-2020 Time: Type: Quest Aircraft Kodiak 100 Owner/operator: Private Registration: TG-SMT C/n / msn: 100-0080 Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: zone 9, Guatemala City - Guatemala Phase: En route Nature: Cargo Departure airport: La Aurora International Airport (GUA) Destination airport: Cobán Airport (CBV/MGCB) Narrative: The airplane, transporting relief supplies, crashed in zone 9 of Guatemala City and was destroyed by fire. The pilot didn't survive the crash. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/244737 Pakistani airlines may be banned from flying to 188 countries over pilots issue Due to the licence scam, flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has already been barred from flying to the UK and the European Union, The Express Tribune report said. Islamabad: Airlines operating in Pakistan may face a ban from flying to 188 countries over their pilot licensing issue and failure to meet international standards as required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a media report said on Sunday. Due to the licence scam, flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has already been barred from flying to the UK and the European Union, The Express Tribune report said. The scam cam to light after Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the Federal Minister for Aviation, had revealed in August that 262 pilots including 141 of the PIA held fake credentials. Meanwhile, the ICAO in its 12th meeting of its 179th session approved a mechanism for addressing Significant Safety Concerns (SSCs) to its member states. The ICAO issued a serious warning to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) over the safety concerns. In a letter dated November 3, the ICAO stated that PCAA had failed to meet the international standards regarding the personnel licensing and training in relation to the licensing process for pilot. Therefore, the country's aircraft and pilots, are likely to be barred from flying to 188 countries in the world, The Express Tribune reported. Regarding the warning, a Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association (Palpa) spokesperson said: "This will have serious consequences and could be a total disaster for Pakistan's aviation industry. "Palpa had been raising this issue since June 2020 but unfortunately it was neglected by the authorities concerned. "Palpa had forwarded several options to revamp the system in accordance with the international practices and also given a presentation." The association has requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to intervene and setup a special task force to address the matter on urgent basis. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/pakistani-airlines-may-be-banned-from-flying-to-188-countries-over-pilots-issue/articleshow/79113867.cms New Qualification Program to Enhance Aviation Safety, COVID-19 Response The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Airports Council International (ACI) have developed a new Global Airport Safety Professional (ASP) qualification program to help airports improve ICAO compliance, and support critical pandemic recovery activities being aligned through ICAO, worldwide. “The successful recovery and resumption of global air transport operations relies significantly on the technical and managerial skills of airport safety professionals and airport civil aviation regulators, and on their capacity to innovate in the face of the many challenges now confronting our sector and the societies and industries it serves”, said ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu. “This new ICAO-ACI initiative will help assure we maintain a safe, secure, and efficient aviation system supporting both current essential air cargo and other services, and pandemic air transport recovery more generally.” The ASP initiative will focus on middle and senior airport managers and airport regulators. It will address relevant ICAO SARPs and ACI industry best practices. “This program promotes ACI’s leading practices alongside ICAO industry standards and recommended practices giving students an invaluable/extensive learning experience,” ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said. The new ASP program represents the second program jointly offered by ICAO and ACI. The Global ICAO-ACI Airport Management Professional designation Accreditation Programme (AMPAP) was first introduced in 2007, and has since recognized over 1,000 International Airport Professionals (IAPs) globally. https://www.hstoday.us/industry/new-qualification-program-to-enhance-aviation-safety-covid-19-response/ EasyJet cuts more flights and sells planes after new Covid controls Airline expects to fly no more than 20% of planned capacity for rest of 2020 EasyJet is cutting its flight schedule further after the introduction of new lockdown measures in the UK and mainland Europe, saying it will only run a maximum of 20% of planned flights for the rest of the year. The airline said it was scaling back days after the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced fresh Covid-19 restrictions that ban residents in England from holidaying abroad or within the UK until 2 December. EasyJet said similar lockdown measures in Germany and France were also affecting flight plans. The airline’s financial year begins in October and it said: “EasyJet now expects to fly no more than 20% of planned capacity for the first quarter. “We remain focused on cash generative flying over the winter season in order to minimise losses during the first half and retain the flexibility to ramp capacity back up quickly when we see demand return.” The announcement comes only weeks after easyJet said it would be cutting capacity to 25% for the rest of 2020. The airline has taken more drastic measures than the rival budget airline Ryanair, which recently said it would run about 40% of its planned capacity from November to March. EasyJet also announced it had raised almost £131m through the sale and leaseback of 11 of its A320 planes. After the latest deal, easyJet now owns only 41%, or 141 planes, of its fleet. The airline has been trying to raise extra cash as a second wave of coronavirus cases and resulting lockdowns threaten to put extra strain on its finances. The airline said last month it was likely to report a loss in the range of £815m to £845m for the year to September – its first annual loss in the 25-year history of the airline. “EasyJet will continue to review its liquidity position on a regular basis and will continue to assess further funding options, including those that exist in the robust sale and leaseback market,” the company said. British Airways told staff on Thursday that it would make further cuts to schedules over the next month and furlough more staff. It will suspend operations at Gatwick, and expects to operate a skeleton service to bring back passengers already abroad, for permitted essential travel and for freight. The UK airline industry has called for more assistance since the ban on holidays was announced, although early suggestions from government that it could be given a bespoke rescue package have not come to fruition. A taskforce chaired by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, was expected to report to the prime minister early this month. Airlines hope it will heed their calls and recommend pre-departure testing and rapid airport testing as a way of reducing or eliminating the quarantine period, which means most international arrivals or returning passengers must self-isolate for 14 days. Surveys by the industry body Iata suggest the quarantine rules are almost as big a deterrent as an outright travel ban. The Department for Transport said Shapps’ taskforce was “working at pace” to find a solution this week. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/06/easyjet-cuts-more-flights-and-sells-planes-after-new-covid-controls Chinese airlines are shunning some deliveries of Airbus aircraft amid pandemic • Airbus has pushed Chinese airlines to take delivery of jets now that the domestic market has rebounded to pre-COVID levels. • But many airlines are using the pandemic as an excuse to delay deliveries, said one source with direct knowledge of the matter. • Airbus deliveries surged in September to a peak since the crisis began but deliveries to China have lagged despite the fact that airlines there are leading a recovery in jet usage. Chinese airlines are shunning some deliveries of Airbus aircraft, citing fears of coronavirus infection for their staff in the latest tussle over efforts to keep delayed deliveries on track despite the pandemic, industry sources said. Airbus has pushed Chinese airlines to take delivery of jets now that the domestic market has rebounded to pre-COVID levels. But many airlines are using the pandemic as an excuse to delay deliveries, said one source with direct knowledge of the matter. “The fact is there is no shortage of aircraft now in the domestic market,” said the source, who declined to be named. Airbus had no immediate comment. Airbus deliveries surged in September to a peak since the crisis began but deliveries to China have lagged despite the fact that airlines there are leading a recovery in jet usage. Airbus delivered 341 jets in the first 9 months including some 39 to China which usually accounts for a quarter of Western deliveries. Airbus was due to update October data on Friday. Most Airbus planes being delivered to Chinese airlines come from an A320 assembly line in Tianjin, but for other aircraft airlines need to send staff to Europe. Air China in August sent staff to France to take an A350 while China Southern, also in August, sent a team to Germany to take an A321neo. Two other industry sources said Chinese airlines were in many cases dragging their heels over sending staff to Europe, noting this comes at a time when demand for jets is thin. Some special arrangements are being made, however. Spring Airlines in September took an A321neo assembled in Germany. Due to COVID-related restrictions on cross-border travel, Airbus arranged to have the plane flown to Tianjin, spokesman Zhang Wuan said, adding this suited both sides. “So our people did not have to travel abroad. Airbus staff headed straight back to Europe after flying the plane here,” said Zhang. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/07/chinese-airlines-are-shunning-some-deliveries-of-airbus-aircraft-citing-pandemic-reuters-citing-sources.html China launches 13 satellites on a single Long March 6 rocket China launched a Long March 6 rocket early Friday (Nov. 6), successfully sending 13 satellites into orbit. The Long March 6 lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 11:19 a.m. local time Friday (0319 GMT; 10:19 p.m. EDT on Nov. 5) carrying 10 remote sensing satellites for Satellogic, an Argentine imagery company. Each 90-lb. (41 kilograms) satellite carries multispectral and hyperspectral imaging payloads. They have been designed to operate in orbit for at least three years. Satellogic signed a contract with China Great Wall Industry Corporation, an arm of China's main space contractor, in January 2019 for launches to deploy 90 satellites. Satellogic has previously received funding from Chinese tech giant Tencent. The mission also carried and launched three additional satellites. One was the UESTC (also known as Tianyan-05) remote sensing satellite jointly developed by new Chinese commercial satellite companies ADAspace and MinoSpace. Its imagery will be used mainly for smart cities, agriculture, forestry and disaster monitoring. The satellite platform will also test communication payloads operating in the terahertz range, a potential successor to 5G communications. Another payload, Beihang SAT-1 was developed by Spacety, a commercial satellite maker based in Changsha, central China, in collaboration with Beihang University, an aerospace university in Beijing. The satellite will carry out in-orbit experiments including receiving and retransmitting ADS-B signals from aircraft, and exploring laser data transmission technologies. Beihang SAT-1 also carries a NPT30-I2 electric propulsion system developed by French startup ThrustMe. The innovative system uses iodine propellant which can be stored as a solid, reducing cost and complexity compared to gas in-space propulsion. The system can help control the spacecraft and speed up its deorbiting after the end of the satellite's mission, reducing space debris. The test is a follow-up to a previous collaboration between Thrustme and Spacety on the Xiaoxiang-1(08) satellite launched in late 2019. A Chinese Long March 6 rocket lifts off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China, on Nov. 6, 2020. The final satellite, named Bayi-03, involved students from the Jinshan Middle School in Taiyuan. Carrying an ultraviolet telescope developed by Origin Space, a Chinese asteroid mining company, the satellite will be used to target celestial bodies, as well as an imager for carrying out Earth observation and education-related activities. Unlike many of China's older Long March rockets, the new generation Long March 6 uses highly refined kerosene and liquid oxygen for propellant. The launch was the rocket's fourth since its inaugural mission in 2015. China has carried out 32 launches so far in 2020, and could hit around 40 by the end of the year. China led the world in the number of launches per year in 2018 and 2019 and could again beat the United States and Russia to that title. China's Tianwen-1 probe is currently on the way to Mars and the country is expected to launch Chang'e-5, a lunar sample return mission, late this month. https://www.space.com/china-long-march-6-rocket-launches-13-satellites Impact of COVID-19 on Aviation & Fatigue Survey (Round 1) As a longitudinal survey, we will send you links to shorter follow-up surveys each month as the industry adapts to changes in regulations and public demand. For more information about the survey, please contact Dr. Cassie Hilditch at cassie.j.hilditch@nasa.gov or see below for FAQs. We thank you for your time and support of this survey addressing the effects of this unprecedented time in aviation history. All the best, Cassie Hilditch FAQs Overall purpose of the survey To assess the impact of operational changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic on fatigue in US commercial pilots. Any additional background on the study Discussions with airline representatives and pilots have highlighted several unique changes to operations as the industry attempts to adapt to reduced demand and travel restrictions. Many of these changes are unprecedented, therefore, understanding how they impact crew fatigue is important in order to manage the impact of such changes and potentially recommend safeguards to their implementation. Who will have access to the raw data? Only staff from NASA Ames Fatigue Countermeasures Research Laboratory approved by the Institutional Research Board will have access to the raw data. All data will be stored anonymously, with a unique ID code assigned to each participant to track responses over time. Who will make the final conclusions? NASA Ames Fatigue Countermeasures Research Laboratory staff will summarize and analyze the survey responses. Where will the information be published? We hope to publish the results as a NASA Technical Memorandum, and also in safety-focused peer-reviewed journals and industry newsletters to reach a wide range of audiences to maximize the learning opportunities from this survey. We also aim to present the results at relevant scientific and industry conferences where possible. Cassie J. Hilditch, PhD Senior Research Associate Fatigue Countermeasures Lab SJSU Research Foundation NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035 PIREP SURVEY Greetings, Please consider participating in our online survey on PIREPs available at this link, https://fit.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6y8tcXQXgr1Q6lT. The survey will take approximately 10-minutes. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Florida Institute of Technology & Purdue University Dr. Debbie S. Carstens, PMP Graduate Program Chair & Professor, Aviation Human Factors College of Aeronautics|321.674.8820 Faculty Profile: https://www.fit.edu/faculty-profiles/2/debbie-carstens/ Curt Lewis