Flight Safety Information [November 27, 2020] [No. 240] In This Issue : Incident: EAT Leipzig A306 at Brussels on Nov 26th 2020, rejected takeoff above V1 due to difficulties becoming airborne : Incident: Calm AT42 at Naujaat on Nov 26th 2020, runway excursion on landing : Nigerian operators warned to preserve cockpit-voice recordings : CASA under the Microscope: the Scrutiny begins (Australia) : ANA to Raise Up to $3.2 Billion as Outbreak Roils Airlines : MC-21 airplane can be certified by 2021 year-end : Taiwan's China Airlines to shrink name on aircraft to avoid confusion : Delta won't furlough pilots; job cuts possible at Southwest : Is China winning the new space race? : SCSI: Flight Data Analysis and Electronic Systems Investigation Incident: EAT Leipzig A306 at Brussels on Nov 26th 2020, rejected takeoff above V1 due to difficulties becoming airborne An EAT Leipzig Airbus A300-600 freighter on behalf of DHL, registration D-AEAI performing flight QY-841 from Brussels (Belgium) to Vitoria,SP (Spain), was accelerating for takeoff from Brussels' runway 25R at about 18:11L (17:11Z) when the crew rejected takeoff at high speed (approx. 150 knots over ground). The aircraft slowed and stopped on the runway about 360 meters/1200 feet short of the runway end (about 2920 meters/9600 feet after the start of the takeoff roll), however, was disabled with deflated main tyres. Emergency services responded and attended to the aircraft. The runway returned to service (at around 04:31L (03:31Z) about 10:20 hours after the occurrence. The airport reported "Following a technical incident runway 25R has not been available. Runway 19 is used for departures and runway 25L for landings." The DSB opened an investigation into the occurrence. The airline reported the crew encountered difficulties to takeoff prompting them to reject takeoff during rotation when the nose gear had already become airborne. At that point the crew checked their airspeed, it was still slow enough to reject takeoff. Due to the heavy braking 8 tyres deflated. The cause of the problems to become airborne are under investigation, however, it certainly was no problem with the cargo. http://avherald.com/h?article=4dfbfe95&opt=0 Incident: Calm AT42 at Naujaat on Nov 26th 2020, runway excursion on landing A Calm Air Avions de Transport Regional ATR-42-300, freight flight MO-464 from Rankin Inlet,NU to Naujaat,NU (Canada), landed on Naujaat's (former Repulse Bay's) runway 34 (1040 meters/3400 feet long) at about 13:24L (19:24Z) but veered right off the runway and came to a stop with all gear off the runway on soft ground. The airline reported "At about 1:30pm local time today, a cargo flight operated by Calm Air (Calm Air flight 464) left the runway at Naujaat Airport in Nunavut. No passengers were on board and the crew are receiving medical evaluations. Calm Air has informed Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board of the incident." http://avherald.com/h?article=4dfc5514&opt=0 Transport Canada sees 'greater involvement' in aircraft validation after 737 MAX crash MONTREAL (Reuters) - Transport Canada said on Thursday it plans to take a harder look at the relationship between regulators and the manufacturers they oversee, an effort to change the way it validates aircraft following the return of Boeing's 737 MAX to the skies. We "have to look at the interaction that different authorities have with their manufacturers," Nicholas Robinson, the regulator's director of civil aviation, told a Canadian hearing on aircraft certification and the MAX. Canada is close to validating the jet that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared for flight earlier this month after it was redesigned following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. There will be some differences between what the FAA has approved for the MAX and what Canada will require for its airlines, such as in training. In the past, regulators promptly followed the guidance of the FAA on Boeing aircraft, but many are now wary of seeming to toe the FAA line after the U.S. agency was faulted for lax oversight. “It’s public record that information was not forthcoming with regard to particular aspects of this aircraft," Robinson said. "That will have to change.” The ability of regulators to cooperate is crucial in a sector spanning dozens of jurisdictions. Having a regulator such as the FAA do the heavy lifting to certify a U.S. plane reduces costs and time, because agencies abroad can validate the results without having to duplicate them. Transport Canada, which spent about 15,000 hours in its validation of the MAX jet, expects to play a greater role in overseeing aircraft in the future, but would not displace the existing system, Robinson said. “We’ll see a greater involvement in validation, but we do have to keep with the system where the state of design certifies the aircraft and the other leading authorities go ahead and validate the aircraft independently.” https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/transport-canada-sees-greater-involvement-233958259.html Nigerian operators warned to preserve cockpit-voice recordings Nigerian regulators have disclosed that they had to warn airlines against overwriting of cockpit-voice recorders, after being hampered during inquiries by absence of data. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority sent an all-operators letter to carriers in July last year alerting them to the issue. “[We have] noticed that airline operators’ flightcrew members are in the practice of continuously overwriting the [cockpit-voice recorder] information,” it stated, adding that this has “impeded” inquiries by making the task of retrieving data “impossible”. The letter also warned that the authority would apply “enforcement processes” in the event of non-compliance with regulations on preserving recorder information. Investigators disclosed the letter during an inquiry into a runway excursion at Lagos by an Air Contractors Boeing 737-500 (5N-BLG), after finding that the aircraft’s cockpit-voice recorder had been overwritten. Analysis of the event has determined that excessive rudder application, after a crabbed approach, led to the excursion on 9 April 2016. The crew of the aircraft, arriving from Port Harcourt, had already executed a go-around after encountering rain and a strong crosswind, up to 38kt, during an approach to runway 18L. As the 737 returned for a second attempt to land, the crew requested the parallel runway 18R, and were informed of a 15kt crosswind from the left. The runway surface was wet. Boeing documentation, according to the Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau, states that the 737 has a maximum crosswind capability of 15kt on a wet runway. Flight-data recorder information shows the aircraft was crabbing to the left during the ILS approach with a heading of 176.5°. Its autopilot was disengaged at 83ft, just seconds before touchdown, and the inquiry says this gave the impression of an autoland approach “gone wrong”. The first officer, who was flying, applied right rudder input prior to touchdown – probably to de-crab the aircraft – and continued this input afterwards, the rudder deflecting 25.8°. Investigators state that this rudder application was “excessive”. As the aircraft touched down, to the right of the runway centreline, it veered towards the right, travelling 540m before encountering a grass verge. The aircraft ran onto the grass and the captain took control to bring it back to the runway, taxiing to a halt at a parking bay. Investigators found the cockpit recorder of the 737-500 was not preserved None of the 64 occupants was injured. But an inspection showed three main-gear tyres and a nose-gear tyre had sustained deep cuts and abrasions, while grass had collected in the wheel bay, axles, and flap tracks. The inquiry says the crew did not report the incident to air traffic control, nor was it entered into the technical log. By the time the cockpit-voice recorder was received, two days after the event, its data had been overwritten. “The recent trend observed by [the bureau] during investigation of occurrences was that [cockpit-voice recorders] had been continuously overwritten on receipt from the aircraft operators,” says the inquiry. Overwritten recorders have been an aspect of other Nigerian events including those involving an Air Peace 737-300 in May last year, plus a Med-View Airlines 737-500 and another Air Peace 737-300 two months later in July. https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/nigerian-operators-warned-to-preserve-cockpit-voice-recordings/141334.article CASA under the Microscope: the Scrutiny begins (Australia) Amidst the amorphic society that COVID-19 has created, the senate last week pressed ahead with their inquiry into the impact of safety regulation on general aviation, with all but CASA themselves appearing via video link. Even the chairperson, Senator Susan McDonald, was present in the room as a disembodied face on a video screen. But the difficulties didn't let CASA off the hook. The public hearing on Friday 20 November was the first for the Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport (RRAT) inquiry into the state of the GA industry, with particular focus on the operation and effectiveness of CASA. Over the five hours, the inquiry–which included also senators Rex Patrick and Glenn Sterle–heard evidence from nine groups including operators, associations, private individuals and CASA itself. Overall the picture being painted was one of an industry struggling under the weight of regulation and a regulator deaf to the appeals. From calls to adopt the Federal Aviation Administration system of regulation to accusations of misfeasance and a negative impact on aviation safety, CASA and its system of regulation endured a litany of slings and arrows, with only the Regional Aviation Association, Recreational Aviation Australia and CASA itself providing any tempering input. John McDermott, of QLD helicopter operator McDermott Aviation, told the inquiry that the complexity of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) was failing to make aviation safer than countries with simpler systems such as Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the USA, and that it was the GA industry itself that ensured safety. "CASA doesn't make industry safer; regulations don't make industry safer," McDermott testified. "We make industry safer because there are so many reasons for us to be safe other than just adhering to a regulation, which we've got to do. "I believe we're safe despite CASA. At the moment I would suggest there are operations in Queensland that are operating outside of CASA's regulations, probably unknowingly, that are operating safely because the regulations that are there at the moment, for example, certifying of some aircraft or various type ratings ... are not being complied with, but are actually being done and being done safely despite the regulations." McDermott also went on to tell the inquiry they have seen no evidence that the changes to the Civil Aviation Act 1988 that require CASA to take into account cost have made any difference "at the coalface." That position was later supported by North Queensland Aviation Services' Mary Brown, who admitted the situation had become so tenuous that the company had developed a strategy to exit the aviation industry. AOPA Australia's Ben Morgan–one of CASA's more strident critics–went so far as to say he thought the decline of general aviation was intentional and reiterated calls for a Royal Commission into safety regulation. "Over the last four-and-a-half years, I've taken [many issues] to CASA on numerous occasions, and they've been thoroughly ignored," Morgan said, "and so the decline of the Australian general aviation industry is not [an] accidental occurrence, it's an intentional occurrence, because CASA are aware that these things have been driving broad decline in our industry, but they have been unwilling to either listen to industry or even consider that they must change direction in order to stop the industry being forced out the back door." Phil Hurst, CEO of the Australian Aerial Application Association (AAAA) supported the position that CASA was reluctant to listen to the GA industry, saying that the regulator was the "primary restriction" on GA and that the consultation process was "appalling window-dressing". "The consultation consists of CASA telling you what they've decided and then you trying to talk them down off the high building," he told the committee. "Sometimes we're successful, sometimes we're not." Hurst, who sat on the Aviation Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) was also critical of the way CASA used the Technical Working Groups (TWG), in particularly the Part 138 group, claiming there was a disconnect between real risk management and what the regulations call for. He also stated that TWGs were given misleading information on what was to be included in the final regulations. However, Malcolm Sharp, chairman of the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) said that he believed what was hurting general aviation was competition, citing young people finding more exciting things to do, the proliferation of recreational aviation and the rise of low-cost carriers as concerns. RAAA's position according to Sharp is that CASA shouldn't be a "punching bag" for everything. Sharp supported the AAAA's contention that the work of the TWGs was being "hijacked" within CASA and also said he believed there were people within the regulator who were intentionally blocking reforms and that those people needed to be weeded out. Sharp also said that as an industry, GA needed to move on because CASA was only part of the issue. The most passionate evidence came from former Australian Pilot Training Alliance (APTA) boss Glen Buckley, who was scathing in his assessment of CASA to the point of making pointed accusations of misfeasance, and said that he believed CASA "reverse engineered" process in the case of APTA in order to achieve a pre-determined outcome. In defending his organisation, CASA Director of Aviation Safety and CEO Shane Carmody said that he believed not all the evidence given was accurate. "Listening to all the statements today, there's certainly been some positive contributions to the debate on general aviation, but there have also been some highly negative statements about CASA, some possibly valid, but some have to be contested because I would argue that they are wildly inaccurate," he said. Carmody also said that he was disappointed that some of the issue raised were made to sound as if they were current when they had been raised several years ago. He also pointed out that CASA had inherited the regulatory reform program in 1995 and that in the period 2000-10, 22 new regulations were finalised with a further six between 2010-16. "A number of the people who spoke today were involved with the process from the outset," he pointed out, "and they still might be a bit unhappy with the outcome, but they were involved with the consultation for 15 years. Since 2015, I've created the Aviation Safety Advisory Panel, and within three years we completed the 11 remaining regulations and they have been made. "The were all consulted under the Technical Working Groups, and some people have made the point that in the past three to four years there has been increased consultation." Carmody said that suggestions made in submissions that the regulatory reform program was still underway was "disingenuous." A visibly emotional Carmody went on to address several issues raised directly, indicating that CASA had approved 25,000 aviation medicals and rejected 84, which he believed hardly constituted "systematic abuse" as claimed by AOPA. He also contested Ben Morgan's claim that CASA regularly ignored AOPA, saying they had responsed to him many times. After several witnesses stated that there had been no change to the way CASA operates after the changes to the Civil Aviation Act 1988 had passed through parliament, Carmody responded to a question by Senator Patrick by saying that CASA genuinely considered cost and had processes in place to try to comply with the legislation. The senate inquiry is ongoing and is still taking submissions, with an interim report still due on the last parlimentary sitting day of 2020, currently 10 December. http://www.australianflying.com.au/latest/casa-under-the-microscope-the-scrutiny-begins ANA to Raise Up to $3.2 Billion as Outbreak Roils Airlines • Japan’s biggest carrier expects a record loss this fiscal year • Japan Airlines also raising funds, seeking up to $1.75 billion ANA Holdings Inc. will raise as much as 332.1 billion yen ($3.2 billion) via an overseas and domestic share placement as airlines around the world rush to shore up their finances amid the coronavirus pandemic. Japan’s largest carrier, whose shares have slumped 30% this year, will use the proceeds to repay long-term debt and buy Boeing 787 aircraft to improve its capacity “to optimize supply to demand, and reduce negative environmental impacts,” according to a statement Friday. Airlines globally are mired in their worst-ever crisis as passenger traffic plunges due to the outbreak and virus cases show no sign of abating across the Northern Hemisphere ahead of winter. While there’s hope a Covid-19 vaccine will get people back on planes, carriers are still expected to lose a combined $157 billion in 2020 and 2021, according to the International Air Transport Association. “We will accelerate our business reform while keeping our financial health,” Kimihiro Nakahori, ANA’s director of finance, said at a media briefing. With the public offering and some 400 billion yen in subordinated loans announced last month, the carrier will be able to maintain its shareholder equity ratio of around 32%. ANA aims to move that metric back to about 40% as soon as possible, Nakahori said. “We can be reassured about ANA’s cash,” said Kotaro Toriumi, an independent aviation analyst. He also pointed to how Boeing 787 models have been useful in the pandemic because carriers can adjust the seat configurations. It’ll also be easier to manage pilots, he said. Cost Reductions ANA had cash equivalents of 451 billion yen as of Sept. 30. Its shares dipped 1.7% on Friday. ANA’s move comes after the nation’s other major carrier Japan Airlines Co. last week said it would raise as much as much as $1.75 billion in a share sale. JAL, which received a government bailout after filing for bankruptcy a decade ago, will offer the shares at a 3% discount. Some of the money it’s raising will be used to repay debt, with the goal of making it easier to issue bonds or borrow funds from banks in future, a JAL official said. ANA is forecasting a record net loss of $4.8 billion for the fiscal year through March 2021. It unveiled a restructuring plan last month that calls for, among other things, around 400 billion yen in cost reductions by cutting procurement, office rents, the temporary transfer of hundreds of employees to other companies, and the retiring or halting of orders for 33 aircraft to bring the group’s fleet down to 276 planes. Although Japan’s government launched a ‘GoTo’ domestic tourism campaign to prop up the deteriorating economy, it hasn’t been a great success with people reluctant to travel due to fear of catching the virus. Case numbers are spiking again in cities such as Tokyo and Osaka and economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said earlier this week the government is taking advice to possibly halt the campaign. Overseas visitors to Japan were down 99% in October from a year earlier as the country largely kept its borders shut. Heizo Takenaka, an economist who served as a minister and is an adviser on Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Growth Strategy Council, said this week that ANA and Japan Airlines will eventually need more support and that they should “become one.” In neighboring South Korea, the two biggest airlines plan to merge, with Korean Air Lines Co. hoping to acquire Asiana Airlines Inc. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-27/ana-to-raise-up-to-3-2-billion-as-coronavirus-roils-airlines?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google MC-21 airplane can be certified by 2021 year-end Flights tests of MC-21 civil jet are underway since 2017 MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. The Russian passenger jet MC-21 can be certified by the end of 2021 and the change in the earlier planned timeframe is associated with restrictions of other countries on supply of components and air travel of specialists, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov told TASS in an interview on Friday. • Aeroflot plans using 200 SSJ 100, MC-21 airplanes by 2026 "We hope to do this [the certification - TASS] by the end of the next year, considering all the challenges we face in this year. In the first instance, the postponement is due to restrictions introduced by foreign authorities in terms of operations of component supply enterprises and restrictions on air travel of specialists that participated in test flights and in startup of the equipment used to produce this airplane," the minister said. Flights tests of MC-21 civil jet are underway since 2017. Certification confirms the possibility of safe operation of the jet and it is impossible to deliver airplanes to air carriers without certificates. The certificate in Russia is issued by the Federal Air Transport Agency. https://tass.com/economy/1228283 Taiwan's China Airlines to shrink name on aircraft to avoid confusion Taiwanese national carrier to emblazon aircraft with images symbolic of country TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China Airlines, Taiwan's leading international carrier, is reportedly planning to repaint its aircraft with Taiwan-themed images and display its name in a smaller font to avoid confusion with Chinese airlines. The word "China" in the name of the flagship carrier has caused confusion at international destinations over the years and is often mixed up with Air China, which is owned by the Chinese government. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, China Airlines has undertaken missions to deliver Taiwan's donations of medical supplies to the world, again leading some to mistakenly associate it with China. In July, Taiwan's legislature approved a proposal to have the Ministry of Transportation and Communications come up with a rebranding plan. However, the decision did not include a timeline for when the renaming process would take place. The discussion was reignited Wednesday (Nov. 25) when a photo of China Airlines' alleged new aircraft was posted on the aviation website JETPhotos by user Jordan Arens. In the photo, the smaller font of "China Airlines" was seen near the tail of the plane, leaving a large empty space on the main section of its body. When contacted by media, China Airlines explained that the aircraft in the photo is a Boeing 777 Freighter (777-F) and that it is still in the test flight phase. The company said the plane's new appearance will be revealed to the public later. Transportation Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) confirmed the news during a press interview on Thursday (Nov. 26), saying that distinctive symbols of Taiwan will be added. He said official announcements will be made once the planes have been fully emblazoned with the new additions, reported UDN. According to CNA, China Airlines has purchased six Boeing 777-F airliners to replace its older aircraft. These are expected to enter service as soon as the end of the year. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4062811 Delta won't furlough pilots; job cuts possible at Southwest DALLAS -- Delta Air Lines on Wednesday dropped a threat to furlough more than 1,700 pilots after they ratified a cost-cutting agreement that the airline said was needed to help it cope with a downturn caused by the pandemic. The airline had planned to furlough about 13% of its 12,900 pilots on Saturday if an agreement to reduce costs wasn't reached. The deal doesn't cut pilot pay rates, but it indirectly lowers their pay by reducing guaranteed monthly working hours by up to 5%. In exchange, Delta promised not to furlough pilots through Jan. 1, 2022. The Air Line Pilots Association said about four-fifths of its Delta members voted and 74% of those ratified the deal. The union said the 1,713 pilots who would have been furloughed will get 30 hours of pay per month and keep their benefits. They won't fly but will be notified if they can be recalled to service, the union said. Atlanta-based Delta has also cut hours for ground workers to save money, but it has avoided furloughs - layoffs of union workers who have rehiring rights. American Airlines furloughed 19,000 workers and United cut about 13,000 in October after billions in federal payroll aid ran out. Southwest Airlines has warned its unions their members could face the first furloughs in Southwest history if they don't accept concessions in exchange for job security through 2021. The airline says it is overstaffed by an estimated $1 billion. Dallas-based Southwest has sent letters warning more than 1,900 workers that their jobs could be eliminated starting in late January unless the airline gets union concessions or more federal aid. Across the industry, tens of thousands of other employees took buyouts or early retirements this year as the airlines' financial situation grew more dire. U.S. air travel remains down more than 60% from a year ago, causing the airlines to report billions in losses. Delta's chief of operations, John Laughter, told pilots in a memo Wednesday that the airline's recovery from the pandemic will be uneven. He said the recent increase in virus cases is affecting bookings for the holiday season. https://abc7chicago.com/delta-airlines-furloughs-flight-flights/8286573/ Is China winning the new space race? China has been the only country to land on the Moon for over 40 years – since the Soviet Luna program. Its recent Chang’e missions (1-4) demonstrated that China could not only orbit and land on the Moon, but also successfully operate a rover. On November 24, the Chinese National Space Administration launched Chang’e 5 – the latest in the series. This mission to collect and return samples is impressive. Recent failed landings on the Moon by an Israeli privately funded mission and the Indian Vikram lander show just how challenging such missions still are. So is this solely a case of China using space exploration to show the world that its new scientific and technological capabilities rival those in the west? And if so, what are the consequences? The mission Chang’e 5 (named after the Chinese goddess of the Moon) is intended to collect samples from Mons Rümker, a 70km-wide, 500 metre- high dome made of basalt in the Oceanus Procellarum Mare region of the Moon’s nearside. The plan is to then bring back 2kg of drilled and scooped samples to Earth. If the mission succeeds, planetary scientists will be able to test some key theories about the origin of the Moon and the inner Solar System’s rocky planets, which date back to the Apollo era The age of a rocky body can be estimated based on its density of craters. The longer a body has existed, the more debris will have bombarded its surface. But it isn’t a very precise measurement. Estimates of the age of Mons Rümker and its surrounding area, derived from the number of impact craters on it, have ranged from over 3 billion to 1 billion years. The absolute age of returned samples will be determined with radiometric dating. This is a method of dating geological specimens by working out the relative proportions of particular radioactive isotopes (elements with more or fewer particles in the atomic nucleus than the standard substance) that they contain. This will help us better understand how crater density corresponds to age. And that can then be used to improve crater-density age models of surfaces on the Moon and Mars, Mercury and Venus. The new space race Few would argue with the fact that the rise of China’s space program – which involves satellites, human missions and a space station planned for 2022 – has been rapid and successful. But it has competition. The US-led Artemis Program has set an aim to return humans to the Moon by 2024, which would notably be before any Chinese taikonaut landing. The European Space Agency also has its own plans for the Moon, including the European Large Logistics Lander EL3, which aims to deliver a 1.3-tonne lander with new scientific experiments in the late 2020s. However, China’s plans for the Moon are becoming more ambitious than Europe’s. A new cohort of 18 Chinese trainee taikonauts has recently started their training with long-term aims of crewing their new space station, walking on the Moon and ultimately reaching Mars. The rocket fuel for this rapid growth is research spending in China. The country is close to reaching its aim of spending 2.5% of its growing GDP on research and development. This is closing the gap on the United States, which spent 2.8% of GDP in 2018. The UK currently spends about 1.7% of its GDP on research and development. China’s capabilities will no doubt continue to grow. As a scientist in the west, I wonder how this will shape research in future generations. Will Chinese universities start to lead space research and influence rankings that are currently dominated by western universities? Is this rapid development a good thing, given that the Chinese state is not democratic? There are reasons for optimism, such as potential collaboration – at least between Europe and China. The fact that many geochemical models of lunar and planetary formation have their roots in the 380 kg of samples brought back by the Apollo missions means that there is worldwide excitement among scientists about sampling a new area of the Moon. Planetary scientists in the west are in fact taking a keen interest in Chang’e 5 and the Chinese lunar program. One of my earliest memories of space science was seeing the successful US-Soviet Skylab space station link up in 1973-74. That was a counter balance to the cold war era politics of the time, and it happened despite the absence of democracy in the Soviet Union. As a university scientist, I believe that the presence of many Chinese students on our campuses over the last decade could help promote future collaboration and changes. COVID-19 is hindering that now, so I will be hoping that Chang’e 5 is successful and becomes a route to future collaboration which might help defuse tension. https://www.livescience.com/is-china-winning-new-space-race.html Curt Lewis