Flight Safety Information [December 7, 2020] [No. 246] In This Issue : Incident: KLM B772 at Amsterdam on Dec 3rd 2020, transponder problems : Incident: Total B722 near Rio de Janeiro on Dec 2nd 2020, engine shut down in flight : Incident: JAL B772 at Okinawa on Dec 4th 2020, engine shut down in flight after uncontained failure, parts of engine cowl dropped : Incident: Spicejet B738 at Guwahati on Dec 4th 2020, hard touchdown short of runway threshold : Incident: Cargojet B763 at Vancouver on Dec 2nd 2020, hydraulic failure indication : Incident: Delta A339 near Tokyo on Dec 2nd 2020, hydraulic failure : Report: Loose screw causes CitationJet inflight upset : FAA Reviewing Whether Pilots Can Take COVID Vaccine : 224 killed, 186 aircraft lost. Military pilots worry about being ‘the next accident’ : Air Safety Panel Recommends Flight Hour Increase, Emphasis on Maintenance, Steady Funding : Hackers leak data from Embraer, world's third-largest airplane maker : Plane Lands Safely at JFK Airport After Report of Bomb Threat: Officials : Paris Air Show becomes latest aviation casualty of pandemic : Vaccine airlift delivers shot in the arm for airlines : Jet Airways may restart domestic and international operations by summer of 2021 : Lufthansa will have shed 29,000 staff by year end: Bild am Sonntag : Chinese probe orbiting moon with Earth-bound samples : 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Incident: KLM B772 at Amsterdam on Dec 3rd 2020, transponder problems A KLM Boeing 777-200, registration PH-BQE performing flight KL-759 from Amsterdam (Netherlands) to San Jose (Costa Rica), was climbing out of Amsterdam's runway 24 when the aircraft transponder did not transmit any altitude information while all other data continued to be transmitted. While the crew was working the checklists trying to restore the transponder functionality, the aircraft continued the climb. Amsterdam radar needed to tell the crew however, that the UK would not accept the aircraft without a functioning Mode-C transponder, the crew advised they were not aware of the problem prior to departure. After consultation with dispatch and maintenance the crew decided to return to Amsterdam where the aircraft landed safely on runway 18R about 60 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 777-200 registration PH-BQC reached San Jose with a delay of 3:20 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 23 hours after landing back in Amsterdam, this time with fully working transponder again. The occurrence aircraft had arrived into Amsterdam from Argentina with a transponder, that had failed near Cape Verde during the flight, see Incident: KLM B772 near Cape Verde on Dec 3rd 2020, transponder problems. The aircraft had remained on the ground for about 5 hours before departing for this occurrence flight. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e02aa50&opt=0 Incident: Total B722 near Rio de Janeiro on Dec 2nd 2020, engine shut down in flight A Total Linhas Aereas Boeing 727-200 freighter, registration PR-TTP performing a flight from Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP to Rio de Janeiro Galeao,RJ (Brazil) with 3 crew, was enroute at FL190 when the aircraft encountered two strong jolts prompting the crew to check their instruments. The crew identified the parameters of the #2 engine (JT8D, tail mounted) had changed and shut the engine down. The aircraft continued for a safe landing in Rio de Janeiro about 20 minutes later. Brazil's CENIPA reported the aircraft was in cruise flight when two strong jolts prompted the crew to check their instruments and identify the #2 engine's parameters had changed. The crew worked the related checklists, shut the engine down and continued for a safe landing at the destination without further incident. Total Linhas Aereas operate 5 Boeing 727-200 freighters and 4 ATR-42-500 for passenger and cargo operations. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e01fc1b&opt=0 Incident: JAL B772 at Okinawa on Dec 4th 2020, engine shut down in flight after uncontained failure, parts of engine cowl dropped A JAL Japan Airlines Boeing 777-200, registration JA8978 performing flight JL-904 from Okinawa to Tokyo Haneda (Japan) with 178 passengers and 11 crew, was climbing out of Okinawa when the left hand engine (PW4084) failed and its access doors ripped off with huge noises prompting the crew to stop the climb at FL190 and return to Okinawa for a safe landing about 35 minutes after departure. The aircraft stopped on the runway and was subsequently towed to the apron. Japan's Ministry of Transport rated the occurrence a serious incident, Japans TSB have dispatched investigators on site and opened an investigation. The ministry reported one of the fan blades of the left hand engine was damaged at the root. Passengers reported there was a bang and sudden noise. The captain subsequently announced the left hand engine had suffered damage, they were returning to Okinawa on the right hand engine only. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e011c3a&opt=0 Incident: Spicejet B738 at Guwahati on Dec 4th 2020, hard touchdown short of runway threshold A Spicejet Boeing 737-800, registration VT-SLL performing flight SG-960 from Bangalore to Guwahati (India), was on approach to Guwahati's runway 02 at about 08:16L (02:46Z) when the aircraft developed a high sink rate and touched down hard at about 2.12G short of the runway threshold onto the paved runway end safety area, contacted and damaged three threshold lights and rolled out without further incident. A post flight inspection revealed one of the tyres had received cuts. India's DGCA opened an investigation into the occurrence, both flight crew were suspended pending the investigation. The airline reported the return flight SG-961 was delayed due to operational reasons. Passengers waiting for the return flight SG-961 reported they were told no captain was available for the flight and needed to be flown in from Delhi. The occurrence aircraft departed for the return flight SG-961 after about 10.5 hours on the ground with a delay of 9:45 hours. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e01af9a&opt=0 Report: Loose screw causes CitationJet inflight upset Date: 13-APR-2019 Time: 14:22 UTC Type: Cessna 525 Citation CJ1+ Owner/operator: private Registration: N680KH C/n / msn: 525-0680 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: None Category: Serious incident Location: Bournemouth Airport - United Kingdom Phase: Initial climb Nature: Private Departure airport: Bournemouth International Airport (BOH/EGHH) Destination airport: Rotterdam/The Hague Airport (RTM/EHRD) Investigating agency: AAIB Narrative: The pilot had recently bought the aircraft, a Cessna 525 Citation CJ1+, which had been fitted during its previous ownership with a Tamarack ATLAS (Active Technology Load Alleviation System) wing extensions and winglets. Active aerodynamic control surfaces are positioned in the horizontal section of these extensions. These control surfaces (known as Tamarack Active Camber Surfaces, or TACS) are automatically activated in high positive or negative g situations to unload the wing and keep the wing loading within the original envelope. On the incident day, the owner was intending to fly himself and three friends from Bournemouth to Rotterdam. The pilot, who operated the aircraft in a single pilot capacity, occupied the front left seat. One friend occupied the front right seat, and the other two were seated in the passenger cabin. The aircraft took off from runway 08 at Bournemouth Airport at 14:17 and the pilot engaged the autopilot shortly afterwards. It flew a heading of 075° and climbed to altitude 3,000 ft. At 14:18:35 hrs ATC instructed the aircraft to climb to FL100, which the pilot read back. The ATCO instructed '...resume own navigation direct goodwood’, which required the aircraft to turn right. No response was received from the pilot to that and two further transmissions. The pilot recalled feeling light vibration, then a button on the left of the instrument panel labelled ‘atlas’ illuminated, displaying the text ‘atlas inop limit 140 kias’ in red. At 14:18:39 hrs, when the aircraft was around 6 nm east of the airport, at 3,000 ft amsl and 258 KIAS, the aircraft rolled left with a rate the pilot described as "very quick". As it rolled through 45° the autopilot disengaged automatically. The pilot reported applying full right aileron and full right rudder, but these actions were insufficient to control the aircraft. He moved the throttles to idle and used both hands on the control column, but the aircraft continued descending. Recorded data showed that a bank angle alert was generated at around 60° roll, and there was a sharp increase in normal acceleration, which reached +2.65 g. The aircraft’s roll angle peaked at 75° left wing down, with 9° nose down pitch, 19 seconds after the onset of the roll. Its rate of descent peaked soon after at 4,500 ft/min, corresponding with an airspeed of 235 KIAS, reaching a minimum altitude of 2,300 ft. During the upset the pilot pressed the illuminated ATLAS button and re-set the atlas main circuit breaker (CB), but neither action had an effect. At 14:19:18 hrs the pilot reported ‘a problem’ to ATC. The ATCO attempted to ascertain what was wrong but the pilot sounded breathless and strained, and his transmissions were incomplete and difficult to decipher. Whilst the pilot did not declare an emergency the ATCO, believing he sounded "extremely shaken", advised him to join left hand downwind for runway 08, and instigated a full emergency procedure. The pilot recalled it took all his strength to lift the aircraft's nose, reduce its airspeed, and recover the bank angle to around 30° left wing down. He climbed the aircraft to 3,200 ft and its airspeed reduced to 144 KIAS. It then entered a descending left turn. After descending from 900 ft to 300 ft amsl during the downwind leg, the aircraft turned on to base leg above a sports field. The pilot reported using continuous full right aileron and some right rudder until landing. Less right rudder was required as airspeed reduced, and he achieved lateral control by modulating his right foot pressure. By reducing that pressure the aircraft turned continuously through left base on to a 1 nm final approach, right of the runway centreline at 200 ft amsl. The tower controller described the turn as so tight that the aircraft appeared to be "on its side". He and several colleagues believed the aircraft would crash short of the airfield. At the landing speed of 105 KIAS the pilot believed he could land the aircraft straight so used "less right foot" to straighten the approach and, when over the runway, applied full flap. The aircraft landed at 14:23 hrs. During the investigation of the TACS Control Unit (TCU) a screw and washer which attached and earthed the electrical connector printed circuit board to the unit’s chassis were missing and found elsewhere in the unit. These items caused a short circuit in the TCU. On April 23, 2019, EASA issued an emergency airworthiness directive requiring Tamarack ATLAS to be deactivated and the TACS to be fixed in place on ATLAS-equipped Citations. Tamarack Aerospace came with a fix, resolving the EAD on 11 July 2019. AAIB Conclusion: The uncommanded left roll occurred because a short circuit in the left ATLAS Control Unit caused the associated control surface to fail in the fully deflected up position. The pilot, who had recently purchased the aircraft already modified with the ATLAS winglets, was not aware of the associated aircraft flight manual supplement, which was absent from the relevant section of his aircraft’s flight manual. The pilot’s instinctive response to the aircraft upset was different to that assumed by certification flight testing and the ATLAS inoperative emergency procedure. Some of those differences may be addressed by the ‘Aircraft Safety and Certification Reform Act of 2020’ which is underway in the USA. Sources: AAIB 23 April 2019: Upset incidents lead EASA to issue emergency AD on CitationJets with active winglets Accident investigation: cover Investigating agency: AAIB Status: Investigation completed Duration: 1 year and 7 months Download report: Final report https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/245351 FAA Reviewing Whether Pilots Can Take COVID Vaccine The FAA says it hasn’t yet determined whether pilots will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and keep their medicals. In a statement issued to AVweb late Sunday, the agency said it’s waiting for the outcome of an FDA committee meeting on an emergency approval for a vaccine developed by Pfizer. The meeting is scheduled for Dec. 8-10 in Washington. “The FAA is closely monitoring the active vaccine trials and awaiting the outcome of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee’s scheduled meeting next week …” the agency said in an email to AVweb. “While the agency has made no final decisions, we are prepared to evaluate the use of each vaccine by medical certificate holders as soon as an emergency-use authorization is issued.” Meanwhile, the Air Line Pilots Association is telling its members to not take part in clinical trials for vaccines because they’ll lose their medicals, perhaps for a long time. “… since no trial COVID-19 vaccine has full FDA approval, the FAA considers participation in COVID-19 vaccine trials medically disqualifying for pilots for an indefinite period,” ALPA said in a brief article on the effects of the pandemic. “ALPA representatives are working with the FAA to better define a policy as the science evolves.” The FAA declined to comment on ALPA’s assertions. The union is also warning its Canadian members not to roll up their sleeves for science. “In Canada, the director of Civil Aviation Medicine stated that participation in medical trials isn’t considered compatible with aviation medical certification,” the article said. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/faa-reviewing-whether-pilots-can-take-covid-vaccine/ 224 killed, 186 aircraft lost. Military pilots worry about being ‘the next accident’ Military aviation accidents have killed 224 pilots or aircrew, destroyed 186 aircraft and cost more than $11.6 billion since 2013 WASHINGTON — Military aviation accidents have killed 224 pilots or aircrew, destroyed 186 aircraft, and cost more than $11.6 billion since 2013 — and many aviators believe those numbers will keep rising, a congressional commission established to investigate those crashes has found. The bipartisan National Commission on Military Aviation Safety was established by Congress “to make an assessment of the causes contributing to military aviation mishaps” after a string of deadly military crashes in 2018. The commission conducted confidential interviews with thousands of military pilots, maintainers, aircrew and ground crew and looked at five years of accident data from 2013 to 2018 to get a better understanding about why the non-combat crashes were occurring. McClatchy obtained a copy of the commission’s report, which was publicly released later on Thursday. “You’d like to think after 18 months we came up with some silver bullet recommendations,” Army Gen. Richard Cody, chairman of the commission, said in an interview with McClatchy. “But it’s a whole bunch of things that are out of balance.” What they did hear repeatedly from pilots and maintainers was that the situation had not improved. “We went to 80 different places, 200 different units,” said Cody, who over his 36-year military career flew more than 5,000 hours in Army helicopters. “They all worried about being the unit that was going to have the next accident. Almost every interview.” In private, candid meetings, the commissioners asked service members: What do you think will cause the next mishap? The answers they got jarred them. “The question of the next mishap was not hard to answer at one Marine base, where a junior Marine told the Commission that his unit was reusing expendable $5 filters on aircraft. The unit, he explained, still had missions to do even if there was no money to purchase new filters,” the commission reported. Training cutbacks have also taken a toll and could hurt aviation safety down the road, pilots told the commissioners. “This seems irreversible,” a Navy squadron commander told the commissioners. “I have increasingly unqualified people to teach the new generation who are then going to be less qualified to train the next generation.” The cumulative effect was a demoralized military aviation force, Richard Healing, vice chairman of the commission, said on a call with reporters. “The pilots were demoralized by not being able to fly enough, the maintainers were demoralized by not having parts,” said Healing, a former board member of the National Transportation Safety Board. ‘My kids don’t know who I am’ Unpredictable funding, coupled with back-to-back demands for military aircraft to respond to the invasion of Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State, Russian aggression in Europe and calls to increase presence in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China have taken a toll, the report found. The 2013 budget reductions known as sequestration cut personnel, flight hours and depot maintenance and required the aviation community to do more with less. In the years that followed, thousands of experienced aviators and maintainers left military service for commercial aviation despite being offered sizable retention bonuses to stay. Their departures have further increased the workload on those who have remained. “We see human factors and an increase in mishaps,” another Air Force senior maintainer said. They don’t have experience and are tired. They are tired and are crying for help. The response is shut up and color.” “My kids don’t know who I am,” said one Marine Corps aviator. “They don’t know when I am going to be home. That stuff leads to the burnout and distraction while flying.” New pilots recruited to backfill the aviation ranks pay the price too, because they receive fewer training flight hours and have fewer experienced instructor pilots available to teach them, the report found. Despite increased funding over the last several years, few pilots are getting the flight hours required to stay proficient, they told the commissioners. Instead, the military services are relying heavily on waivers for those requirements. “Except for the trainers and evaluators, everyone in my flight company had minimums waived,” one Army pilot told the commissioners. Pilots aren’t getting enough flight hours in part because reduced manpower has forced them to take on administrative tasks, and in part because the funding increases don’t immediately result in more available fighter jets, due to the time it takes to build and repair aircraft. In interviews with reporters in 2018 during a spate of crashes, former Defense Secretary James Mattis cautioned it would take years to see improvements. “When you say, ‘I want an F-18 Super Hornet,’ they start building it. It won’t come to us for many, many months. But that’s the reality when you’re starting to bend metal and do more than click a mouse,” Mattis said at that time. Lacking basic skills Maintainers, who repair and keep the aircraft fight ready, told the commission of an increased reliance on simulators to make up for a lack of hands-on training or trainers. Some new maintainers could not even identify basic tools to open up aircraft because the computer-based training program used to graduate them “removed the panel with a click of the mouse,” the commissioners reported. “Coming out of the schoolhouse, most (new maintainers) don’t know the difference between a Phillips head and a standard screwdriver,” a senior Marine Corps maintainer told the commission. “We are teaching basic tools now,” a different Air Force noncommissioned officer told the commissioners. “A lot don’t know what a ratchet set is. If you ask for a ratchet set, they bring a socket.” The Defense Department gets the largest share of the U.S. discretionary budget. In fiscal year 2020 the Pentagon received more than $718 billion, an increase from $686 billion in the 2019 defense budget. However, for 13 of the last 18 years Congress has not been able to pass a budget by the start of the new fiscal year, instead passing continuing resolutions that keep funding at previous years’ levels while they work on final legislation, the commissioners said. But continuing resolutions don’t cover the annual rise in costs such as payroll and military health care. To cover the difference, the Pentagon often pulls from military aviation, meaning that pilot training and maintenance programs have to belt-tighten until the full budget arrives months later, the commissioners said. “Late funding, no matter the amount, cannot reverse the impact of months of insufficient flying hours, missing parts, and deferred maintenance. Timing is everything,” they said. Future risk The commission’s report comes as the federal government is facing additional budgetary pressures. The budget deficit and the immediate domestic spending needs driven by the COVID-19 pandemic likely mean the Pentagon will be facing flat budgets again for the next several years, two defense budget experts said. Whether that means aviation accidents will again spike depends on the spending choices the Defense Department makes, they said. “I think safety and a general degradation in readiness is at real risk from flat or declining budgets, but it is not a foregone conclusion,” said Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ” DoD and Congress can avoid putting flight safety at risk even in a down budget environment if they make the tough decision to reduce the size of the force.” Dan Grazier, a former Marine Corps captain and military fellow at the Project on Government Oversight, said it’s likely the Pentagon will again look to aviation budgets to cover any spending gaps, instead of cutting the purchase of new weapons systems. “I think it is an absolute certainty that cuts will come from existing aircraft and operations and maintenance accounts,” Grazier said. “When this happens, maintenance issues will be deferred and we will unfortunately see readiness rates fall and mishaps increase. It shouldn’t be this way, but the business of the Pentagon is buying weapons.” Recommendations In its report to Congress and the president, the commission provided 24 recommendations to improve pilot and maintainer retention and improve flying safety records, including: — The Defense Department should establish a Joint Safety Council within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, staffed by safety chiefs from each military branch to elevate accident prevention and reporting to the highest levels within the Pentagon. The council would gain access to centralized incident reporting and analytics, to help prevent future accidents. — Congress and future administrations should “stop using continuing resolutions to fund national security, military readiness, and aviation safety, and that the Congressional Budget Office conduct a study on the negative impacts of continuing resolutions on military readiness.” — Military services should provide maintainers tuition-paid training in airframe maintenance in exchange for extended military service so they can obtain professional licenses, which are expensive to pursue. That would give them an edge in getting jobs in the commercial aviation industry after leaving the military. — Centrally track waivers given to pilots to “create a baseline, and monitor them to identify trends, assess risk, and predict potential problems and resource shortfalls.” — Each military unit should make sure it has sufficient administrative personnel to allow aviators and maintainers to concentrate on their primary mission. https://taskandpurpose.com/news/military-aviation-mishaps-deaths-cost/ Air Safety Panel Recommends Flight Hour Increase, Emphasis on Maintenance, Steady Funding Years of budgetary indifference has severely impacted military aviation causing a degradation of readiness and — tragically — a loss of lives. The National Commission on Military Aviation Safety released its recommendations yesterday saying aviators need more flight hours, maintenance personnel need better training and manning and supply chains need more and faster throughput. Maintainers work on an aircraft. The commission studied aviation safety from 2013 to 2018. During that time, there were 6,079 "incidents" resulting in 198 personnel killed, 157 aircraft destroyed and $9.41 billion in losses. This does not include personnel and aircraft lost in combat. Congress chartered the commission and retired Army Gen. Dick Cody chaired it along with Richard Healing, a renowned safety expert, as vice chairman. Over 18 months, the commission visited 80 different sites with more than 200 different units. Cody and Healing didn't sugarcoat their findings as they discussed the commission's recommendations with reporters. The men said the conditions that caused the problems are complicated and solutions will be equally complex. Both agreed that flying hours are not sufficient to foster proficiency in airmen. Part of that was cuts during times of budget uncertainty and/or sequestration, Cody said. But it is more than just putting people in aircraft and telling them to fly. The cuts also affected maintenance and the supply of spare parts. Airmen couldn't fly — at times — because the aircraft could not fly. "I would say what we've seen in terms of [continuing resolutions], and in terms of the sequestration, … it's not just the military catching up in parts," Cody said. "It's about training and flying hours, and getting guys and gals past currency into proficiency for the new mission set that the national military strategy talks about: large scale contingency operations." And this will take time, also, because a myriad of problems need to be addressed, the general said. "You can't just go to one silver bullet and say 'this is going to fix it,'" he said. "I don't have a timeline on how they will recover. I just know that the optempo, the unpredictable funding, the force structure cuts that have gone in all the military aviation units across the services have made aviation units high-demand, low-density assets." This has an effect on morale. An airplane lands on an aircraft carrier in the water. "What we found was that morale was generally degraded," Healing said. "First of all, pilots were demoralized by not being able to fly enough, and the maintainers were demoralized by not having parts and the things that they needed to make those airplanes fully mission capable." The commission calls for the services to restore flight hours to the fiscal 2010 levels in training and operationally. Another recommendation is for the services to have standing authority to increase aviation bonuses from up to $35,000, to up to $100,000 per year to improve pilot retention, in exchange for a commensurate additional service commitment. Another recommendation is to ensure aviation units administrators to allow aviators and maintainers to concentrate on their primary missions. They do not want trained aviators or maintainers to be assigned jobs not germane to their primary occupations. Safety experts for years have asked for better ways to monitor the physiological needs of aviators. The commission wants the Defense Department and the services to adopt "an aggressive, proactive and coordinated approach to understanding and meeting" these physiological needs. Soldiers unload Chinook. Maintenance personnel often feel ignored. The commission calls for the services to better reward and incentivize the professional achievements of aviation maintainers. It specifically calls for greater professional development for maintainers including opportunities to obtain their airframe and powerplant licenses. The commission also recommends a defense-level joint safety council, reporting directly to the deputy defense secretary. The council would coordinate service safety centers' efforts to identify and mitigate risks to reduce the number of aviation mishaps. Finally, the commission wants leaders to "stop using continuing resolutions to fund national security, military readiness and aviation safety." This needs to happen quickly, Cody said. In the time the commission conducted its work, another 26 service members were killed in mishaps and another 29 aircraft destroyed. Click here to view the full report. https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2436024/air-safety-panel-recommends-flight-hour-increase-emphasis-on-maintenance-steady/ Hackers leak data from Embraer, world's third-largest airplane maker The Brazilian company was the victim of a ransomware attack last month, in November. Brazilian company Embraer, considered today's third-largest airplane maker after Boeing and Airbus, was the victim of a ransomware attack last month. Today, hackers involved in the intrusion have leaked some of the company's private files as revenge after the airplane maker refused to negotiate and instead chose to restore systems from backups without paying their ransom demand. The Embraer files were shared on a website hosted on the dark web, managed by the RansomExx (also known as Defray777) ransomware gang. Data uploaded on this site included samples of employee details, business contracts, photos of flight simulations, and source code, among others, according to samples reviewed by ZDNet. Today's leak confirms that hackers managed to steal data from the company's servers. Embraer issued a press release last week, admitting to a security breach, but did not confirm that the incident involved neither ransomware nor data theft. The airplane maker said the attackers had "access to only a single environment," and that the incident caused only a temporary impact on "some of its operations." An Embraer spokesperson did not return a request for comment sent by ZDNet today, following the leak. RANSOMEXX GETS A "LEAK SITE" Identify ways to make your diverse IT more flexible The rise of the digital economy is fueling great interest in pursuing digital transformation, but for many organizations, the race to integrate new technologies has proven to be complicated. In this white paper, ESG Research details how the new IBM FlashSystem family provides IT organizations a single storage platform capable of supporting diverse application environments while integrating and consolidating new or existing, distributed, heterogeneous storage assets. White Papers provided by IBM Embraer is also one of three companies that had their data leaked over the weekend on the RansomExx leak site, launched on Saturday. The RansomExx gang now joins a long list of ransomware gangs that run leak sites. Ransomware gangs use leak sites as a way to put pressure on victims. During negotiations, companies are told that if they don't pay the attacker's desired ransom demand, the attackers will leak data online as a form of punishment, so it can be downloaded by competitors, or that companies face regulatory punishments in their countries. https://www.zdnet.com/article/hackers-leak-data-from-embraer-worlds-third-largest-airplane-maker/ Plane Lands Safely at JFK Airport After Report of Bomb Threat: Officials One runway at JFK Airport was closed Sunday afternoon while police investigated an inboard flight for a report of a bomb threat, Port Authority officials said. An airplane landed safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport Sunday afternoon after officials received word of a potential threat, the Port Authority confirmed. The plane landed at the airport around 3:45 p.m. for a report of a bomb threat on the plane, Port Authority spokesperson Lenis Rodriguez told News 4. Police worked to deboard the plane and Port Authority later announced that "The plane had been cleared" One runway was closed due to the investigation, Rodriguez said. The airport's official Twitter account tweeted: "Due to an ongoing incident, emergency personnel and activity may be observed at #JFK airport. Please not that the airport is fully open and flights are operating without delays." https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/plane-lands-safely-at-jfk-airport-after-report-of-bomb-threat-officials/2764208/ Paris Air Show becomes latest aviation casualty of pandemic It will now be held in 2023 as aviation industry takes another hit Paris: The biennial Paris Air Show scheduled to take place in June 2021 has been canceled due to uncertainty caused by the pandemic. All exhibitors will get a full refund, and the event will next be held in 2023, the French Aerospace Industries Association said in a statement. The show at Le Bourget airfield outside the French capital is among the largest aviation events in the world, where airlines typically announce large orders and manufacturers showcase new models. The move comes after the coronavirus outbreak upended global aviation, forcing major manufacturers Airbus SE and Boeing Co. to pare back output and fire thousands of staff. Airlines are expected to lose a combined $157 billion across 2020 and 2021, according to industry group IATA. That's almost 60 per cent more than it suggested in June and five times the deficit racked up during the 2008-2009 recession. Past glories At the 2019 edition of the Paris Air Show, Airbus and Boeing racked up almost $80 billion worth of deals. Airbus unveiled the new A321XLR, the longest-range version of its single-aisle workhorse, and received orders from British Airways owner IAG SA, India's Indigo and Qantas Airways Ltd. of Australia, among others. The equivalent event at Farnborough, southwest of London, was canceled in 2020 and will next be held in 2022. The English town hosts shows on an alternate basis with Paris. https://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/paris-air-show-becomes-latest-aviation-casualty-of-pandemic-1.1607343236422 Vaccine airlift delivers shot in the arm for airlines PARIS/CHICAGO/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Airlines battered by COVID-19 are prepping for key roles in the mass vaccine rollout that promises to unlock an immediate boost for the sector - and beyond that, its own recovery and survival. Big challenges await carriers leading the airlift, as well as the drugmakers, logistics firms, governments and international agencies planning the deployment across networks blighted by the pandemic. The gargantuan effort should nonetheless help airlines involved to trim their crisis losses, experts say, while bringing additional benefits to the broader sector, from supporting cargo pricing and revenue to restoring routes. Developing vaccines in record time was the easy part, or “the equivalent of building base camp at Everest”, according to World Health Organization vaccines director Kate O’Brien. “The delivery of these vaccines, the confidence in communities, the acceptance of vaccines and ensuring that people are in fact immunized with the right number of doses - (this) is what it’s going to take to scale the peak,” she said recently. Britain is about to become the first country to begin administering the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, which requires storage below minus 70 Celsius. Moderna’s shot, stored at -20C, is close behind. In line for major roles are freight specialists and airlines with large cargo arms - such as Germany’s Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific - often under contract for forwarders and integrators like UPS, Fedex and DHL. Gulf carriers Qatar Airways and Emirates as well as Turkish Airlines, all slammed by the long-haul travel collapse, can leverage their vast connecting hubs. Turkish has begun flying China’s Sinovac vaccine to Brazil and, like many peers, is increasing its cold chain capacity and storage. BRIGHT SPOT While the earnings windfall is “difficult to quantify”, Cathay commercial chief Ronald Lam told analysts recently, “there will be a positive impact either directly through vaccine transportation or the surge in overall cargo demand.” Freight is already a bright spot. Many airlines are making unprecedented cargo profits in 2020 even while chalking up record losses overall. Before the crisis, half the world’s air cargo travelled on some 2,000 freighters, and the rest on passenger jets. So as lockdowns grounded flights, cargo rates soared, helping carriers keep remaining passenger routes open and avoid more red ink. Cargo’s share of revenue will triple to 36% this year as prices or yields rise 30%, airline body IATA projects. “The profit margins of all the cargo operations will be very strong in 2020 as a result of the extraordinary circumstances, and will be sustained at that level in 2021 as a result of the vaccine distribution,” HSBC analyst Andrew Lobbenberg said. Carriers joining the airlift can expect “a very significant impact on the cargo economics”, he said in a note. Flying one dose to every human would fill 8,000 747s, IATA estimates. While a minority of vaccine deployments may not need air transport, many require two shots per person. Some freight operators are already seeing other goods bumped off flights by vaccines, trade newsletter The Loadstar reported here. “There’s a lot less air capacity in the market,” United Airlines cargo chief Christopher Busch told Reuters. “So we need to balance not only what vaccines are coming, but how we continue to move the product that was moving before.” DISRUPTION RISK IATA, representing 290 airlines, warns that vaccine rollout could be “compromised” without an easing of the travel curbs and quarantines it has lobbied against. “There are parts of the world that have no cargo operations once the passenger networks are grounded,” IATA head of cargo Glyn Hughes said. But UNICEF, whose polio and other immunization campaigns were initially hit by lockdowns, believes lessons have been learned and is now focused on resisting cargo price hikes, as it sources COVID-19 vaccines for 92 poorer countries. The U.N. children’s agency is having an “early conversation” with airlines to plan capacity and keep rates down, said transport chief Pablo Panadero, who still sees prices as high as twice pre-crisis levels. “Of course we as UNICEF are making them aware of the humanitarian and even societal importance of these undertakings - this is getting their own industry back in business,” he said. Cargo carriers may face reputational risk if they use the full clout of their current pricing power, observers warn. “It’s not a good look to be seen to be profiteering,” said Frederic Horst, managing director of Cargo Facts Consulting. But Horst expects no repeat of the scramble for masks and medical equipment earlier in the pandemic, when “a lot of government-organised charters were bringing this stuff in, and they were just overpaying.” This time the airlift will be run by logistics firms who make smarter customers, he said. “They understand when they’re being pulled over the table and will just go to another carrier.” https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-airlines-vaccine/vaccine-airlift-delivers-shot-in-the-arm-for-airlines-idUSKBN28H1E7 Jet Airways may restart domestic and international operations by summer of 2021 If everything goes as per plan and the consortium receives the NCLT and regulatory approvals on time, Jet Airways would be back in the skies by the summer of 2021, according to a statement issued by the company. Jet Airways Ltd—the full-service airline which went bankrupt in 2019—could be back in the skies as early as the summer of next year as the new promoters, Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital, intend to start domestic and international operations with all the slots that were available to the airline before it stopped operations. The new promoters contemplated starting a new airline but chose to stick to the Jet brand due to the existing brand value, connect with the customers and important flight slots in different airports. As per the resolution plan, Jet Airways intends to operate all of its historic domestic slots in India and restart international operations. If everything goes as per plan and the consortium receives the NCLT and regulatory approvals on time, Jet Airways would be back in the skies by the summer of 2021, according to a statement issued by the company. The new management of the grounded airline has also reached out to top executives in the aviation sector to run daily operations. “The Consortium's vision is to regain lost ground, set new benchmarks for the airline industry with the tag of being the best corporate full-service airline operating on domestic and international routes. The Jet 2.0 hubs will remain Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru like before. The revival plan proposes to support Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by creating sub-hubs in such cities," the statement further noted. On 18 October, lenders of Jet Airways approved the resolution plan submitted by UK-based Kalrock Capital and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan to revive and operate the airline over a year after the carrier was grounded due to acute funds crunch under the ownership of its founder Naresh Goyal. Jet Airways had earlier received bids from two consortiums, one comprising UK-based Kalrock Capital and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan, and the other by Haryana-based Flight Simulation Technique Centre, Mumbai-based Big Charter and Abu Dhabi’s Imperial Capital Investments Llc. With the revival of Jet Airways, it will restore the confidence among the Jet customers to fly again and experience its world class facilities. “Jet Airways has been a brand with a glorious history of over 25 years, and it is the vision of the consortium to put Jet Airways back in the skies at the earliest opportunity. We aim to re-energize the brand by infusing energy, warmth, and vibrancy into it while making it bigger and better," said Manoj Narender Madnani, board member of the Jalan Kalrock consortium. “Over the years, the brand has created loyal customers and we wish to bring in freshness by adding value—an Indian brand with a global outlook, warm yet professional which symbolizes the New India, Young India. With the revival of Jet Airways, it will restore the confidence among the Jet customers to fly again and experience its world class facilities," he added. Apart from passenger operation, the new management will also focus on cargo operations to improve the top-line of the airline. The new management’s vision for Jet 2.0 includes plan to increase cargo services to include dedicated freighter service, a market currently underserved by any Indian carrier. Given India’s position as a leading centre for global vaccine manufacture, cargo services have never been more required, the statement above noted. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/jet-airways-may-restart-domestic-and-international-operations-by-summer-of-2021-11607339856093.html Lufthansa will have shed 29,000 staff by year end: Bild am Sonntag BERLIN (Reuters) - Lufthansa will have shed 29,000 staff by the end of the year and the German airline will cut another 10,000 jobs in its home country next year as it struggles to cope with the coronavirus, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The airline and its subsidiaries, Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines, have slashed their schedules, fleet and staff, with air travel not expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels before 2025. Citing unnamed company sources, the Bild am Sonntag newspaper said that Lufthansa would cut 20,000 jobs outside of Germany, while it is also selling its catering unit LSG, which employs 7,500 people, bringing the total staff down to 109,000. Next year, a further 10,000 jobs will be cut in Germany. It has already burned through 3 billion euros ($3.64 billion) of the 9-billion-euro government bailout it secured earlier in the year, the paper said. Lufthansa has 27,000 too many full-time equivalent staff, Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said last month, even as the airline promised unions not to make forced redundancies in return for cuts to bonuses and other payments. A deal to cut costs and save jobs at Lufthansa has won the support of a majority of the Verdi trade union members who work for the German airline as ground staff, according to the results of a ballot seen by Reuters on Friday. A formal announcement is expected on Monday. The deal with Verdi followed months of on-off talks, during which the union accused management of seeking to cut jobs even after taking a bailout to keep its planes flying. ($1 = 0.8251 euros) https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/lufthansa-shed-29-000-staff-231116212.html Chinese probe orbiting moon with Earth-bound samples BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese probe was orbiting the moon on Monday in preparation for the returning of samples of the lunar surface to Earth for the first time in almost 45 years. The ascent module of the Chang’e 5 spacecraft transferred a container with 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of samples after docking with the robot spacecraft on Sunday and was then cut free. The orbiter and reentry vehicle will circle the moon for another week awaiting a narrow time window to make the roughly three-day, 383,000-kilometer (238,000-mile) journey back to Earth. It will first “bounce" off the Earth's atmosphere to slow its speed before the reentry vehicle separates and floats down on parachutes to land on the vast steppes of Inner Mongolia, where China's Shenzhou crewed spaceships have also made their landings. If the mission succeeds, it will make China the third country after the United States and former Soviet Union to bring moon rocks to Earth. They will be the first fresh samples of the lunar surface obtained by scientists since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 probe in 1976. The Chang’e 5 ascent stage blasted off from the moon’s surface on Friday, leaving behind the lander module flying the Chinese flag, according to the China National Space Agency, which also released a photo taken by the orbiter showing it approaching for its rendezvous with the ascender, a sliver of the Earth seen in the background. That marked the first time China had succeeded in lifting off a spacecraft from a celestial body, while no country had previously achieved the tricky feat of executing a robotic docking in lunar orbit. Controllers on Earth had to deal with distance and time lag while precisely maneuvering a clamp into position with almost no room for error. The 23-day mission has been front page news in state media for days, paired with reports that China has officially lifted all of its citizens out of the most grinding form of poverty. Along with being a propaganda coup for the ruling Communist Party, the dual stories illustrate the vast economic and technological advances China has made since it became just the third country in history to launch a person into space in 2003. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying praised the “courage to explore, overcome difficulties and pay hard efforts" of those who made the mission possible. “The entirety of the Chinese people are proud of the efforts and wisdom of the Chinese lunar exploration researchers," Hua told reporters Monday at a daily briefing. By way of cautious incremental steps, China is now in the midst of a series of ambitious missions that include a probe en route to Mars and the development of a reusable space plane about which little information has been provided. The Chang’e lunar program, named after the ancient Chinese moon goddess, has also been operating the Chang’e 4 probe on the moon’s less explored far side for the past two years, while the Chang’e 3 rover launched seven years ago continues to send back data. Future plans call for returning a human to the moon five decades after American astronauts, along with a possible permanent moon base, although no timeline has been offered. China is also building a permanent space station to begin operating as early as 2022. U.S. opposition has prevented China's secretive, military-backed program from participating in the International Space Station, although the CNSA has been expanding its ties with other programs, including the European Space Agency, which has helped guide Chang’e 5 on its mission. Chang’e 5 touched down Dec. 1 on the Sea of Storms on the moon’s near side close to a formation called the Mons Rumker, an area believed to have been the site of ancient volcanic activity. The rocks and other debris were obtained both by drilling into the moon's crust and by scooping directly off the surface. They are thought to possibly be billions of years younger than those brought back earlier and may offer insights into the moon's history as well as that of other bodies in our solar system. The lunar exploration program has set up dedicated labs to analyze the samples for age and composition. China is also expected to share some part of them with other countries, as was done with the hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of rocks, sand, dust and other samples obtained by the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. https://www.yahoo.com/news/chinese-probe-prepares-return-moon-041138659.html 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Registration Now Open ** Free for the first 500 registrants ** 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 15 to 18 March 2021 1500 to 2000 GMT daily via Zoom (0700 to 1200 PST) Four online days of powerful talks given by industry and subject matter experts. Registration is open and FREE for the first 500 registrants. https://www.aircraftcabinair.com/ Following on from the success of the 2017 and 2019 Aircraft Cabin Air Conferences, the 2021 conference will be an essential four-day free modular online event via Zoom. Providing an in-depth overview or update for all those seeking to understand the subject of contaminated air, the flight safety implications, the latest scientific and medical evidence investigating the contaminated air debate and the emerging solutions available to airlines and aircraft operators. The 2021 conference will be the biggest conference ever held on the issue. Who should participate? Airline Management - Aircraft Manufacturers - Safety equipment providers - Health & Safety Regulators - Maintenance Companies - Airline Safety Departments - Air Accident Investigators- Crew & Unions - Policy Makers- Press & Media - Aircraft Insurers - Leasing Companies - Scientists - Occupational Health Professionals - Academics & Researchers - Engineers Register Curt Lewis