Flight Safety Information [December 8, 2020] [No. 247] In This Issue : Incident: Polar AN24 near Yakutsk on Dec 8th 2020, engine problem : Incident: Wisconsin CRJ2 at Chicago on Dec 6th 2020, gear problem on departure : Incident: Fedex MD10 at Sacramento on Dec 4th 2020, bird strike : Hawaiian Airlines flight makes emergency landing after engine malfunction : Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet - Runway Excursion (Australia) : Tamarack Response to the AAIB Incident Report : Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dies at 97 : ‘OK, you’re done’: a woman gets kicked off Frontier Airlines flight for no mask : For Airlines, Dry Ice in Vaccine Transport Demands Special Attention : U.S. lawmaker urges delay in spectrum auction citing aviation safety risks : Drone hobbyist fined whopping $182,000 by FAA for breaking rules : Airbus says delivered 64 aircraft in November : Brazilian airline GOL will resume Boeing 737 Max passenger flights on Wednesday : It Would Cost $2,600 Per Flight to Test Flight Attendants and Pilots for COVID-19, Airline Claims : This Navy helicopter pilot has been chosen to be the first woman to command a US aircraft carrier : SpaceX's first high-altitude Starship test could happen Tuesday : 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Incident: Polar AN24 near Yakutsk on Dec 8th 2020, engine problem A Polar Airlines Antonov AN-24, flight R3-223 from Yakutsk to Olekminsk (Russia) with 31 people on board, was already enroute out of Yakutsk when the right hand engine malfunctioned prompting the crew to return to Yakutsk. The aircraft landed safely back in Yakutsk about 85 minutes after departure. The airline reported the crew noticed a deviation from normal parameters of the right hand engine and decided to return to Yakutsk. A replacement aircraft is going to operate the flight. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e03bae7&opt=0 Incident: Wisconsin CRJ2 at Chicago on Dec 6th 2020, gear problem on departure An Air Wisconsin Canadair CRJ-200 on behalf of United, registration N450AW performing flight UA-3958 from Chicago O'Hare,IL to Indianapolis,IN (USA), was climbing out of O'Hare's runway 22L when the crew stopped the climb at 6000 feet advising they were working checklists for an issue and might need to return to O'Hare, they should remain close to the airport. The crew subsequently declared emergency reporting a landing gear issue. After completing the checklists the crew reported they had a gear disagree message and were not sure whether they would have nose wheel steering or not. The aircraft returned to Chicago for a safe landing on runway 28C about 35 minutes after departure, vacated the runway and stopped for an inspection by emergency services. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL3958/history/20201206/1505Z/KORD/KIND http://avherald.com/h?article=4e03647c&opt=0 Incident: Fedex MD10 at Sacramento on Dec 4th 2020, bird strike A Fedex Federal Express McDonnell Douglas MD-10-30 freighter, registration N315FE performing flight FX-308 from Memphis,TN to Sacramento,CA (USA), was on approach to Sacramento's runway 18R when a bird impacted the nose of the aircraft. The aircraft continued for a safe landing. The FAA reported the aircraft received unknown damage to its radome when a bird hit the aircraft. The aircraft returned to service about 15.5 hours after landing. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/FDX308/history/20201204/2125Z/KMEM/KSMF http://avherald.com/h?article=4e033246&opt=0 Hawaiian Airlines flight makes emergency landing after engine malfunction HONOLULU (KHON2) — A Hawaiian Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing after one of its engines malfunctioned approximately 20 minutes into the flight. Hawaiian Airlines Flight 216 departed Honolulu at 9:44 a.m. with nonstop service to Kahului. The engine malfunctioned approximately 20 minutes into the flight, which prompted the captain and crew on board to return the aircraft to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL). The flight safely landed at HNL without incident at 10:26 a.m., according to a Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson. Hawaiian Airlines says passengers on board were transferred to a different aircraft where they were able able to depart for Kahului at 11:18 a.m. https://www.khon2.com/local-news/hawaiian-airlines-flight-makes-emergency-landing-after-engine-malfunction/ Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet - Runway Excursion (Australia) Date: 08-DEC-2020 Time: 14:30 Type: Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet Owner/operator: Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), 1 Squadron Registration: A44-223 C/n / msn: AF-23 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: RAAF Amberley (YAMB), QLD - Australia Phase: Take off Nature: Military Departure airport: Amberley RAAF Station, QLD (YAMB) Destination airport: Narrative: A RAAF Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet, operated by 1 Squadron, suffered a runway excursion from RAAF Amberley (YAMB), Queensland. Both pilots ejected safely. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the cockpit. Apparently there was a fire inside the cockpit. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=245431 Tamarack Response to the AAIB Incident Report December 3rd, 2020 In the interest of safety and continuous improvement, Tamarack offers the following discussion regarding the chain of events that resulted in the April 13, 2019 incident. On April 13, 2019, an Active Winglet failure occurred in the UK, which initiated an uncommanded roll in-flight. No damage or injuries were sustained. After the subsequent investigation, we now understand that while an Active Winglet failure did occur, the pilot report contained inaccuracies that ultimately grounded the fleet for a short time. After a safe landing without injury or damage, the startled pilot reported his Citation jet had rolled 90 degrees in one second. However, data taken from the Citation jet shortly after the incident shows that the aircraft actually rolled at about four degrees per second, which aligns with the Tamarack Active Winglet failure recovery procedure, provided to all customers. This information can be found here as well, supplemented with a video example of a simulated Active Winglet failure and roll-rate. The Citation jet involved in the April 13, 2019 incident rolled, uncorrected by the pilot, for approximately 19 seconds. While it is unclear why the roll was unaddressed for this amount of time, the AAIB reports that the pilot was unfamiliar with the Active Winglet AFM Supplement, including Emergency procedures. The pilot had recently purchased the Citation jet and had not yet acquainted himself with the modification. This is unfortunate, as pilot safety is the first priority of flying, especially with modified aircraft; and pilot familiarity is required by EASA and US regulation. However, the correction procedures following Active Winglet failure are conventional (such as speed reduction), so the pilot was able to recover using typical techniques without memorizing the proper procedure. There are additional complicating factors in this situation. Following the April 13, 2019 report, it was brought to Tamarack’ s attention that the pilot had experienced an Active Winglet failure in March 2019 as well but did not report the incident to Tamarack or to anyone else. The following month, when they experienced a second Active Winglet failure, they were still unfamiliar with the Active Winglet AFM Supplement and emergency mitigation procedures. Tamarack continues to take pride in providing continuous product improvements to increase reliability and customer satisfaction. In 2018, one year before the March 2019 and April 2019 incidents with the same plane, Tamarack Aerospace introduced a Service Bulletin that improved Active Winglet reliability, offering it to customers for free, and recommending that it be done within one year or 150 flight hours. The upgrade would have certainly prevented both above 2019 incidents - as discovered through an aircraft inspection in April 2019, with the cooperation of the pilot. A month prior to the March 2019 and April 2019 incidents, Tamarack introduced a second Service Bulletin meant to reduce incident severity by aerodynamically mitigating Active Winglet malfunction. This was a product improvement offered to customers at Tamarack’s expense, and this particular pilot customer did request the service from Tamarack after the March 2019 incident. However, while pilot customer did possess the second Service Bulletin at the time of the April 2019 incident, he had not yet had these improvements installed. When the customer originally bought this aircraft, in February 2019, the pre-buy inspection did not identify any outstanding Service Bulletins for the Active Winglets. The pre-buy did confirm that the Active Winglet AFM Supplement was properly installed in the AFM. However, after the UK incident in April 2019, the AFM was not readily accessible to the pilot, but found at the rear of the aircraft rather than the flight deck. It was also found to be incomplete. It is rare that a single error results in an incident, and this event was no exception. Thankfully, despite many missed opportunities to avoid both incidents, plus the pilot’s unfamiliarity with recovery procedures, the outcome of this event was injury-free and damage-free. The safety investigation process should include a thorough analysis of factors contributing to the outcome, with pilot safety being the first priority. Tamarack is pleased to collaborate with the agencies who have evaluated the April 2019 event, including the UK AAIB and EASA. Continuing to find opportunities to make flight operations safer is an important factor of aviation culture. Tamarack has taken steps to improve the product, literature, and communications with valued customers. Tamarack also encourages all pilots to become familiar with the Airplane Flight Manual, and Supplements, before beginning any flight. By July 2019, the fleet grounding was resolved for all aircraft equipped with Tamarack Active Winglets, as long as they had incorporated prior Service Bulletins. No new system upgrades were required. The fleet of aircraft with Tamarack Active Winglets has grown to over 100 aircraft, representing about 40,000 flight hours with Active Winglets. The full UK AAIB Serious Incident Report can be found here. https://tamarackaero.com/insights/2020/12/03/tamarack-response-to-the-aaib-incident-report Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dies at 97 Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who showed he had the “right stuff” when in 1947 he became the first person to fly faster than sound, has died. He was 97. Yeager died Monday, his wife, Victoria Yeager, said on his Twitter account. “It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET. An incredible life well lived, America’s greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever.” Yeager's death is “a tremendous loss to our nation,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. “Gen. Yeager’s pioneering and innovative spirit advanced America’s abilities in the sky and set our nation’s dreams soaring into the jet age and the space age. He said, ‘You don’t concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done,'” Bridenstine said. “In an age of media-made heroes, he is the real deal,” Edwards Air Force Base historian Jim Young said in August 2006 at the unveiling of a bronze statue of Yeager. He was “the most righteous of all those with the right stuff,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards. Yeager, from a small town in the hills of West Virginia, flew for more than 60 years, including piloting an X-15 to near 1,000 mph (1,609 kph) at Edwards in October 2002 at age 79. “Living to a ripe old age is not an end in itself. The trick is to enjoy the years remaining,” he said in “Yeager: An Autobiography.” “I haven’t yet done everything, but by the time I’m finished, I won’t have missed much,” he wrote. “If I auger in (crash) tomorrow, it won’t be with a frown on my face. I’ve had a ball.” On Oct. 14, 1947, Yeager, then a 24-year-old captain, pushed an orange, bullet-shaped Bell X-1 rocket plane past 660 mph to break the sound barrier, at the time a daunting aviation milestone. “Sure, I was apprehensive,” he said in 1968. “When you’re fooling around with something you don’t know much about, there has to be apprehension. But you don’t let that affect your job.” The modest Yeager said in 1947 he could have gone even faster had the plane carried more fuel. He said the ride “was nice, just like riding fast in a car.” Yeager nicknamed the rocket plane, and all his other aircraft, “Glamorous Glennis” for his wife, who died in 1990. Yeager’s feat was kept top secret for about a year when the world thought the British had broken the sound barrier first. “It wasn’t a matter of not having airplanes that would fly at speeds like this. It was a matter of keeping them from falling apart,” Yeager said. Sixty-five years later to the minute, on Oct. 14, 2012, Yeager commemorated the feat, flying in the back seat of an F-15 Eagle as it broke the sound barrier at more than 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) above California’s Mojave Desert. His exploits were told in Tom Wolfe’s book “The Right Stuff,” and the 1983 film it inspired. Yeager was born Feb. 23, 1923, in Myra, a tiny community on the Mud River deep in an Appalachian hollow about 40 miles southwest of Charleston. The family later moved to Hamlin, the county seat. His father was an oil and gas driller and a farmer. “What really strikes me looking over all those years is how lucky I was, how lucky, for example, to have been born in 1923 and not 1963 so that I came of age just as aviation itself was entering the modern era,” Yeager said in a December 1985 speech at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. “I was just a lucky kid who caught the right ride,” he said. Yeager enlisted in the Army Air Corps after graduating from high school in 1941. He later regretted that his lack of a college education prevented him from becoming an astronaut. He started off as an aircraft mechanic and, despite becoming severely airsick during his first airplane ride, signed up for a program that allowed enlisted men to become pilots. Yeager shot down 13 German planes on 64 missions during World War II, including five on a single mission. He was once shot down over German-held France but escaped with the help of French partisans. After World War II, he became a test pilot beginning at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Among the flights he made after breaking the sound barrier was one on Dec. 12. 1953, when he flew an X-1A to a record of more than 1,600 mph. He said he had gotten up at dawn that day and went hunting, bagging a goose before his flight. That night, he said, his family ate the goose for dinner. He returned to combat during the Vietnam War, flying several missions a month in twin-engine B-57 Canberras making bombing and strafing runs over South Vietnam. Yeager also commanded Air Force fighter squadrons and wings, and the Aerospace Research Pilot School for military astronauts. “I’ve flown 341 types of military planes in every country in the world and logged about 18,000 hours,” he said in an interview in the January 2009 issue of Men’s Journal. “It might sound funny, but I’ve never owned an airplane in my life. If you’re willing to bleed, Uncle Sam will give you all the planes you want.” When Yeager left Hamlin, he was already known as a daredevil. On later visits, he often buzzed the town. “I live just down the street from his mother,” said Gene Brewer, retired publisher of the weekly Lincoln Journal. “One day I climbed up on my roof with my 8 mm camera when he flew overhead. I thought he was going to take me off the roof. You can see the treetops in the bottom of the pictures.” Yeager flew an F-80 under a Charleston bridge at 450 mph on Oct. 10, 1948, according to newspaper accounts. When he was asked to repeat the feat for photographers, Yeager replied: “You should never strafe the same place twice ’cause the gunners will be waiting for you.” Yeager never forgot his roots and West Virginia named bridges, schools and Charleston’s airport after him. “My beginnings back in West Virginia tell who I am to this day,” Yeager wrote. “My accomplishments as a test pilot tell more about luck, happenstance and a person’s destiny. But the guy who broke the sound barrier was the kid who swam the Mud River with a swiped watermelon or shot the head off a squirrel before going to school.” Yeager was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. President Harry S. Truman awarded him the Collier air trophy in December 1948 for his breaking the sound barrier. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985. Yeager retired from the Air Force in 1975 and moved to a ranch in Cedar Ridge in Northern California where he continued working as a consultant to the Air Force and Northrop Corp. and became well known to younger generations as a television pitchman for automotive parts and heat pumps. He married Glennis Dickhouse of Oroville, California, on Feb. 26, 1945. She died of ovarian cancer in December 1990. They had four children: Donald, Michael, Sharon and Susan. Yeager married 45-year-old Victoria Scott D’Angelo in 2003. ___ On the Net: Yeager: http://www.chuckyeager.com/ https://www.yahoo.com/news/chuck-yeager-1st-break-sound-051713166.html ‘OK, you’re done’: a woman gets kicked off Frontier Airlines flight for no mask Nine months into the coronavirus pandemic and people are still throwing tantrums about wearing masks in public places. Last Thursday, a passenger on a Frontier Airlines flight from Cincinnati to Tampa had such a tantrum, Fox News first reported. Videos taken by a friend of Fox producer Griffin Frank shows a little of the action. The journalist tweeted the footage the next day, starting with the flight attendant politely asking a woman in a window seat to put on a mask. “Ma’am, you need to have a mask on,” says the airline employee, adding that one was provided on board. “Ma’am, I’m speaking to you, I’m speaking to you. You have to wear your mask the whole, entire flight. If you’re unable to do so, you’ll be removed from the flight.” The woman remains silent until the flight attendant walks away and then yells after her: “Thanks, a---hole!” The attendant then pivots angrily: “OK, you’re done. That’s it, let’s go. You’re getting off the aircraft. You are not going to speak to me like that. You need to comply. You agreed to this when you checked into our flight and bought your ticket.” ‘She hit her face!’ Watch a Delta passenger smack a flight attendant on board plane In the next video, a security officer approaches the woman and asks where her bag is and removes a blue roller from the overhead bin. As the belligerent passenger leaves the plane with the officer, the passengers break out in applause and one can be heard calling her a “Karen.” Frontier Airlines did not immediately respond Monday to the Miami Herald’s request for comment about the the mask rebel’s removal. As per the company’s website, the Denver based airline clearly states the face coverings are required for all customers “throughout the Frontier travel experience,” except for those under 2. Passengers are also subject to temperature screenings, it says. “Face coverings must fit snugly over your nose and mouth and be secured under the chin. Open-chin triangle bandannas, face coverings containing vents, valves or mesh material, and face shields are not acceptable as face-coverings. This level of protection is important for everyone’s well-being and if you don’t wear an approved face covering, or wear it appropriately, you may lose future travel privileges on Frontier.” She tried to board a flight barefoot in Miami, airline says. Then came the meltdown. https://www.yahoo.com/news/ok-done-watch-woman-kicked-152342839.html For Airlines, Dry Ice in Vaccine Transport Demands Special Attention The refrigerant needed to maintain some doses during distribution is regulated as a dangerous good for aviation transport The large amounts of dry ice needed to speed Covid-19 vaccine candidates to pandemic-weary populations will call for special attention from airlines and safety regulators. Dry ice, the solid form of carbon dioxide, is a critical part of plans to transport the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, which must be kept at ultracold temperatures. Pfizer expects to ship 50 million doses world-wide by the end of the year. The vaccine was the first to be authorized in the West, receiving clearance for emergency use in the U.K. last week. It is under review by the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. Widely used as a refrigerant, dry ice is classified as a dangerous good by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the U.S. Department of Transportation because it changes to gas form as it breaks down, a process called sublimation. Shippers must use ventilated containers that allow the gas to release, to prevent pressure from building up and rupturing the packaging. The gas can also displace oxygen in confined spaces with poor ventilation, creating a suffocation hazard, though the risk is minimal under normal cabin ventilation, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. “If oxygen levels get down below 19%, that could cause a hazard to people and animals,” said Delmer Billings, technical director for the Dangerous Goods Advisory Council, a nonprofit trade group that promotes safe transportation of hazardous materials. “If you deplete oxygen sufficiently, it could cause unconsciousness, even death,” he added. Air carriers involved in vaccine transport efforts are asking aviation regulators to increase the amount of dry ice they are allowed to carry on flights hauling vaccines as they work with drugmakers and governments to set up distribution channels. Restrictions on the amount of the material on planes are typically based on aircraft ventilation rates and factors such as the size of the plane and whether it is used for passenger or cargo flights, said Robert Coyle, senior vice president of pharma and healthcare strategy at freight forwarder Kuehne + Nagel International AG. On Thursday, Delta Air Lines Inc. said it had received FAA approval to double the allowed load of dry ice on its Airbus A330 and A350 wide-body jets, and six times the prior allowed load for shipments using a special suitcase-sized storage container that Pfizer designed. Delta has done trial runs with vaccine cargoes from Europe and to Latin America, and within the U.S., all on cargo-only flights. United Airlines Holdings Inc. secured FAA approval last month to boost its dry-ice allowance to 15,000 pounds from 3,000 pounds, for chartered cargo flights between Brussels International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport to support distribution of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine. A United spokeswoman said the airline “has effective procedures in place to ensure we safely handle all the hazardous materials we are permitted to carry on board our aircraft.” Extremely cold with a surface temperature of about minus-78 degrees Celsius, dry ice has long been used to ship medicine, pharmaceutical products and perishable food such as meat or ice cream. “When packaged and stored properly, it poses no risk,” said Rafael Teixeira, president of World Courier and ICS, a specialty logistics provider owned by drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp. The scale of the Covid-19 vaccine distribution effort is unprecedented, involving billions of doses with strict temperature-control requirements that are expected to strain cold-chain shipping networks. The Pfizer and BioNTech shots must be kept at minus-70 degrees Celsius—colder than the average annual temperature at the South Pole and lower than some other vaccine candidates require. Moderna Inc.’s shot, the other leading front-runner, must be shipped and stored at a below-freezing temperature that most home or medical freezers can accommodate. Makers of dry ice are bracing for an expected demand surge. Logistics providers have been building “freezer farms” with hundreds of portable units that store pharmaceuticals at ultralow temperatures. Plymouth, Minn.-based Pelican BioThermal LLC, which makes packaging that typically uses engineered materials to maintain temperatures, has tested and approved the use of dry ice in its systems to provide the sub-frozen temperatures needed to maintain the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines. The company is also ramping up global production of its large shipping containers that can hold full pallets of goods on rising demand from pharmaceutical companies looking to ship vaccines. “There are a lot of investments being made right now to get this done,” said Ira Smith, director of Pelican’s rental program in the Americas. https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-airlines-dry-ice-in-vaccine-transport-demands-special-attention-11607370720 U.S. lawmaker urges delay in spectrum auction citing aviation safety risks WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A senior U.S. House lawmaker on Monday urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to delay the auction of portions of a key spectrum band, warning it could impact a nearby aviation frequency band. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio urged a delay in the auction of C-Band spectrum that starts Tuesday over concerns it could jeopardize aviation safety. He cited a six-month review of 5G network emissions with safety-critical radio altimeter performance by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) that found serious risks of harmful interference on all types of aircraft. DeFazio called on the FCC to work with the Federal Aviation Administration and aviation industry experts “to ensure that the safety of the hundreds of millions of Americans who fly each year is not endangered by the FCC’s rushed plan.” FCC spokesman Will Wiquist said the commission has “no plans to delay the auction.” The FCC concluded in its order that its rules “would protect radio altimeters used by aircraft. And we continue to have no reason to believe that 5G operations in the C-Band will cause harmful interference to radio altimeters.” The C-band is a block of spectrum used to deliver video and radio programming to 120 million U.S. households. The FCC added that the “altimeters operate with more than 200 megahertz of separation from the C-band spectrum to be auctioned, more protection than is afforded in some other countries.” Last month, Airlines for America, representing major airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, the Aerospace Industry Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, major aviation unions and others, raised concerns about the C-Band auction. They said in a Nov. 17 letter to Congress the RTCA review suggests “this risk is widespread and has the potential for broad impacts to aviation operations in the United States, including the possibility of catastrophic failures leading to multiple fatalities, in the absence of appropriate mitigations.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-spectrum/u-s-lawmaker-urges-delay-in-spectrum-auction-citing-aviation-safety-risks-idUSKBN28H2WK Drone hobbyist fined whopping $182,000 by FAA for breaking rules I got angry at first when I read about this outrageous fine. How ridiculous! A guy who flew a drone for pleasure (well, maybe not just pleasure) broke some FAA rules and ended up with a ridiculous $182,000 fine. But after a little research, I realized why the FAA went after this fellow, and understood that he was likely asking for it. The story goes that in early November, a Philadelphia man named Mikey, who flies a drone without a professional license, received 123 notices of infractions from the FAA, $1,500 for each one. The total amount in civil penalties added up to $182,004. The violations were related to drone videos he live-streamed on YouTube from December 2019 to this past August. Mikey operates a YouTube channel called PhillyDroneLife. The FAA issued the fines for various infractions such as flying over 400 feet, reckless flying, flying in the rain, fog, and in strong winds. Mikey contacted lawyers who told him it might take $50,000 to $100,000 for him to fight the charges in court. Watch Lehto’s video to learn more, but here is why he believes Mikey was fined. It was because he streamed the videos live, in which it was documented when, exactly, the flights were taken, the elevation and all other details. Had he instead, for example, posted recorded videos of drone flights without flight data visible, the FAA would not know conclusively when the flights were made. It could have been years earlier, long after the statute of limitations for charging Mikey with a crime had expired. And even if the videos showed the date of the flight, if enough time had passed and the statute of limitations had passed, the FAA would have no power to fine him. Interestingly, the FAA did not impose fines on any of Mikey’s flights that were not live streamed, perhaps for those reasons. But in Mikey’s live-streamed videos, the FAA could see exactly what day and time he flew, at what elevation, and warning messages that popped up on his monitor about illegal or dangerous flying conditions. Below is one frame of him flying high over downtown Philadelphia. As you can see, Mikey could plainly see in his monitor that he was flying 860 feet over the town, way higher than the 400-foot legal limit. The date of the flight is also visible because the video was live-streamed. A week ago, on his YouTube channel, Mikey live-streamed a rambling, long-winded rant defending his actions, basically saying he was unaware of the laws he had broken, or making excuses. He cried, and thanked viewers who donated money in real time to support him. I watched a recording of one of the videos he had live-streamed. Mikey, I quickly discovered, is a loud-mouthed, foul-mouthed guy — no crime there — but as I watched him fly his drone right over downtown Philadelphia at 1,000 feet or higher, in-between and around skyscrapers, I was horrified. I don’t know if a helicopter flying in the area could be seriously harmed if it struck a drone, but I concluded that no way should a drone hobbyist be allowed to fly in such an area. You can watch the video here. Don’t watch if foul language offends you. My point? If you fly a drone, do it legally. If you live-stream be extra careful. There are gray areas with this new technology and it’s easy to cross the line. Mikey was way out of bounds and is paying a huge price. But the lesson here is that if you fly a drone, as many RVers do, follow the rules or risk having a fun hobby turn into a nightmare. https://www.rvtravel.com/drone-hobbyist-fined-182000-by-faa-for-breaking-rules/ Airbus says delivered 64 aircraft in November PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus delivered 64 aircraft in October, bringing the total so far this year to 477, the planemaker said on Monday. Deliveries included 7 wide-body A350 jets and 56 single-aisle jets including 54 of the main A320neo narrow-body family. Deliveries are being closely scrutinized by investors as they generate much-needed cash during the coronavirus crisis. The figures broadly confirm an earlier Reuters report that Airbus was heading towards a total of 550 or more deliveries in 2020 after a November tally in the mid-60s, including as many as seven A350s and more than 50 narrow-body jets. November’s deliveries were down from 72 in October. Boeing said on Friday it had delivered zero 787 jets in November, prompting it to lower output to five aircraft a month. The 787 is one of two models competing with the Airbus A350, which is being produced at a rate of 4.5 a month. Lower travel due to the pandemic is weighing heavily on new orders. Airbus sold no aircraft in November, marking the fourth time since European lockdowns began in March that it has gone a month without posting new business as it focuses on getting aircraft delivered. It has 7,302 orders yet to be fulfilled, equivalent to more than a decade of production at current depressed rates. Between January and November, it posted 381 orders, or a net total of 297 after cancellations. Boeing is due to update November data on Tuesday. https://www.reuters.com/article/airbus-deliveries/airbus-says-delivered-64-aircraft-in-november-idINKBN28H1D0 Brazilian airline GOL will resume Boeing 737 Max passenger flights on Wednesday SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 12: Passengers practice social distancing as they prepare to board a United Airlines flight to Los Angeles at San Francisco International Airport on April 12, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco International Airport has a seen a huge decline in daily flights since the coronavirus shelter in place. United Airlines, the airport's largest carrier with the most daily flights with 290 flights per day before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, has reduced their daily flights to 50 per day. New York (CNN Business)On Wednesday, Brazilian airline GOL will become the first airline in the world to fly passengers on the Boeing 737 Max in almost two years, the airline announced late Monday. The plane was cleared to carry passengers again by the US Federal Aviation Administration on November 18. So far Brazil is the only other country whose aviation regulator has cleared the plane to fly passengers, although authorities in Europe and Canada are close to doing so. The plane was grounded by aviation authorities around the globe in March of 2019 following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. GOL (GOL), Brazil's largest domestic airline, said it will use the plane on routes to and from its hub in São Paulo, the nation's largest city, although it did not disclose the exact route for the first flights. It said passengers will be informed that their flight now will be flown on the 737 Max, and any passengers who do not want to fly on the plane will have their tickets exchanged for flights using other equipment. GOL flies nothing but Boeing (BA) aircraft in its fleet of 127 jets, making it a major customer for the aircraft maker. It has seven of the 737 Max planes in its fleet. It expects to have all seven back in service by the end of December. It also has orders for 95 other 737 Max planes, and is scheduled to take delivery of those aircraft between 2022 and 2032. The three US airlines which own the Max, American Airlines (AAL), United (UAL) and Southwest (LUV), have been slower to reintroduce the plane into service. American will be the first of the three to use the plane on flights between Miami and New York on Dec. 29. United said last month it expects to start flying the planes in the first three months of 2021. Southwest, which has 34 of the jets — more than any other airline — isn't expected to fly passengers on the 737 Max until spring 2021. GOL said it is confident that the changes made in the plane during its 20-month grounding make its safe to fly. A safety mechanism designed to stop the plane from climbing too fast and stalling was responsible for pushing down the noses of the two fatal flights, causing the crashes. The plane now has extra sensors to protect against false readings that would trigger that safety mechanism. "We are pleased about the return of the Boeing 737 Max to our network," said GOL CEO Paulo Kakinoff. "The Max is one of the most efficient aircraft in aviation history and the only one to undergo a complete recertification process, ensuring the highest levels of safety and reliability. We reiterate our trust in Boeing." GOL also said it conducted additional training for 140 of its pilots who will fly the Max on how to handle the new safety systems on the plane. "It is a pleasure to be partners with GOL in reaching this important milestone and we look forward to what is yet to come in our partnership," said Landon Loomis, Boeing's managing director in Brazil. This is the second major show of confidence in the plane by an airline this month. Last week Irish discount carrier Ryanair (RYAAY) announced it was ordering an additional 75 737 Max planes on top of an earlier order for 135 737 Max planes. But other airlines have canceled orders for 565 of the planes through October 31 of this year, with 448 of those order cancellations coming this year alone. Most of the canceled orders were due to the sharp drop in air travel caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the need for airlines to preserve their cash. https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/07/business/first-boeing-737-max-flight-gol-airlines/index.html It Would Cost $2,600 Per Flight to Test Flight Attendants and Pilots for COVID-19, Airline Claims One major international airline estimates that it would cost as much as $2,600 per flight to carry out pre-departure COVID-19 tests on pilots and flight attendants. Over the course of a year, the airline claims it would spend an additional $950,000 per daily flight if COVID-19 testing requirements were enforced for aircrew. The figures were revealed as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – a global aviation trade body that represents over 250 airlines – called for aircrew to be exempted from taking COVID-19 tests as part of their jobs because “crew present a different risk profile than passengers”. IATA didn’t reveal what airline had done the math on COVID-19 test costs but the trade body said the burden of testing crew could become so much that it would hinder the ability of some airlines to restart and build connectivity just as they are ramping up for the mission of the century to airlift lifesaving vaccines to all corners of the world. But while IATA doesn’t want flight attendants or pilots to face routine COVID-19 tests, the organisation has repeatedly called for the introduction of mass rapid pre-departure testing for passengers. It’s unclear whether IATA wants governments to pay for the tests or get passengers to foot the bill through an additional surcharge. Aircrew testing, however, is mostly footed by airlines. In some cases, though, aircrew are being required to take an invasive PCR test before departure and are then subjecting them to a second test on arrival. IATA argues the “intrusion and physical discomfort” of such tests are unnecessary when many countries then lock cabin crew in quarantine hotels for the duration of their layover, forbidding any kind of contact with the local population. Captain Jack Netskar of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations said regular testing was not only putting “undue stress and pressure” on aircrew but that such requirements contravene guidance drawn up by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The guidance was originally drawn up in May with major input from the aviation industry. American Airlines and United cancelled flights to Hong Kong because of testing requirements introduced earlier this year that pilots disagreed with, while FedEx pilots also threatened to boycott some flights because of testing rules. Some airlines are, however, now embracing COVID-19 testing for aircrew with United introducing regular testing on a slew of routes including between Newark and London Heathrow where all passengers and crew have to test negative before being allowed to board. Other airlines, such as Delta have offered their entire workforce COVID-19 tests and a number of other carriers say they will test their crew every few weeks. While PCR tests can be invasive and uncomfortable, other technologies allow for non-invasive swabs to be taken that return results within minutes. Some States, including Hong Kong, have already approved these for pre-departure testing. https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2020/12/08/it-would-cost-2600-per-flight-to-test-flight-attendants-and-pilots-for-covid-19-airline-claims/ Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt (Photo Courtesy: US Navy) This Navy helicopter pilot has been chosen to be the first woman to command a US aircraft carrier • For the first time in its history, the US Navy has chosen a woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Task & Purpose first reported. • Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt will become the commanding officer of a carrier in fiscal year 2022, Naval Air Forces told Insider, though it is unclear which carrier she will lead. • Bauernschmidt previously made history by becoming the first woman to be selected as an executive officer aboard a carrier. A woman has been chosen to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the first time in the history of the US Navy. Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, a career helicopter pilot, has been selected to become the commanding officer of a carrier in fiscal year 2022, though it is unclear which of the Navy's 11 carriers she will command, Naval Air Forces told Insider Monday. Bauernschmidt graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1994, the same year Congress changed the law to allow women to serve aboard combat vessels. In an interview with CBS News in 2018, she said that the law changed her life. "We were the first class that graduated knowing and feeling honored with the privilege to be able to go serve along the rest of our comrades in combat," she said. After earning her wings two years out of the academy, she joined Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 45, also known as "Wolfpack," and deployed aboard the destroyer USS John Young, supporting maritime interdiction operations. Later, she was picked to command Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. Over the course of her trailblazing career, which also involved serving as an instructor pilot among other things, Bauernschmidt has racked up more than 3,000 flight hours in Navy aircraft, according to her official Navy biography. Her recent selection to command an aircraft carrier is not the first time she has made Navy history. Bauernschmidt is also the first woman to have served as an executive officer aboard a carrier. She was second-in-command of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Talking to CBS about the XO position in 2018, she said that she didn't think too much about it, explaining that "it's easier to just get in and do the work." Thinking a little more about it in the interview, she said: "I hope that I'm a good leader and a mentor to both men and women in the service." CBS reported at the time that she was moving into a role that would eventually put her in line to command her own carrier. Bauernschmidt most recently served as the commanding officer of the amphibious transport dock USS San Diego. https://www.yahoo.com/news/navy-helicopter-pilot-chosen-first-220008604.html SpaceX's first high-altitude Starship test could happen Tuesday We’ve seen some small hops, but the SpaceX Starship is ready to make a much larger leap. The SN8 prototype is on the launch pad in Boca Chica, TX, and SpaceX has confirmed that its first high-altitude test flight could take place as soon as Tuesday, December 8th. As Elon Musk previously described, the test will see the Starship reach as high as 15 Km (about 50,000 feet). A live stream for the event on YouTube is set to become available at 7 AM, however the actual timing of the test is “dynamic and likely to change.” In this suborbital test flight, SpaceX will test the aerodynamic capabilities of their vehicle, and attempt a “landing flip maneuver” that the company says would be the first for a craft of this size. Things have taken a bit longer than Elon Musk previously suggested, as he said in September 2019 that he was hoping for crewed flights within a year, but they are making progress. Stay tuned tomorrow for more updates on timing. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/spacex-starship-test-gflight-223911489.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