Flight Safety Information [December 14, 2020] [No. 251] In This Issue : Incident: UPS B763 at Dublin on Dec 10th 2020, engine failure : Incident: First AT42 at Pagnirtung on Dec 9th 2020, unexpected ground proximity alert due to wrong weather data : Report: ATR 72 lines up and starts take-off on incorrect runway, Australia : A man was arrested after he was seen walking the wing of an airplane just before takeoff in Las Vegas : United Airlines Indefinitely Bans Family After 2-Year-Old Refuses To Wear a Mask : FAA clears pilots to receive Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine : Every Airbus Passenger Jet to Receive MH370-Inspired ELTs Beginning in 2023 : ICAO Leaders Look to Innovation for Safe and Secure Regeneration of Aviation : AAR receives FAA approval for Safety Management System requirements : Electric airplanes are getting tantalizingly close to a commercial breakthrough : Virgin Galactic pilots land safely after aborting suborbital flight : 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Incident: UPS B763 at Dublin on Dec 10th 2020, engine failure A UPS United Parcel Service Boeing 767-300 freighter, registration N391UP performing flight 5X-249 from Dublin (Ireland) to Cologne (Germany), was in the initial climb out of Dublin's runway 28L when the crew declared PAN PAN reporting a right hand engine (CF6) failure and requested to join the downwind for a return. The aircraft stopped the climb at 3000 feet, the crew detailed they were climbing through 1300 feet when they heard a big bang and noticed vibrations from the right hand engine and N1 issues with the right hand engine, which was kept running however, and landed safely back on runway 28L about 17 minutes after departure. A replacement engine was flown in the following day. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Dublin about 69 hours after landing back. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e07787b&opt=0 Incident: First AT42 at Pagnirtung on Dec 9th 2020, unexpected ground proximity alert due to wrong weather data A First Air Avions de Transport Regional ATR-42-300, registration C-GSRR performing flight 7F-5604 from Iqaluit,NU to Pagnirtung,NU (Canada), was enroute at FL190 when the crew inquired with Flight Information Service about the current weather at the destination, however, received the weather of Puvirnituq,QC (Canada) in error. The crew continued to Pagnirtung, however, during the descent received a ground proximity warning. The crew established contact with UNICOM at Pagnirtung about 20nm out, received the correct weather data and continued for a safe landing at Pagnirtung. Canada's TSB reported Flight Information Service accidentally reported the weather data of CYPX (Puvirnituq) instead of CYXP (Pagnirtung), which provided a different altimeter setting. In the descent the crew received a terrain proximity warning. As there were VFR conditions there was no real risk of a collision with terrain. The crew received the correct altimeter settings from UNICOM Pagnirtung about 20nm out and continued for a safe landing. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/FAB5604/history/20201209/1300Z/CYFB/CYXP http://avherald.com/h?article=4e0624df&opt=0 Report: ATR 72 lines up and starts take-off on incorrect runway, Australia Date: 25-SEP-2019 Time: 19:00 LT Type: ATR 72-600 (72-212A) Owner/operator: Virgin Australia Airlines Registration: VH-VPJ C/n / msn: 1169 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 55 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: None Category: Incident Location: Canberra Airport (CBR/YSCB) - Australia Phase: Take off Nature: Passenger - Scheduled Departure airport: Canberra Airport, ACT (CBR/YSCB) Destination airport: Sydney-Kingsford Smith International Airport, NSW (SYD/YSSY) Investigating agency: ATSB Narrative: On the evening of 25 September 2019, the flight crew of an ATR 72 aircraft, registered VH-VPJ and operated by Virgin Australia Airlines, received a clearance to line up on runway 35 from intersection ‘Golf’ at Canberra Airport, Australia. While taxiing to the runway, the flight crew inadvertently lined-up on runway 30. Almost immediately after commencing the take-off roll, and at about the same time air traffic control instructed them to ‘stop’, the flight crew rejected the take off. The aircraft was re positioned for a departure from runway 35. The ATSB found that the flight crew elected to depart from intersection ‘Golf’ for runway 35. Due to the close proximity of the aircraft’s parking bay to the ‘Golf’ runway holding point, the selection of this intersection reduced the distance, and therefore the amount of time available for the flight crew to complete their pre-departure checks. After passing through the holding point, the captain taxied the aircraft onto runway 30, following the lead-on lights for that runway, while the first officer’s attention was focussed on completing procedures and checklists. This likely resulted in the flight crew having reduced awareness of the runway environment and aircraft orientation. The lead-on lights to runway 30 were active with the taxiway lighting and the lead-on lights to runway 35 were activated when the holding point stop bar at intersection ‘Golf’ was turned off by air traffic control. Therefore, both runway lead-on lights were active. This increased the risk of an aircraft being manoeuvred onto the incorrect runway, particularly at night and/or in low visibility conditions. In this case, the captain, who recalled being focused on the lead-on lights, followed the first set of lights that led to runway 30. The ATSB also established that Virgin Australia Airlines’ ATR72 Before take-off procedure did not specify when ‘ready [for take-off]’ was to be communicated to air traffic control. This increased the risk of procedures and checklists being completed while the aircraft was taxiing onto the runway, at a time when monitoring was critical. Virgin Australia Airlines’ procedures applicable to all the aircraft in their fleet did not include a runway verification check using external cues, including runway markings, signs and/or lights. Sources: ATSB Accident investigation: cover Investigating agency: ATSB Status: Investigation completed Duration: 1 year and 2 months Download report: Final report https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/245597 A man was arrested after he was seen walking the wing of an airplane just before takeoff in Las Vegas An unidentified man was arrested by local police after he walked on the wing of an Alaska Airlines plane at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, KSNV-TV reported. The pilot saw the man and warned the control tower before the plane departed to Portland, according to CNN. In one video of the incident posted on Twitter, the man is seen kicking off his shoes and trying to climb the wing of the plane. A man who was seen walking, climbing, and taking off his shoes on the wing of an airplane at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas was arrested by local police on Saturday. The incident occurred just after 1:30 PM on Saturday, KSNV-TV reported. The Alaska Airlines flight was set to take off for Portland, Oregon, when the unidentified man was seen on the wing of the plane by the pilot, who then warned the control tower, CNN reported. Footage of the incident posted online shows the man sitting in the middle of the plane's wing. Another video shows the man as kicked off his shoes and tried to go up the winglet-end of the wing- of the plane. In the video, passengers reacted when the man's climbing attempt failed and he fell hard off the wing of the plane. A spokesperson for the airport told NBC News that the man was arrested and taken to a "medical facility" for treatment. "Law enforcement was dispatched and able to apprehend the individual," Alaska Airlines told NBC News. "Our guests and employees are safe and we are working with law enforcement. The plane returned to the gate for a full inspection." The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating the incident, KSNV-TV reported. Alaska Airlines and Las Vegas police did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-arrested-seen-walking-wing-162256663.html United Airlines Indefinitely Bans Family After 2-Year-Old Refuses To Wear a Mask A family was booted from a United Airlines flight in Denver and banned for life when their 2-year-old daughter wouldn’t wear a mask. Eliz Orban and her husband boarded the Newark-bound airplane with their child. While the parents were wearing face coverings and tried to get their daughter to wear one too, she refused. Through tears, Orban said in a video, “We just got kicked off the flight because our 2-year-old would not put on a mask, and we tried.” She also shared footage of them trying to get their daughter to wear the mask. As Orban and her husband were coaxing their daughter to wear a face covering, a flight attendant walked up to them and said they were being kicked off the flight. The husband said he was trying his best to get the child to comply and was willing to cover his daughter’s face, but the attendant wasn’t convinced and still asked them to leave. At that time, United also wouldn’t give them their luggage from the cargo hold, which included their child’s car seat. Orban added that they’re forbidden from flying with the airline ever again. United Airlines later released a statement to TMZ regarding the incident: “The health and safety of our employees and customers is our highest priority, which is why we have a multi-layered set of policies, including mandating that everyone onboard two and older wears a mask.” The statement continued, “We are investigating this specific incident and have made contact with the family. We also refunded their tickets and returned their car seat and bags.” CDC guidelines suggest that children older than two should wear face masks. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/united-airlines-bans-family-indefinitely-200051178.html FAA clears pilots to receive Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Airforwarders seek top vaccine status from states as CDC prepares final priority list Pilots in cockpit looking out at sky, ground below.. Pilots are expected to be in the second tier of priority groups to receive the new COVID-19 vaccine. (Image: Flickr/John Christian Fjellestad) The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday determined that commercial pilots and air traffic controllers subject to FAA medical clearance may receive Pfizer Inc.’s (NYSE: PFE) newly approved COVID-19 vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration Friday night authorized the vaccine’s public use on an emergency basis after an extensive review of its safety and ability to protect against the virus, which has claimed nearly 300,000 lives in the U.S. The Air Line Pilots Association earlier this week urged the FAA to quickly approve the vaccine for pilots so they don’t violate medical certifications by taking the drug. The FAA said it will require aviation professionals with medical certifications or clearances to observe a 48-hour waiting period following the administration of the vaccine before conducting safety-related aviation duties, such as flying or controlling air traffic, as a precaution against side effects. Because the Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, 21 days apart for maximum effectiveness, this waiting period applies after each dose, the FAA said. “The agency’s medical professionals will continuously monitor the initial distribution of the novel vaccine and documented clinical results and will adjust these recommendations as needed,” the FAA statement said. The FAA will evaluate vaccines from other manufacturers as they receive FDA authorization in the coming weeks and months and will advise pilots and air traffic controllers of any waiting periods required for those vaccines. Pilots likely will be in the second tier of priority candidates to receive the vaccine after frontline medical workers and those in long-term care facilities. CDC and essential workers The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this weekend is expected to finalize its priority list for who receives the vaccine first. An agency panel has recommended that Group One-B include transportation workers. Freight interests and pilots have pressed the administration and Congress to make sure they are in the secondary tier. On Friday, the Airforwarders Association urged a dozen state medical directors to prioritize COVID vaccinations for warehouse workers, truckers and security screeners involved in airfreight by elevating them to Tier 1 vaccine status. Currently, essential workers in air cargo are slated for Tier 2. The 12 states, including Oregon and Michigan, were selected because they have major international gateway airports. “Freight transport workers are currently involved in transporting raw materials and component chemicals for vaccines under development and the supplies necessary to bottle, package, transport, and administer the vaccine nationwide,” as well as personal protective equipment and electronics for distance learning and working from home during the pandemic Executive Director Brandon Fried said in a letter. “Their role to date underscores their need to be prioritized. “The handling of cargo necessitates working at less than the recommended six feet of distance, and in enclosed, unventilated spaces like aircraft cargo holds. Utilizing machinery and manual processes, these workers load and unload cargo from planes, assemble large pallets of freight to ship, break them down and repalletize them upon receipt to truckers who deliver them to recipients.” Any outbreak that causes workers to get sick could impact the supply chain because it can take weeks to train and get security clearances from the Transportation Security Administration for new hires, he added. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/faa-clears-pilots-to-receive-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine Every Airbus Passenger Jet to Receive MH370-Inspired ELTs Beginning in 2023 Orolia's Ultima-DT will be installed on every in-production Airbus passenger-carrying aircraft type starting in 2023. (Orolia) Airbus has committed to equipping all of its in-production aircraft types with line-fit emergency locator technology (ELT) inspired by a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulatory mandate related to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Under a new agreement with Paris, France-based aircraft ELT manufacturer Orolia, Ultima-DT will be installed on a standard basis on all Airbus commercial aircraft programs, including the A220, A320 family, A330, and A350 according to a Dec. 9 press release. The technology will be installed on Airbus aircraft as part of a single source, multi-year program contract awarded to Orolia. As per the (ICAO) Autonomous Distress Tracking (ADT) mandate was birthed as part of its Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS) initiative and European Union mandate, all new aircraft delivered from January 2023 shall be able to autonomously report their location anywhere in the world and determine the end of flight location to help rescue teams rapidly locate the aircraft and recover flight recorders. “We are extremely proud to be selected by Airbus to provide with the world’s first aircraft manufacturer compliance with the latest safety regulations. A single-source, multi-year program selection for the delivery of mandatory equipment is a testimonial to our innovation capabilities, the reliability of Orolia as a critical equipment manufacturer, and our know-how in terms of large and complex program management," Orolia CEO Jean-Yves Courtois said in the release. Developed after the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, it was to occur on or after January 21, 2021. To comply with the mandate, aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of over 27,000 kg (60,000 lbs.) with an airworthiness certificate issued would have to autonomously transmit position information once every minute or less when an aircraft is in distress. The Airbus A220-100 and A220-300 are among the in-service aircraft types that will receive the ELT line-fit upgrades. (Airbus) ICAO first adopted Amendment 39 to Annex 6 of its normal aircraft tracking standards and recommended practices (SARPs) in November 2015. The SARPs require operators to track aircraft operating under normal flight conditions every 15 minutes with an optional abnormal-event tracking capability. A separate ADT requirement – the one Orolia’s technology will fulfill on Airbus airliners – was included in ICAO’s standards amendment and has been implemented on a nation-by-nation basis by individual civil aviation regulatory agencies. Following a two-year postponement, the standard for the distress tracking element of GADSS will now be applicable as of January 2023 for new-build aircraft. Following a survey by ICAO on preparedness, the agency’s Air Navigation Commission recommended this postponement to 2023, which was approved by the ICAO Council this year. That gives Airbus enough time to integrate the adoption of Orolia's Ultima-DT into their production schedules. The April 2019 edition of Avionics International featured an overview of Orolia's lithium-ion battery-powered with an internal antenna capable of transmitting 406 and 121.5 MHz signals. The antenna also has embedded global navigation satellite system reception and Orolia also provides a separate ADT module that gets installed within the aircraft’s cockpit control panel. When Ultima-DT’s tracking module captures a distress signal or condition and transmits it to the ELT, a distress message can be remitted to air traffic controllers, search and rescue agencies, and the aircraft operator’s ground-based personnel. The module’s signaling of a distress condition then also triggers minute-by-minute tracking. In the event of an aircraft experiencing a power failure, the new ELT still transmits distress signals to the COSPAS SARSAT satellite system, which has provided free search and rescue satellite emergency locator service to the aviation industry for more than 20 years. Whereas previous generation ELT distress tracking technology was activated by G-forces, Ultima-DT is activated by distress conditions that are likely to lead to a crash or accident. “First units will be delivered to Airbus for final assembly line installation in 2022, ensuring that aircraft delivered from January 2023 meet the autonomous distress tracking requirements,” Orolia said in the release. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2020/12/11/every-airbus-passenger-aircraft-receive-mh370-inspired-elts-beginning-2023/ ICAO Leaders Look to Innovation for Safe and Secure Regeneration of Aviation The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has highlighted the sector’s high reliance on innovation to address pandemic recovery, security and future sustainability. “With each new decade comes new opportunities for innovation, and I anticipate the next ten years will be one of the most exciting and challenging our sector has ever faced,” remarked ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano. “Innovators can often be surprised by the scale of the global regulatory framework which allows for international aviation, and by the detailed responsibilities they face in having their products and services assessed and integrated into our system.” ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu underscored the extent to which innovation will be impacting security and health screening measures for governments and air travelers to enable a full air transport recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and to facilitate the sector’s ability to withstand future pandemic events. “Because we are recognizing that our overall network will face expectations of being more resilient to future pandemic threats, and being more sustainable in terms of its emissions once COVID-19 is behind us, innovation will be crucial to how we build aviation back better in the months and years ahead.” The COVID-19 crisis environment is already accelerating developments surrounding contactless passenger screening and the digitalization of the supply chain, among other examples, and has led to airlines putting older, more emissions intensive jets out of service in favor of newer models with significantly decreased emissions. “We must enable an ambitious decarbonization path for this sector, and I have been encouraged by the participation and commitments which were recently achieved at two ICAO events which took specific stock of new green technologies and other innovations,” President Sciacchitano noted. With respect to the very dynamic environment of innovation driving the development of drones and other new types of aircraft and operations today, Secretary General Liu stressed that ICAO remains at the forefront of addressing the pressing and foundational global need for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) standards, in addition to aligned solutions for unmanned traffic management in urban areas, and the safe integration of sub orbital and stratospheric operations. “We also recognize that AI and machine learning will be making important contributions with respect to how we collect and manage the incredible amount of data our network generates, and that these technologies, in addition to new blockchain capabilities, will bring fundamental changes to how we monitor, assess, or simply administer the performance of our network,” she commented. Dr. Liu also stressed the challenges posed to national regulators to find and retain staff resources capable of understanding and certifying the non-traditional innovations now arising in air transport, and called on countries to enhance their regulatory capacities and adapt their human resources development approaches as they modernized their aviation infrastructure. Partnerships, including ICAO’s recent agreement with the International Forum for Aviation Research (IFAR), and the establishment of a new ICAO-Industry Consultative Forum will work to foster more effective and efficient ties with industry innovators and entrepreneurs. The Secretary General said that ICAO is committed to providing countries with targeted assistance to support the implementation of latest innovations, whether through the training and capacity-building or subject matter expertise it can provide, or via the deployment of implementation and project management tools and resources by its Technical Cooperation Program. Both the Council President and Secretary General were speaking at ICAO’s Global Symposium on the Implementation of Innovation in Aviation, which took place virtually through December 11 and included 11 workshops organized across three time zones. https://www.hstoday.us/industry/icao-leaders-look-to-innovation-for-safe-and-secure-regeneration-of-aviation/ AAR receives FAA approval for Safety Management System requirements AAR, a leading provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, MROs and OEMs, was recognized as the first independent MRO for implementing a Safety Management System (SMS) in accordance with the requirements set forth in the SMS Voluntary Program by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The implementation of the Safety Management System will allow AAR to better serve its customers and the flying public by proactively identify safety issues and trends before they reach their full potential. AAR utilized its APRISe software, a proprietary closed-loop system for quality and safety management, to facilitate the SMS process. In addition to SMS, APRISe includes everything from investigations to audit findings, customer feedback, injury reporting, import/export compliance and many other functions. “As of today, the SMS program is fully implemented in our AAR MRO Rockford and AAR MRO Miami facilities. SMS will be implemented at our remaining MRO sites in 2021,” said Art Smith, AAR chief quality officer. “AAR´s SMS implementation meets the expectations of the Flight Standards Service SMS Voluntary Program guidance for acknowledgement of a fully functional SMS,” said Tiffany LaTour, FAA SMS program office manager. “Thank you for your continued commitment to improve aviation safety in our National Airspace System and again, congratulations on your momentous achievement.” https://verticalmag.com/press-releases/aar-receives-faa-approval-for-safety-management-system-requirements/ Electric airplanes are getting tantalizingly close to a commercial breakthrough For $140,000, you can fly your own electric airplane. The Slovenian company Pipistrel sells the Alpha Electro, the first electric aircraft certified as airworthy by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2018. It’s a welterweight at just 811 pounds (368 kilograms), powered by a 21 kWh battery pack—about one-fifth the power of what you’d find in a Tesla Model S. For about 90 minutes, the pilot training plane will keep you and a companion aloft without burning a drop of fossil fuel. Those of us without a pilot license will have to wait longer for emissions-free flight—but not much. For all its challenges, 2020 has proven to be a milestone year for electric aviation. Electric aircraft set new distance records, replicated short commercial flight paths, won over the US military, and attracted buyers from big airlines. And in June, European regulators granted another of Pipistrel’s aircraft, the Velis Electro, the world’s first electric “type certification,” deeming the entire aircraft design safe and ready for mass production (airworthiness only certifies individual aircraft). Much more is coming. Within two years, you’ll be able to watch Air Race E, a circuit that pits eight electric-powered airplanes against each other, zooming just 32 feet (10 meters) off the ground at 280 mph (450 kph). Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) leaders Archer, Joby, and Beta are reading their battery-powered flights on the question for certification. “You’ve seen some shakeup in electric aviation, but also see it get closer to reality” in 2020, says John Hansman, director of MIT’s International Center for Air Transportation, and part of the hybrid-electric aircraft startup Electra. “It’s clear there will be the emergence of a new class of electric airplanes. Next year, you’ll see hybrid and battery aircraft in service or close to being in service.” The remarkable advancement in batteries, electric motors, and other hardware installed in electric cars—as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in aviation applications—have brought electric technology much closer to commercial take-off after years of doubt. By 2035, investment bank UBS estimates, the aviation industry will be 25% hybrid or fully electric. But the ascent hasn’t been without turbulence. In January, an all-electric prototype from Eviation burst into flames during ground testing at an Arizona airport, likely due to overheating batteries (the company says it will enter service by 2022). Uber sold off its aviation division, Elevate, to the startup Joby as the financial prospects for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) remain too far from profitability for Uber’s struggling balance sheet. “There’s a big difference between a demonstration airplane and an airplane you’re trying to certify,” Hansman said, referring to an FAA process that requires hundreds of millions of dollars over nearly a decade. But the new air race is on. Who will be the first to certify a commercial electric aircraft? Why go electric? Half of all global flights are shorter than 500 miles. That’s the sweet spot for electric aircraft. Fewer moving parts, less maintenance, and cheap(er) electricity means costs may fall by more than half to about $150 per hour (smaller airplanes like Pipistrel’s cost just a few dollars). For airlines, this makes entirely new routes now covered by car and train possible (and profitable) thanks to lower fuel, maintenance, and labor costs. Electric propulsion nearly solves another problem for aviation: carbon emissions. Aviation emits more than 2% (pdf) of the world’s CO2 emissions, and it may reach nearly a quarter by mid-century. With no alternative fuel ready to leave the ground, and the number of air passengers set to double by 2035, electricity may offer the industry its best way forward in a climate-constrained world. That’s likely to make 2021 the year of the hybrid. On the way to designing all-electric aircraft, electric aviation companies are modifying what works to stay aloft. This was Los Angeles-based Ampaire’s strategy with its “Electric EEL,” which pairs a combustion engine in the nose with and electric propeller motor in the rear. The modified Cessna 337 Skymaster is one of the first hybrids to win approval under the FAA’s experimental aircraft certification (only essential crew and personnel are allowed to fly). In October, the EEL completed a 341-mile test flight between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, the longest electric-hybrid flight ever for a commercial aircraft, the company claims. Ampaire is now flying 15-minute trial flights in partnership with Hawaii-based Mokulele Airlines to prove the feasibility of quick trips between the islands’ small airports with mock payloads. In 2021, the company says it will start flying in the UK, work with NASA to overhaul its aircraft designs, build out a supply chain, and lay the foundation for its own vehicle, the Tailwind, a custom-built electric jet on the drawing board (and aerodynamic test chambers). “Clean-sheet design” The ultimate prize will be designing all-new electric aircraft. But certifying a new aircraft remains arduous and expensive. “It takes a lot of time and a lot of money to build a new planet from scratch,” says Kevin Noertker, co-founder of Ampaire. “It will be five to seven years before you get a clean-sheet design. A lot of companies are trying to prove us wrong, but if they succeed, it will be a much better world.” Eviation Aircraft is one of the startups furthest down this runway. Its new electric plane, Alice, made a splash after scaled-down version completed an autonomous demonstration flight at the Paris Air Show in 2017. Since then, reports Eviation, the nine-seat, $4 million plane has received more than 150 orders. For larger aircraft, Wright Electric says it is building a fleet of 186-seat electric airliners for the British budget airline easyJet due out by 2030. Then there are the craft that need no runway at all. Air taxis, similar to overgrown drones, promise to bring the price and convenience of urban flight low enough to transform cities and same-day delivery. Archer Aviation’s eVTOL aircraft will ferry four passengers in its vehicles at speeds of up to 150 mph about 60 miles. “We’re building the world’s first all-electric airline,” says Adam Goldstein, co-founder of Archer. “You can expect us to fly in 2021.” The company is targeting urban routes at the price of an UberX, about $3 to $6 per passenger-mile. By 2024, it plans to get the public riding inside its vehicles. Archer, like rivals Joby and Beta, are all racing to secure FAA certification for their lines of aircraft. The newest kids on the block are STOL (short take-off and landing) aircraft. These combine the simplicity and cost-savings of fixed-wing aircraft with extremely short take-off distances of 100 feet or less, about one-third of a football field. A string of electric motors along the wings generate extra lift, avoiding some of the engineering complexity and certification challenges facing eVTOLs. All of them will face tough decisions to ensure the right technology makes it into the aircraft at a time when designs are rapidly evolving, says Matt Trotter of Silicon Valley Bank: “The pace of innovation in aviation right now is faster than we’ve ever seen from the entrepreneurs we speak with.” Fuel, autonomy, and form factors are all up for grabs. Batteries are cheap and easily available, but hydrogen looks increasingly attractive for flights over a few hundred miles (sourcing and storing it remains a challenge). Autonomous commercial aircraft are finally taking off, too, and pairing pilot-free planes with electric propulsion could provide huge cost savings. But the FAA won’t let pilots leave the cockpit quite yet. And exotic aircraft forms are off the drawing board as small electric motors let aerospace engineers experiment with placing one—or a dozen—on various surfaces of the airframe. All of this is forcing startups to develop aircraft that will accommodate different technologies likely to gain traction in the coming years. Jeff Engler, CEO of Wright Electric, says his company is “parallel processing” different designs as it prepares to certify an aircraft that can accommodate batteries, hybrid, or hydrogen. In all, about 200 electric aircraft were estimated to be under development in 2019, up one third from a year earlier. Investors are eagerly betting on the sector. “The biggest change we’re seeing recently is access to capital for deep tech,” says Trotter. Since 2015, 10 of the leading electric aviation startups globally have raised more than $1.2 billion, most it in the last year (led by a $590 million round by Joby Aviation), according to PitchBook. Airlines are pouring money into the supply chain for electric propulsion. The investment arms for JetBlue Airways invested $250 million in electric-aviation startups over the last three years, and Intel, Toyota Motor, Daimler, and Geely Automobile in China are crowding into the space. And the military is returning to its roots as an early funder of Silicon Valley technology: The Navy and Air Force are both providing funds, support, and testing for autonomous and electric cargo drones. Joby Aviation’s four-person eVTOL aircraft recently won an airworthiness certification from the Air Force to start flying military missions (19 other companies are in line to do the same). These companies will need all the cash they can get. Electric aviation startups, predicts one airline executive, may need $17 billion (perhaps as much as $40 billion) to certify their aircraft and build their businesses, a significant share of venture capital each year. A few companies have already made crash landings. Zunum Aero, despite raising $6.8 million from investors including Boeing and JetBlue, ran out of money in 2018 and laid off 70 staff members (it’s now fundraising again). Without massive infusions of cash and new sources of revenue before their own craft are ready to fly, more companies are likely to join Zunum. The electric aviation race will be as much against bankruptcy as rivals. https://qz.com/1943592/electric-airplanes-are-getting-close-to-a-commercial-breakthrough/?utm_source=YPL Virgin Galactic pilots land safely after aborting suborbital flight Two pilots aboard Virgin Galactic’s commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital rocketplane safely landed back in New Mexico Saturday after a “computer communications loss” triggered an abort of the craft’s engine ignition sequence. Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founder by billionaire Richard Branson, was attempting its first suborbital spaceflight from the company’s new home base at Spaceport America in New Mexico. A jet-powered carrier aircraft took off from the New Mexico spaceport around 8:24 a.m. MST (10:24 a.m. EST; 1524 GMT) Saturday and flew to an altitude of around 50,000 feet (15,200 meters). Pilots Dave Mackay and Rick “CJ” Sturckow climbed into the cockpit of the SpaceShipTwo rocketplane — named VSS Unity — before takeoff under Virgin Galactic’s carrier jet. Mackay is Virgin Galactic’s chief pilot, and Sturckow is a former NASA space shuttle commander. After dropping from the carrier aircraft, the rocketplane was supposed to ignite its hybrid motor and pitch up to fly to an altitude of more than 50 miles, or 80 kilometers, the boundary of space recognized by the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the Federal Aviation Administration. But a technical problem caused the vehicle to abort its engine ignition sequence, cutting short the planned ascent into space. Mackay and Sturckow guided the Unity spaceplane back to a landing on the 12,000-foot-long (nearly 3,700-meter) runway at Spaceport America at 9:27 a.m. MST (11:27 a.m. EST; 1627 GMT). “Our flight today did not reach space as we had been planning,” said Michael Colglazier, Virgin Galactic’s CEO, in a statement. “After being released from its mothership, SpaceShipTwo Unity’s onboard computer that monitors the rocket motor lost connection. As designed, this triggered a fail-safe scenario that intentionally halted ignition of the rocket motor,” Colglazier said. “Following this occurrence, our pilots flew back to Spaceport America and landed gracefully as usual,” Colglazier said. “When I became CEO, I was briefed on the safety engineering of our spaceflight system, which is purposely designed to enable our pilots to safely glide back at any point,” he said. “Seeing firsthand how our pilots brought Unity in for a picture-perfect landing after an off-nominal condition confirmed this approach. I am even more confident that this is the level of safety that consumers will want and will be expecting from us.” The rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is in the final phase of a multi-year test flight campaign before beginning commercial service carrying wealthy space tourists to the edge of space. Previous rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo flights originated from Mojave Air & Space Port in California, where Virgin Galactic builds its spaceships. Virgin Galactic announced last year it was relocating its remaining test operations to New Mexico, where pilots performed two unpowered glide flight tests earlier this year. Virgin Galactic’s last successful rocket-powered test flight to the edge of space occurred in February 2019 over California’s Mojave Desert. Before the abort Saturday, Virgin Galactic said the test flight would be the first of three rocket-powered missions from Spaceport America before it begins commercial operations. The next flight, scheduled for early 2021, was to carry four company employees, or “mission specialists,” to test and refine equipment, procedures, and training for future commercial passengers. That would precede a final test flight to space with Branson on-board, Virgin Galactic officials said. Virgin Galactic said before Sunday’s test flight that the mission would provide some of the data the company needs to close out its final two verification reports to the FAA, which licenses commercial spaceflight operations in the United States. The aborted test flight Saturday could affect those plans. “As we do with every test flight, we are evaluating all the data, including the root cause assessment of the computer communication loss,” Colglazier said. “We look forward to sharing information on our next flight window in the near future.” While there were no passengers on-board the SpaceShipTwo vehicle Saturday, two NASA-sponsored microgravity research experiments were installed inside the spaceplane’s cabin. https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/12/12/virgin-galactic-pilots-land-safely-after-aborting-suborbital-flight/ 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? 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