Flight Safety Information - January 20, 2021 No. 015 In This Issue : Incident: Canada B789 at Frankfurt on Jan 17th 2021, slat failure : Accident: West Atlantic B734 at Exeter on Jan 19th 2021, hard touchdown : Incident: Indigo A20N near Bhopal on Jan 17th 2021, burning odour on board : Incident: Southwest B737 at Baltimore on Jan 18th 2021, bird strike on departure : Flight Tests Validate Orolia’s GADSS Autonomous Distress Tracking Solution : U.S. DOT To Assess FAA’s Pilot Psychological Testing : EVA Air retains 9th spot in global airline safety index : New Piper Wing Spar AD Affects 5,400 Aircraft : Curtiss-Wright, Honeywell Achieve EASA Certification on Connected Cockpit Voice Recorder : Etihad - One of First Airlines To Launch IATA Travel Pass : Southwest Airlines Prepares To Turn 50 : C919 jumbo plane completes extreme low-temperature test in Inner Mongolia : Boeing expands its used 737 freighter business with another new deal : 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Incident: Canada B789 at Frankfurt on Jan 17th 2021, slat failure An Air Canada Boeing 787-9, registration C-FGDZ performing flight AC-874 (dep Jan 16th) from Montreal,QC (Canada) to Frankfurt/Main (Germany) with 86 people on board, was on approach to Frankfurt when the crew received a "SLAT DRIVE" EICAS message. The crew worked the related checklists, declared PAN PAN and continued for a safe landing on Frankfurt's runway 25C. Canada's TSB reported maintenance found the right hand slats #8 to #12 not extended and slats #1 to #7 partially extended. "Further inspection found torque tube disconnected at #8 slat." https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA874/history/20210116/2310Z/CYUL/EDDF http://avherald.com/h?article=4e1e3dbf&opt=0 Accident: West Atlantic B734 at Exeter on Jan 19th 2021, hard touchdown A West Atlantic Boeing 737-400 freighter, registration G-JMCY performing flight NPT-05L from East Midlands,EN to Exeter,EN (UK) with 2 crew, landed on Exeter's runway 26 at 02:34L (02:34Z) but suffered a very hard touch down. The aircraft rolled out without further incident. No injuries are being reported. Locals report a post flight inspection found creases around the fuselage to the extent, that Royal Mail was unable to unload the mail. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e1e21a4&opt=0 Incident: Indigo A20N near Bhopal on Jan 17th 2021, burning odour on board An Indigo Airbus A320-200N, registration VT-ITH performing flight 6E-357 from Surat Gujarat to Kolkata (India) with 172 people on board, was enroute at FL330 about 50nm east of Bhopal (India) when the crew decided to divert to Bhopal due to a burning odour on the flight deck. The aircraft landed safely on Bhopal's runway 30 about 18 minutes later. A replacement A320-200 registration VT-IHK reached Kolkata with a delay of 4:45 hours. The airline reported the crew diverted due to a temporary foul smell on the flight deck. The source of the odour was identified to be the avionics compartment extract fan having failed. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e1e4fce&opt=0 Incident: Southwest B737 at Baltimore on Jan 18th 2021, bird strike on departure A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700, registration N227WN performing flight WN-2757 from Baltimore,MD to Jacksonville,FL (USA), was climbing out of Baltimore's runway 28 when the aircraft suffered a bird strike. The crew stopped the climb at FL280 and returned to Baltimore for a safe landing on runway 33L about 40 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 737-700 registration N7854B reached Jacksonville with a delay of 2:05 hours. The FAA reported the aircraft received minor damage and rated the occurrence an incident. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 16 hours after landing. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA2757/history/20210118/1910Z/KBWI/KJAX http://avherald.com/h?article=4e1e32bd&opt=0 Flight Tests Validate Orolia’s GADSS Autonomous Distress Tracking Solution Orolia recently organized a series of flight tests to demonstrate and qualify capabilities of the GADSS global aircraft safety program’s end-to-end Emergency Locator Transmitter Distress Tracking (ELT-DT) system, including Orolia’s Ultima-DT solution. With these successful flight test results and the performance of its Ultima-DT system, Orolia is now the world’s first industry supplier to offer a compliant solution to GADSS Autonomous Distress Tracking requirements, as required for new-built commercial aircraft after January 2023. This major European initiative has been led by Orolia with the support of French and Spanish government partners such as France’s CNES, the Spanish and French Air Traffic Service Units, the Spanish and French Mission Control Centers, the Spanish and French Rescue Coordination Centers, as well as two major Airline Operation Centers from Air France and Iberia. This was the first opportunity to evaluate a system-level implementation of the new Global Aeronautical Distress Safety System (GADSS), particularly its Autonomous Distress Tracking component (ADT). This evaluation included Orolia’s Ultima-DT, the latest generation of Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT) with Distress Tracking capability. The flight tests were conducted in a business jet, flying along a trajectory across Spain and France. The robustness of the alert and tracking transmission, which involves the Cospas Sarsat MEOSAR satellite constellation, as well as the performance of ground reception and distribution, were confirmed- even with extreme aircraft attitudes. These tests also provided the opportunity to review some organizational and process aspects, in particular the insertion of the Distress Tracking process into the general aircraft alert management process, including communication between Air Traffic Service Units, Rescue Coordination Centers, and Airlines Operations Centers in France and Spain. Though test data still need to be applied to ongoing program development, preliminary results showed excellent system performance with 100 percent scores for the transmission/detection rate, as well as geo-location functionality. All stakeholders were able to receive distress information in a timely manner. “This successful evaluation enabled all participants to collect large quantities of critical data in an accurate operational context. The maturity level of the GADSS distress tracking system, including Orolia’s Ultima-DT, has now been verified with the same level of reliable performance both in flight and on the ground,” said Christian Belleux, aviation product line director at Orolia. Ultima-DT was developed through the Helios initiative, with funding support from the European GNSS Agency under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, grant agreement No 687554. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/business-general-aviation/press-release/21206408/orolia-flight-tests-validate-orolias-gadss-autonomous-distress-tracking-solution U.S. DOT To Assess FAA’s Pilot Psychological Testing The U.S. DOT Inspector General’s (DOT IG) office is currently conducting an audit to assess the FAA’s procedures for evaluating the psychological health of airline and other commercial pilots, as well as mitigating potential threats to aviation safety from pilots with mental health issues. Since 1994 there have been at least six suspected or confirmed passenger airplane crashes internationally caused by intentional action by a pilot, resulting in a total of 398 fatalities, according to the DOT. “These incidents emphasize the importance of monitoring the psychological health of pilots.” FAA first-class medical certification rules (FAR 67.107) include a list of mental standards. Nevertheless, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) requested that the DOT IG undertake this audit, expressing concerns that FAA commercial pilot mental certification rules might be insufficient. Europe has already taken action on this issue. Beginning next month, EASA will require national aviation authorities to incorporate provisions to “better identify, assess, and treat the psychological fitness” of commercial flight crewmembers. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2021-01-19/us-dot-assess-faas-pilot-psychological-testing EVA Air retains 9th spot in global airline safety index Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) Taiwan-based EVA Airways said Tuesday that it continues to hold ninth position among the world's safest airlines in an annual index compiled by Germany's Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC). EVA Air, which has consistently ranked at the forefront among the top 100 safest airlines since JACDEC began releasing airline safety rankings in 2003, said the recognition is a credit to its staff, who remain committed to safety standards, particularly amid the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. JACDEC, an organization that monitors more than 1,000 flight operators and serves as a reliable source for aviation safety information, also names Emirates as the safest airline in the world in the report released earlier this month. Emirates is followed by Etihad Airways, Scoot Tigerair, Air Europa and Finnair, according to the report, which uses a risk index to evaluate 33 parameters for annual overall rankings by comparing a value for each airline's accumulated operations with those of other carriers. It considers factors such as fleet age, International Air Transport Association (IATA) flight safety audits, serious flight accidents and flight losses over the past 30 years. Rounding out the top 10 list were KLM, Transavia, Oman Air, EVA Air and Jetblue Airways. https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202101190029 New Piper Wing Spar AD Affects 5,400 Aircraft Owners of Piper PA-28 and PA-32 models have been hit with a series of airworthiness directives over the last year, including one related to main-spar corrosion, but the latest AD stems from a fatal accident in 2018 when a Piper Arrow conducting flight training lost a wing and killed the FAA examiner and student. The Arrow was 11 years old but had accumulated more than 7,600 hours, exclusively in the training environment. The most recent AD calls for inspections of the lower spar caps at the bolted joint to the carry-through structure inside the cabin for aircraft with more than 5,000 hours time in service and applies to more than 5,400 aircraft. The accident Arrow’s wing failed due to a fatigue fracture at the “bolted joint” along the lower spar cap, according to investigators. The AD is effective on Feb. 16, 2021, and affects PA-28 and PA-32 aircraft from the PA-28-151 Warrior up to the PA-32RT Saratoga. It also includes all Arrow models, but not the PA-28-236 Dakota or the lighter non-taper-wing PA-28 series. According to the FAA, “Because airplanes used in training and other high-load environments are typically operated for hire and have inspection programs that require 100-hour inspections, the FAA determined the number of 100-hour inspections an airplane has undergone would be the best indicator of the airplane’s usage history. Accordingly, the FAA developed a factored service hours formula based on the number of 100-hour inspections completed on the airplane. This AD requires calculating the factored service hours for each main wing spar to determine when an inspection is required, inspecting the lower main wing spar bolt holes for cracks, and replacing any cracked main wing spar.” In short, the inspection portion of the AD applies when any given airplane has accumulated more than 5,000 “factored service hours,” a determination that had to be made within 30 days of the AD’s implementation by reviewing the logbooks and counting the number of 100-hour inspections determined to be associated with flight-training use. Aircraft with more than 5,000 factored service hours must have the eddy-current inspection performed within the next 100 hours. The test is said to cost just more than $1,000 per aircraft, though a wing-spar replacement is estimated at more than $12,000 each wing. What’s more, the FAA says it will not issue ferry permits to those aircraft found to have cracks; they will have to be repaired locally or disassembled and taken to an appropriate service facility. Finally, the FAA is calling this AD an “interim” measure, suggesting that data from the field could change the minimum number of service hours. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/new-piper-wing-spar-ad-affects-5400-aircraft/ Curtiss-Wright, Honeywell Achieve EASA Certification on Connected Cockpit Voice Recorder Curtiss Wright and Honeywell Aerospace have achieved EASA technical standard order certification on their 25-hour cockpit voice recorder, the HCR-25. (Honeywell Aerospace) Curtiss-Wright Corp. and Honeywell Aerospace received a technical standard order (TSO) certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for their jointly developed cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the Honeywell Connected Recorder-25 (HCR-25). HCR-25 is the result of a 2019 agreement between Curtiss Wright and Honeywell Aerospace to develop a line of cockpit voice and flight data recorders capable of real-time data streaming and cloud upload functionality. The recorder meets EASA's 2021 regulations requiring an extension of the minimum transmission times for Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVRs), Underwater Locating Devices (ULDs), and aircraft localization. The regulation requires aircraft with a Maximum Certified Take-Off Mass (MCTOM) of more than 27,000 kg (60,000 lbs.) to feature a minimum recording duration of 25 hours. Honeywell describes the data recorder as a "Black Box in the Sky," where "owners, operators, and manufacturers can access the data during the flight, resulting in the potential for better maintenance predictability and operational insight through data analytics." “The importance of reliable cockpit voice and flight data recorders cannot be overstated. That’s why we are working alongside Curtiss-Wright to design and develop the next generation of recorders that leverages our full hardware and software expertise to meet the 25-hour requirement, and identify the right information and make it available to accident investigation agencies when it’s most needed,” Amanda King, vice president and general manager, Aerospace Connected Secure Solutions, Honeywell Connected Enterprise, said in a Jan. 19 press release. Going beyond meeting EASA’s 25-hour CVR recording requirement, both companies also want operators to be able to access the data stored on the new FDR. Both the data and voice recorders can also serve as replacements to Honeywell’s existing HFR-5 series voice and data recorders. HCR-25 weights 4.3 kg (9.5 lbs.) and includes a 90-day-underwater locator beacon. “With the new regulatory requirement, we saw an opportunity to evolve our recorder technology to not only meet the conditions of governing agencies but also make this product more powerful and better connected, providing aircraft operators with another source of data collection that can be used to improve aircraft maintenance and performance," King said. Airlines that require "Class 6" CVRs are the target market for Honeywell and Curtiss Wright with the new EASA certification. According to Curtiss Wright, the CVR is based on their Fortress FDR technology that features data link and image recording capabilities. The HCR-25 also has an expansion slot, internal data collection card, and remote USB interface so that data from the recorder can be downloaded directly to a laptop or other device. As part of the development of the new recorders, Honeywell plans to offer the HCR-25 in several variants, including as a standalone CVR, as a standalone FDR, or as a combined voice and flight data recorder. “Both companies are pioneers and innovators of crash-protected recorders, providing flight recorders to the industry for over 60 years,” Lynn M. Bamford, President and CEO of Curtiss-Wright Corp., said in the Honeywell release. “Working together, we will take flight recorder connectivity and performance to new heights, with extended operation and greater survivability.” https://www.aviationtoday.com/2021/01/19/curtiss-wright-honeywell-achieve-easa-certification-connected-cockpit-voice-recorder/ Etihad - One of First Airlines To Launch IATA Travel Pass Etihad Airways and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced a partnership to use the IATA Travel Pass, an app developed to store COVID-19 test results or vaccine information, for Etihad Airways’ passengers. Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is one of the first airlines in the world to use the IATA Travel Pass. It will be offered to passengers on select flights from Abu Dhabi within the first quarter of 2021. If it is successful, it will be extended to more flights. The IATA Travel Pass was designed as a ‘digital passport’ to receive COVID-19 test results and verify that passengers are eligible to fly, using the information provided by the world’s governments. Passengers will also be able to share the results with airlines for travel in a paper- and contact-free way. “COVID-19 tests and vaccinations will be key to get the world flying again...” said Mohammad Al Bulooki, Chief Operating Officer, Etihad Aviation Group. “A high priority for Etihad is for our guests to have an easy, secure and efficient way to identify and verify their information. Being one of the first airlines globally working with IATA as a pioneer partner on the IATA Travel Pass is a big step forward for Etihad’s guests and for the industry.” The IATA Travel Pass has four main components. The four modules are as follows: registry for regulatory entry requirements and lab or test centers, verified certificate issuance, digital identity and the ability for passengers to share their test results. These parts can work by themselves, altogether or with other industry solutions, making it a collaborative step that could be adopted by other airlines. “The Etihad Airways partnership to launch the IATA Travel Pass is an important milestone on the road to meaningfully restarting international travel. Our aim is to give all governments the confidence to re-open borders to travellers based on verified vaccine and testing data. The initial stage of the Etihad launch will focus on all four elements of the IATA Travel Pass modules, one of the first airlines in the world to do so,” said Nick Careen, IATA's Senior Vice President, Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security. https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines/etihad-one-of-first-airlines-to-launch-iata-travel-pass.html Southwest Airlines Prepares To Turn 50 One of the world’s best known low-cost airlines is marking a big milestone this year. Southwest Airlines is turning 50 in 2021. Like anyone dealing with the idea of turning 50, you can either ignore it and hope it will go away or make the best of it. Southwest Airlines looks like it will own its 50 years and wear it proudly – as it should. The famous Southwest cocktail napkin Like all the best business plans, the initial idea for Southwest Airlines was allegedly mapped out in 1967 on the back of a cocktail napkin in a hotel bar in San Antonio. It’s not certain how true this story is, but it’s a good tale and one Southwest’s current CEO, Gary Kelly, likes to tell. In any case, you’d rather be born on a cocktail napkin than a McKinsey spreadsheet. The men in the bar were Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. Herb Kelleher was a larger than life personality who reportedly lived on four hours of sleep a night, cigarettes, and Wild Turkey. He remained involved with Southwest Airlines until he died in 2019. Rollin King worked in the investment industry when he hooked up with Herb Kelleher. Kelleher’s exuberant personality frequently overshadowed Mr King. However, Rollin went on to work at Southwest Airlines until 2006. He died in 2014. Southwest’s startup upset the established airlines In the early 1970s, the United States Government tightly controlled where and when airlines flew via the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). But the CAB’s heavy-handed regulation only extended to interstate airline routes. For the first few years of operations, Southwest Airlines dodged the CAB by only flying routes within Texas. The business plan cooked up by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King may have escaped CAB regulation. But the proposed competition got the attention of existing airlines in Texas. The established players didn’t appreciate Southwest’s idea of undercutting their fares and launched legal action to prevent Southwest Airlines from flying. It wasn’t until 1971 that Southwest Airlines dealt with that and began flying four Boeing 737-200s between Dallas Love Field and Houston and Dallas Love Field and San Antonio. Southwest Airlines has pretty much stuck with the Boeing 737s ever since. The fabled ten-minute turnaround It wasn’t all smooth flying. The following year, the startup airline lost $1.6 million and had to sell one of its Boeings. But Southwest’s schedules needed four planes. As a result, the airline came up with the ten-minute turnaround. As the term implies, the plane was at the gate for ten minutes, during which passengers were offloaded and a new batch loaded. The crews were said to have worked like demons in those ten minutes. Southwest aircraft stay on the ground for longer these days. But the ten-minute turnaround was classic Southwest Airlines. It cut costs, kept aircraft in the air, kept up frequencies, and generated revenue. The fast turnaround is now a staple of the low-cost airline operating model everywhere. Deregulation of the airline industry in 1979 facilitated Southwest’s expansion outside Texas. The CAB was redundant. Airlines didn’t need to ask permission to fly to interstate destinations and could set their own fares. Deregulation saw Southwest begin to fly to neighboring states. By the 1990s, Southwest Airlines was flying to cities on both the United States’ east and west coasts. In the last ten years, Southwest Airlines began to fly to neighboring Caribbean countries. This year, Southwest Airlines turns 50. For any airline, that’s quite a feat. The airline now operates over 700 Boeing 737s to more than 100 destinations in the United States and around the region. In 2019, Southwest Airlines flew over 134 million passengers and employed more than 60,000 people. Southwest Airlines has come a long way from an idea on a cocktail napkin. https://simpleflying.com/southwest-airlines-50/ C919 jumbo plane completes extreme low-temperature test in Inner Mongolia China's indigenously-developed large passenger plane C919 completed its first low-temperature flight test in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Saturday. The C919 jet took off from Hulunbuir Dongshan International Airport in the region, and landed at Dongying Shengli Airport in East China's Shandong Province, completing 23 days of tests. The low-temperature test is an extreme weather flight test that civil aircraft are required to clear-- aimed at testing the functions and performances of the operational systems and equipment of the aircraft, experts said. During the flight test, 10 aircraft experiments and four ground experiments related to C919 were verified as meeting standards in a low temperature environment of -35C. To complete the flight test, Hulunbuir Dongshan International Airport worked with related departments and companies including local airport supply and air control department and China National Aviation Fuel Group Limited (CNAF). Hulunbeier Meteorological Service also placed five sets of meteorological monitor equipment to ensure the precisely climate data during the test. C919 jet is China's first independently developed jumbo plane with own intellectual properties, experts said. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1213367.shtml Boeing expands its used 737 freighter business with another new deal The new orders come just months after Boeing said a second manufacturing line to convert more retired aircraft into cargo jets would be added at China's Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/01/19/boeing-737-freighter-conversions-sales-bbam.html 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Registration Now Open ** Thanks to our generous sponsors, registration is currently free, so book today! ** 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 currently FREE, so book today! 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