Flight Safety Information - February 9, 2021 No. 029 In This Issue : Accident: American B738 at Miami on Feb 6th 2021, fuel imbalance, potential fuel leak : Incident: Egypt A332 over Saudi Arabia on Feb 8th 2021, captain becomes ill : Incident: Safari F27 at Garbaharey on Feb 8th 2021, overran runway : Phenom 100 suffers runway excursion after landing at Paris-Le Bourget Airport, France : Cessna 441 Conquest II - Fatal Accident (Tennessee) : NTSB Challenges and Expectations for 2021 : FAA expands weather camera program to Hawaii : Pilot's death flies in the face of Nepal Aviation safety claims : Southwest Airlines Retired 36 Boeing 737-700s In 2020 ; Dutch airline KLM says operated first flight with synthetic kerosene : American Airlines to retire entire Embraer 140 fleet in May : An unleashed Jeff Bezos looks to shift space venture Blue Origin into hyperdrive : 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Accident: American B738 at Miami on Feb 6th 2021, fuel imbalance, potential fuel leak An American Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N843NN performing flight AA-299 from Miami,FL (USA) to Montego Bay (Jamaica) with 67 people on board, was climbing to 16,000 feet out of Miami when the crew stopped the climb at 12,000 feet due to suspicion of a fuel leak. The fuel leak indications stopped, the crew continued to climb but again stopped at about FL190. The crew declared emergency reporting a fuel imbalance and a potential fuel leak on the right wing, when they were climbing they were losing fuel, on descending they didn't lose any fuel, it was an obvious fuel leak. The crew requested runway 09 and landed safely on runway 09 about 35 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration N884NN reached Montego Bay with a delay of 4.5 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 53 hours after landing. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL299/history/20210206/1427Z/KMIA/MKJS http://avherald.com/h?article=4e2bfe21&opt=0 Incident: Egypt A332 over Saudi Arabia on Feb 8th 2021, captain becomes ill An Egypt Air Airbus A330-200, registration SU-GCJ performing flight MS-509 from Cairo (Egypt) to Hong Kong (China), was enroute at FL410 over Saudi Arabia about 670nm eastsoutheast of Cairo when the crew decided to return to Cairo due to the captain becoming ill. The aircraft descended to FL400 for the return, landed safely on Cairo's runway 23C about 95 minutes after turning around and taxied to the apron. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Cairo about 8 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e2bfa68&opt=0 Incident: Safari F27 at Garbaharey on Feb 8th 2021, overran runway An Safari Express Cargo Fokker 27-500 on behalf of WFP (World Food Programme by United Nations), freight flight from Mogadishu to Garbaharey (Somalia) with 3 crew, landed on Garbaharey's runway 20 with strong tailwind at 11:30L (08:30Z) but overran the runway by a few meters and came to a stop just ahead of a stone wall. There are no injuries, the aircraft did not receive any damage. Authorities in Somalia reported the aircraft 5Y-SEC with 3 crew landed on runway 20 with strong tailwind but overran the runway by a few meters and came to a stop just ahead of the stone wall (that in the only photo available appears to be underneath the fuselage of the aircraft with the nose gear past the wall). No injuries and no damage occurred. Garbaharey Airfield features an unpaved runway 02/20 of 1050 meters/3450 feet length. In 2017 another F27 on behalf of the World Food Programme by United Nations suffered an accident while landing in Garbaharey, see Accident: Aero-Pioneer F27 at Garbaharey on Jun 3rd 2017, right main gear struck top of wall prior to touch down. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e2bbd3e&opt=0 Phenom 100 suffers runway excursion after landing at Paris-Le Bourget Airport, France Date: Monday 8 February 2021 Time: 11:02 Type: Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 Operator: Luxwing Registration: 9H-FAM C/n / msn: 50000100 First flight: 2011 Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615F Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 Aircraft damage: Unknown Location: Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG) ( France) Phase: Landing (LDG) Nature: Unknown Departure airport: Venice-Marco Polo Airport (VCE/LIPZ), Italy Destination airport: Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG/LFPB), France Flightnumber: LWG301 Narrative: A Phenom 100 corporate jet suffered a runway excursion after landing on runway 27 at Paris-Le Bourget Airport, France. A fire started, but was quickly brought under control. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20210208-0 Cessna 441 Conquest II - Fatal Accident (Tennessee) Date: 07-FEB-2021 Time: c. 17:00 Type: Cessna 441 Conquest II Owner/operator: BCD Aviation LLC Registration: N44776 C/n / msn: 441-0121 Fatalities: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Keith Springs Mountain, near Winchester, Franklin County, TN - United States of America Phase: Approach Nature: Private Departure airport: Thomasville Municipal Airport, GA (TVI/KTVI) Destination airport: Winchester Municipal Airport, TN (KBGF) Narrative: A Cessna 441 Conquest II crashed under unknown circumstances at Keith Springs Mountain, near Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee, during the approach to Winchester Municipal Airport (KBGF). Both occupants died in the crash. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=247600 NTSB Challenges and Expectations for 2021 Holland & Knight LLP The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates, reports on and determines the probable causes of transportation accidents in all modes of transportation, from planes, trains and automobiles, to pipelines, ships and other accidents of a catastrophic or recurring nature, such as commercial space transportation accidents and accidents involving hazardous materials.1 When the NTSB identifies safety issues, it can make safety recommendations aimed at furthering its ultimate mission of preventing future accidents and reducing injuries from accidents that do occur. Every two years, the NTSB publishes a Most Wanted List of safety improvements that the agency determines are important to preventing accidents, minimizing injuries and saving lives across all modes of transportation. On the eve of the Biden-Harris inauguration, Holland & Knight spoke with NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt about current agency safety priorities and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agency's important mission. Automated Driving Systems The NTSB has historically focused its highway accident investigations on commercial operations such as passenger buses and trucking, school bus accidents, collisions involving large numbers of vehicles and rail-grade crossing accidents. Recently, however, the NTSB has also focused on accidents involving automated driving systems (ADS), with an eye toward the safety implications raised by this nascent technology. The automotive industry is rapidly developing ADS technologies. The technologies are so new that there are no Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) that explicitly govern ADS. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is still gathering public comment on ADS and how these technologies should be incorporated into the FMVSS.2 Since 2016, the NTSB has investigated five crashes involving vehicles equipped with ADS-related technologies.3 These accidents illustrate the NTSB's focus on current system limitations, lack of driver knowledge, misuse of vehicle capabilities and adequacy of oversight during vehicle testing on public roads. The NTSB's February 2020 report of its investigation of the crash of an SAE Level 2 automated vehicle on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, California, noted that the vehicle's steering functions failed to maintain the vehicle in its lane because of an inability to discern lane markings for the gore area separating an exit lane from the travel lane. This resulted in a fatal collision with a concrete median barrier.4 The NTSB noted that the vehicle's ADS was not designed to detect certain common roadway hazards, such as fire trucks, crash attenuators and the side of a semitrailer, "when vehicles equipped with the technology are traveling at high speed or are faced with vehicle shapes or objects that the system has not been designed to detect."5 The NTSB also critiqued the systems for not limiting their use to the Operational Design Domain.6 As a result of its investigation, among several safety recommendations applicable to testing of automated vehicles, the NTSB issued a safety recommendation to NHTSA "to determine if the system's operating limitations, the foreseeability of driver misuse, and the ability to operate the vehicles outside the intended operational design domain pose an unreasonable risk to safety" and to "use applicable enforcement authority to ensure that [manufacturers] take[] corrective action (H-20-2)."7 NHTSA had previously conducted a defects investigation of such ADSs and concluded that it had not identified "any incidents in which the … systems did not perform as designed."8 To date, NHTSA has neither taken the action recommended by the NTSB, nor determined that another defect investigation is warranted.9 Holland & Knight discussed the recent NTSB investigations of ADS-equipped or developmental vehicles with NTSB Chairman Sumwalt. Chairman Sumwalt agreed that ADS is certainly a hot topic in the automotive industry, and commented that ADS-equipped vehicles hold great promise for improving highway safety. The NTSB will continue to monitor these developments and make safety recommendations as a result of agency investigations. It is up to NHTSA, though, to develop regulations and FMVSS applicable to ADS and ADS-equipped vehicles. Chairman Sumwalt highlighted the fact that systems currently on the market are not fully autonomous. They all require active monitoring by the driver, and do not permit drivers to nap or read in the car. The NTSB has found in its investigations that drivers have been inclined to deliberately operate vehicles in ways that exceed the vehicle's Operational Design Domain (ODD). The NTSB has called on manufacturers to build in safeguards that prevent drivers from operating vehicles in ways that exceed the automation capability intended by the manufacturer. Chairman Sumwalt also pointed out that there remains room to improve highway safety in other areas. About a third of motor vehicle accidents involve pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles, resulting in almost 13,000 fatalities per year. It is important that the industry continues to improve pedestrian, bicycle and motorcycle safety, even though those topics do not receive the same media attention as ADS-equipped vehicles. Positive Train Control Positive Train Control (PTC) for the railroad industry has been a decades-long focus of the NTSB and as of Dec. 29, 2020, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) indicates PTC has finally been fully implemented.10 PTC is a system of technologies designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones and movements of trains through switches left in the wrong position. The NTSB first issued a safety recommendation calling for implementation of PTC in the agency's report on a rail accident in Darien, Connecticut, in 1969. Since then, the agency has categorized 154 accidents as PTC-preventable. Those accidents have resulted in 305 deaths and 6,883 injuries. The most recent PTC-preventable accident occurred near Cary, Ohio, in 2019. NTSB investigations and safety recommendations are consequential for companies involved in accidents, and may prompt congressional action. That is the case for PTC. Following a head-on collision in Chatsworth, California, that killed 25 people and injured 102 others, the NTSB concluded that a train engineer's use of a cellphone to send text messages distracted him from his duties, and that PTC would have prevented the tragic accident. In the aftermath of the Chatsworth accident, Congress enacted the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008,11 which mandated the full implementation of PTC systems by Dec. 15, 2015, on Class I railroads' main lines over which 5 million or more gross tons of annual traffic and certain hazardous materials are transported, and on any main lines over which intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation is regularly provided. In October 2015, Congress extended the deadline for full implementation to Dec. 31, 2018, with additional extensions available to Dec. 31, 2020, if approved by the FRA.12 Chairman Sumwalt addressed the recent full implementation of PTC and new challenges for rail safety. Just last week, the NTSB announced that it was closing three of its PTC-related safety recommendations following the full implementation by railroad companies of the congressional PTC mandates. Chairman Sumwalt commented that it is a historic achievement for independent railroad companies to design and deploy an interoperable PTC system that protects the highest risk railroad miles, those carrying passengers and hazardous materials. He also noted, however, that the PTC-covered high risk track is only approximately 40 percent of rail miles nationwide. Chairman Sumwalt also noted that the NTSB has not closed all of its PTC-related safety recommendations. For example, a collision between two trains in Graniteville, Ohio, in 2005 caused the release of chlorine gas and at least partial evacuation of several square miles around the accident. The NTSB determined that the train engineer survived the collision, but succumbed to the chlorine gas. The NTSB recommended that FRA "determine the most effective methods of providing emergency escape breathing apparatus for all crewmembers on freight trains carrying hazardous materials … [and] require railroads to provide these breathing apparatus to their crewmembers …."13 Chairman Sumwalt commented on the incongruity of airline flight crews, and even members of Congress, having ready access to breathing apparatus in an emergency, while FRA has not required such safety devices for railroad crewmembers transporting hazardous materials. Investigating Transportation Accidents During the COVID-19 Pandemic Conducting accident investigations during the COVID-19 pandemic has, to say the least, presented a challenge to the NTSB. The NTSB is a small agency, with about approximately 415 employees total, almost two-thirds of which work from the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Almost all of the agency's headquarters staff are now working from home. And, while most of the agency's regional investigators are spread around the country and already worked from home, limitations on travel and concern for the safety of agency employees has severely limited the ability to travel to accidents. Chairman Sumwalt discussed these effects, his thoughts on the issues and how the country's transportation industry will rebound after the pandemic. Chairman Sumwalt commented that the No. 1 priority of the NTSB is the safety of its employees, which the agency is taking very seriously during the pandemic. This has resulted in the agency sending accident investigators to far fewer accidents in the past year compared to pre-pandemic levels. One way the NTSB is incorporating information about COVID-19 into its launch decisions is through a smartphone app that provides a dashboard view of the current COVID-19 status of every county in the United States. When accidents happen, the agency makes an assessment of the danger of launching investigators, taking into account such factors as the COVID-19 status of the location from which an investigator would be traveling, the status of the accident location, and the adequacy of safe means of travel and lodging. Just last week, the NTSB sent a team of investigators to Indonesia to assist the Indonesian government with its investigation of the crash of an Indonesian airline. Chairman Sumwalt said that he has not noticed a significant reduction in transportation accident rates, even though there has been some reduction in travel during the pandemic. It remains to be seen whether the economic effects of the pandemic will lead to reduced investments in safety or decreases in proficiency for transportation operators. He hopes that the industry will not let its guard down. Chairman Sumwalt also noted one positive side effect of having the NTSB workforce working remotely from home – increased productivity. NTSB staff have achieved a 20 percent increase in report production; the backlog of vehicle recorders needing readout in the NTSB Recorders Lab is down 60 percent; and the Materials Lab backlog is at a 12-year low. COVID-19 will continue to challenge the NTSB in fulfilling its mission of investigating accidents. The agency will continue to prioritize the safety of its employees, while doing its best to improve transportation safety for the public. 20 Posts in 20 Days Leading to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 Holland & Knight's Transportation & Infrastructure Industry Sector Group is prepared to assist industry clients in adapting to the anticipated changes by the new administration. Our team is writing new blog posts each day leading up to President-Elect Joe Biden's inauguration, with insights as to likely impacts on the various segments of the industry, including Aviation, Construction, Maritime, Freight Rail, Motor Carriers, Transit and Autonomous Transportation. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ntsb-challenges-and-expectations-for-3206665/ FAA expands weather camera program to Hawaii The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expanding weather-camera services to Hawaii to enhance aviation safety and pilot decision-making. The cameras, which already are installed in Alaska and Colorado, improve safety by providing pilots with near-real time video of weather conditions at their destinations and along their intended flight routes. The Hawaii project will install 23 camera facilities throughout the islands. The FAA has completed engineering surveys and site selections on Kauai, Lanai, Maui and Molokai, and will begin surveys on Oahu and the Big Island in March 2021. Each facility can accommodate up to four cameras and the images can be viewed at https://weathercams.faa.gov. The FAA plans to begin camera installations on Kauai in March and will move to the other islands as the agency develops engineering plans, obtains leases and permits, and procures the equipment. The agency expects images from the Kauai cameras will be on its weather-camera website in mid-2021. The FAA established working groups of aircraft operators and FAA experts on each island to identify prime locations for camera installations and to ensure robust communication between pilots and the agency about the project’s progress. The FAA is basing site locations on flight routes and areas where weather conditions commonly affect and interrupt flight operations. Weather cameras in Alaska have been successful for 20 years. Last year, the FAA helped the Colorado Department of Transportation implement a weather camera program to improve pilot awareness of weather conditions above the Rocky Mountains. For more insight into the history and future of the FAA Weather Camera Program, go to the FAA Blog, Cleared for TakeOff, to read a new post from the FAA’s very own Weather Camera Manager, Walter Combs. https://verticalmag.com/press-releases/faa-expands-weather-camera-program-to-hawaii/ Pilot's death flies in the face of Nepal Aviation safety claims KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 8The recent death of a senior captain at the Nepal Airlines Corporation has once again laid bare the state of aviation safety in Nepal, running contrary to the claims of significant improvements in Nepali skies made by the head honchos of the aviation regulator body. Senior Captain Rakesh Jung Rana lost his life due to massive heart attack on November 25. Rana was admitted to HAMS, a Kathmandu-based hospital, on November 24 after he felt uncomfortable while preparing to command an NAC flight to the Malaysian capital on the same night. He was pronounced dead at HAMS the very next day. According to experts, aviators globally undergo a regular medical check-up to ensure that they are in optimal health as stipulated by ICAO, the global aviation regulatory body. It is necessary as scores of passengers are on board a flight."Captain Rakesh was 62.Post 60, pilots have to undergo more rigorous medical examinations every six months, instead of once year," a senior NAC official told .According to aviation medical practitioners, treadmill test (TMT) is a non-invasive test that predicts an impending heart attack with remarkable accuracy. However, CAAN aeromedical examiners are content relying on ECG test, which does not provide a picture of the heart's capacity to pump blood. TMT and ECHO records of Captain Rakesh's tests last conducted in 2019 and viewed by this daily reveal that he was very likely to suffer a heart attack.As per medical experts, this should have alerted the concerned aero-medical physician, leading to the suspension of the pilot's medical wellness certificate. It's the responsibility of the chief aviation medical assessor (CAMA) to examine medical test reports of pilots before deeming them fit to fly. In Captain Rakesh's case, as per the evidences, CAAN's medical assessor, who has sole responsibility to approve pilots for flights, completely overlooked his medical reports. "His latest TMT and ECHO reports had flaws, which were overlooked by CAAN's medical assessor. CAMA termed the report's findings as 'normal'.Besides, if he had been alerted on time, his death would have been prevented," a senior cardiologist said.CAAN's medical assessor is an oncologist who is not authorised to analyse ECG or ECHO reports, a senior pilot with NAC told THT. CAAN officials, however, refused to comment.A CAMA must have at least five years' experience of aviation medical examiner (AME), according to the medical manual of CAAN.Stakeholders say AME and CAMA must have passed exams, and not just attended programme/course which has to be updated/refreshed from time to time just like other medical CME programmes.Appointment of AMEs at CAAN continues to be at the whims of the chief of the Flight Safety Department, where connections alone matter.Moreover, AMEs have a free hand in careers of flight crew, but there are no checks to preempt a possible abuse. Recently, an AME pocketed five times more than the stipulated fees from Buddha Air Captain, a former CAAN executive said. https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/pilots-death-flies-in-the-face-of-nepal-aviation-safety-claims Southwest Airlines Retired 36 Boeing 737-700s In 2020 Southwest Airlines started 2020 strong with a fleet of 747 Boeing 737 aircraft. While 34 MAX jets were parked, the airline still expected to fly a robust schedule and reach new heights. Unfortunately, 2020 had other plans, and Southwest had to retrench to crisis mode that saw the airline contract its fleet, not expand, with 36 Boeing 737-700 retirements. Southwest’s Boeing 737-700 retirements Southwest Airlines is down to 718 aircraft in its fleet. This compares to the 747 jets it flew heading into 2020. The carrier’s fleet as of December 31st stood at the following: • 470 Boeing 737-700s • 207 Boeing 737-800s • 41 Boeing 737 MAX 8 At the start of 2020, the airline flew 506 Boeing 737-700s, so the new number reflects retirements of 36 737-700s. Of the remaining 470 Boeing 737-700s, the airline owns 370 of them and has leased 100 of them. 17 of the 207 Boeing 737-800s are leased, the other 190 are owned. And, the MAX jets are pretty evenly split, with 21 owned and 20 leased. Stemming some of the losses of the Boeing 737-700 jets were new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. In the fourth quarter, the airline received seven leased MAX jets. Fleet changes in 2021 Southwest Airlines will be taking a total of 35 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets in 2021, including 16 leased aircraft. The airline previously reported it planned to take the MAX 8s and simultaneously move forward with Boeing 737-700 retirements. For Southwest Airlines, the 737 MAX 8s are bigger and better. The airline is hoping to put the jets in service to Hawaii, where the planes will offer better economics and performance than the existing 737 Next Generational planes flying from California to Hawaii. Southwest moves closer to a hub strategy Southwest Airlines has plenty of large bases across the United States. This includes Baltimore (BWI), Chicago (MDW), Houston (HOU), Dallas (DAL), Denver (DEN), Las Vegas (LAS), and Oakland (OAK), among many others. Much of the airline’s recent routes and planned new routes are expected to operate to and from these cities, giving Southwest the option to sell connections. In its annual filing, Southwest Airlines stated that it had moved slightly away from a point-to-point network over a hub-and-spoke service. In 2019, 77% of the airline’s customers flew nonstop. This was down slightly to 72% in 2020, emphasizing some additional connecting passengers. In 2019, the airline flew 720 nonstop city pairs. This went down to 667 nonstop city pairs in 2020, as the airline cut some more unprofitable routes and restructured its network. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 will allow Southwest to do a multitude of things. The MAX 8s seat 175 passengers, whereas the 737-700s seat 143. While the MAX 8 will not be a perfect replacement for the Boeing 737-700, the airline will be upgauging some routes to a 737 MAX 8, which will offer more seats. Expect those MAX 8 upgauged routes to include many routes from Southwest’s “hubs.” These “hubs” are places where the carrier can leverage connecting traffic to fill the 30-odd additional seats onboard the 737 MAX jets. That is not to say that no nonstop point-to-point routes will receive upgauged services. However, until travel demand comes back in earnest, expect Southwest Airlines to place more MAX jets on routes with some connecting traffic. https://simpleflying.com/southwest-737-700s-retirements/ Dutch airline KLM says operated first flight with synthetic kerosene AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A commercial KLM airlines flight powered with synthetic fuel carried passengers from Amsterdam to Madrid last month in a world first, the Dutch government and the airline said on Monday. Development and deployment of synthetic and biofuel alternatives to kerosene are seen as key to longer-term efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions from aviation. The KLM aircraft used regular fuel mixed with 500 litres (132 gallons) of synthetic kerosene produced by Royal Dutch Shell with carbon dioxide, water and renewable energy sources, along with regular fuel to power the aircraft, a statement said. “Making the aviation industry more sustainable is a challenge facing us all,” Dutch Infrastructure Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen said. “Today, with this world first, we are stepping into a new chapter of our aviation.” Sustainable fuel will potentially make the biggest contribution to emissions reductions in new airline fleets, Pieter Elbers, who heads KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France KLM, said. “The transition away from fossil fuel to durable alternatives is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry,” Elbers said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-netherlands-aviation-f/dutch-airline-klm-says-operated-first-flight-with-synthetic-kerosene-idUSKBN2A81UA American Airlines to retire entire Embraer 140 fleet in May This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page. Another set of planes is destined for the boneyard. Over the weekend, American Airlines removed the Embraer 140 (E140) fleet from its schedule effective May 5, 2021, according to Cirium timetables and later confirmed by the carrier. It’s no secret that the E140s were on their way out. It was just a matter of when. American’s vice president of network planning, Brian Znotins, told TPG that “we are publishing our plans now to phase out that aircraft type. As we continue bringing larger regional jets into our system, the Embraer 140s are the first we are phasing out.” Cirium Fleet data shows that there are 31 E140s either in service or in storage for American’s regional affiliate Envoy Air, with only eight actively flying for the airline. These planes were all delivered from 2001 to 2003, making them roughly 18.8 years old on average. With 16 rows of seats in a 1-2 layout, the Embraer 140s are the smallest regional jet that American currently flies. With just 44 seats in an all-coach configuration, most flyers likely won’t miss the tight arrangement. (However, solo travelers might miss the single-seat option.) In February 2021, Cirium schedules show that the E140 is primarily based at American’s mega-hub of Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), with a total of 810 commuter hops to cities like Laredo, Texas (LRD) and Montgomery, Alabama (MGM). In years past, American has placed these jets on a number of routes from its two New York-area hubs of JFK and LaGuardia. But with the recent news of the Northeast-focused alliance with JetBlue, American promised to upguage its New York flying to aircraft with a first-class cabin, like the Bombardier CRJ-700 or the Embraer 175. The E140 will become the latest plane to exit the American fleet during the pandemic. To date, the Fort Worth-based carrier has retired the Airbus A330, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Embraer 190 and Bombardier CRJ-200. American Eagle was the launch customer for the E140 with an order for 130 aircraft in October 2000. The carrier originally ordered the jet when its pilot unions didn’t approve a clause to expand the number of 50-seat planes allowed in the regional fleet. With just 44 seats, the Embraer 140 was a way around the scope clause. Since then, the plane has been a mainstay in Envoy Air’s fleet. At one point, the affiliate operated the majority of E140s ever built. And then the pandemic accelerated the plane’s demise for American Airlines. When Envoy announced that it would close its New York bases in September 2020, the carrier also confirmed that the E140’s days were numbered. Znotins conceded that the exact retirement date could always change: “as we’ve learned through this crisis, sometimes things need to be tweaked from time to time.” For now, though, there are just about three months left to catch a ride on an American Airlines Embraer 140. https://thepointsguy.com/news/american-retires-embraer-140/ An unleashed Jeff Bezos looks to shift space venture Blue Origin into hyperdrive Freed from his daily obligations at Amazon, Jeff Bezos is expected to turn up the heat on his space venture, Blue Origin, as it faces a pivotal year and fierce competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, industry sources said. The 57-year-old Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast and the world’s second-richest person behind Musk, said last week he is stepping down as chief executive of the e-commerce company as he looks to focus on personal projects. Blue Origin has fallen far behind SpaceX on orbital transportation, and lost out to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) on billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. national security launch contracts which begin in 2022. ULA is a joint venture of Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp. Now, Blue Origin is battling to win a competition with SpaceX and Dynetics to develop a new lunar lander for NASA’s potentially multibillion-dollar push to return humans to the moon in a few years. Dynetics is owned by Leidos Holdings Inc. Winning the lunar lander contract - and executing its development - are seen by Bezos and other executives as vital to Blue Origin establishing itself as a desired partner for NASA, and also putting Blue on the road to turning a profit, the people said. With limited revenue streams, Bezos has been liquidating about $1 billion of Amazon stock annually to fund Blue, which he said in 2018 was “the most important work that I’m doing.” A Blue Origin representative declined to comment, but pointed to comments Bezos made last week when he said he was stepping down as Amazon’s chief executive. He told Amazon employees he would “stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives” but also devote time to Blue Origin and various philanthropic and media “passions.” NASA is expected to winnow the lunar lander contest to just two companies by the end of April, adding pressure as Blue Origin works through problems such as wasting millions of dollars on procurement, and technical and production challenges, the sources said. One of the development struggles Blue has faced is getting the lander light and small enough to fit on a commercially available rocket, two people briefed on the development said. Another source, however, said Blue has modified its design since it was awarded the initial contract last April and that its current design fits on an additional number of available and forthcoming rockets, including Musk’s Falcon Heavy and ULA’s Vulcan. “He is going to kick Blue Origin into a higher gear,” said one senior industry source with knowledge of Blue’s operations. Bezos already has transplanted Amazon’s culture on Blue, down to enforcing similar “leadership principles” and kicking off meetings by reading documents in silence, sources say. But one industry veteran said Bezos needs to take a hands-on, operational role if he is going to fix a number of problems like bureaucratic processes, missed deadlines, high overhead and engineer turnover which, according to this source, have emerged as Blue Origin seeks to transition from development to production across multiple programs. One person familiar with the matter said that Bezos has no desire to immerse himself completely in daily operations, and instead would prioritize major initiatives and new endeavors. In his latest Instagram posts, Bezos is seen climbing into a crew capsule wearing cowboy boots, and sitting in his pickup truck watching a rocket engine test, which he described as a “perfect night! Founded in 2000, Blue Origin, based in Kent, Washington, has expanded to around 3,500 employees, with sprawling manufacturing and launch facilities in Texas, Florida and Alabama. Its ambitious portfolio includes selling suborbital tourist trips to space, heavy-lift launch services for satellites, and the lander - none of which is yet fully commercially viable. Recent data shows Blue has overcome combustion stability problems on its BE-4 rocket engine - another business line, two sources said. Test engines for ULA’s inaugural Vulcan rocket are expected to arrive at Florida’s Cape Canaveral this week, with the first-flight engines and booster coming later this spring, one added. By comparison, Musk’s SpaceX, founded two years after Blue Origin, has launched its Falcon 9 boosters more than 100 times, launched the world’s most powerful operational rocket - Falcon Heavy - three times, and transported astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX said on Thursday it had 10,000 users on its nascent satellite-based broadband service, dubbed Starlink, which Musk says will provide crucial funding to develop his Starship rocket for missions to the moon and, eventually, Mars. Blue is also hoping for a steady stream of revenue for its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket - potentially set for a debut late this year - from Amazon’s forthcoming constellation of some 3,200 satellites dubbed Project Kuiper, sources say. Amazon aims to have half the constellation in orbit by 2026, but there is no public timeline for a first launch. Until now, Bezos has devoted one day a week to Blue Origin, with conference room meetings replaced in recent months by video calls, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the sources said. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/unleashed-jeff-bezos-looks-shift-space-venture-blue-origin-hyperdrive-rcna266 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? 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