Flight Safety Information - March 18, 2021 No. 056 In This Issue : Incident: American B738 at Miami on Mar 11th 2021, suspected fuel leak : Incident: Canada B788 near Vancouver on Mar 12th 2021, cracked windshield : Accident: THY A21N at Hanover on Mar 13th 2021, hard landing : Incident: PIA A320 at Karachi on Mar 17th 2021, bird strike : Iran issues final report on Ukraine International flight PS752 shoot down : Canada’s air-safety investigator to address final report on Iran plane crash : US threatens to retaliate against Hong Kong's strict quarantine rules for FedEx crew, warning it could restrict Cathay flights : JetBlue, Singapore Airlines Start Health Passport Trials : FAA: Airlines have reported more than 500 cases of unruly passengers since December : Ukraine blocks Chinese takeover of jet engine maker on US urging : Air China to buy 18 Airbus A320neo jets from GECAS subsidiary : Flair goes frugal as 737 MAX buyer plans European-style relaunch : Space station tosses 2.9-ton hunk of space junk overboard. It will stay in orbit for years. : Aviation Regulation in the U.S. : Graduate Survey Incident: American B738 at Miami on Mar 11th 2021, suspected fuel leak An American Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N843NN performing flight AA-2514 from Miami,FL to Denver,CO (USA) with 159 people on board, was climbing out of Miami's runway 08R when the crew requested to level off at 11,000 feet to work on a potential fuel issue. While maintaining 11,000 feet the crew declared emergency reporting they suspected a fuel leak on the right hand engine (CFM56), requested runway 08R for the return. The crew requested delay vectors to burn off some fuel. The crew verified emergency services were on stand by and advised they didn't expect anything. The aircraft positioned for the ILS approach to runway 08R and landed safely about 40 minutes after departure. The aircraft vacated the runway and requested emergency services to check for a possible fuel leak at their right hand side. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration N949NN reached Denver with a delay of about 4 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 73 hours after landing back. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2514/history/20210311/1445Z/KMIA/KDEN http://avherald.com/h?article=4e48c858&opt= Incident: Canada B788 near Vancouver on Mar 12th 2021, cracked windshield An Air Canada Boeing 787-8, registration C-GHPX performing flight AC-128 from Vancouver,BC to Toronto,ON (Canada) with 104 passengers and 10 crew, had just reached FL330 about 120nm eastnortheast of Vancouver when the right hand windshield cracked associated with a windshield heating system message. The crew worked the related checklists, declared PAN PAN and returned to Vancouver for a safe landing on Vancouver's runway 08R about 55 minutes after departure. The Canadian TSB reported maintenance replaced the right hand windshield and the window heating controller. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/ACA128/history/20210313/0805Z/CYVR/CYYZ http://avherald.com/h?article=4e48a85f&opt=0 Accident: THY A21N at Hanover on Mar 13th 2021, hard landing A THY Turkish Airlines Airbus A321-200N, registration TC-LSB performing flight TK-1553 from Istanbul (Turkey) to Hanover (Germany), landed on Hanover's runway 27R but touched down hard. The aircraft rolled out without further incident and taxied to the apron. The aircraft was unable to depart for the return flight, which needed to be cancelled. The aircraft is still on the ground in Hanover more than 4 days later (about 100 hours later). The aircraft was scheduled to perform a gear down ferry flight to Hamburg International for repairs by Lufthansa Technics on Tuesday (Mar 16th), which was cancelled however, and again on Wednesday (Mar 17th), which again was cancelled. On Monday Mar 15th 2021 a team of THY maintenance engineers arrived in Hanover on a charter flight to enable TC-LSB to ferry to the maintenance based in Hamburg. One ground observer reported: "A THY TK-1553 A321NEO TC-LSB was approaching from istanbul on the 27R in EDDV. In addition, strong gusts of wind between 30 and 40 knots prevailed at the time. Shortly before touchdown, the aircraft rapidly lost altitude so that it finally hit the runway hard." The observer also reported he heard passengers complain about a "horror landing". Another ground observer reported, that he was observing from a multi-storey car park when he witnessed a very hard touchdown on runway 27R. A reduction of sink rate was not detectable prior to touch down, there was an unusual amount of smoke upon touch down. At the time of touch down there were strong gusting winds. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e488b78&opt=0 Incident: PIA A320 at Karachi on Mar 17th 2021, bird strike A PIA Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration AP-BLU performing flight PK-368 from Karachi to Islamabad (Pakistan) with 162 people on board, was climbing out of Karachi's runway 25L when the right hand engine (CFM56) ingested a bird prompting the crew to stop the climb at 4000 feet MSL and return to Karachi for a safe landing on runway 25L about 9 minutes after departure. A replacement A320-200 registration AP-BLA reached Islamabad with a delay of 2:40 hours. The airline reported the engine received damage due to the bird strike. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e4886a2&opt=0 Iran issues final report on Ukraine International flight PS752 shoot down Status: Final Date: Wednesday 8 January 2020 Time: 06:18 Type: Boeing 737-8KV (WL) Operator: Ukraine International Airlines Registration: UR-PSR C/n / msn: 38124/5977 First flight: 2016-06-21 (3 years 7 months) Engines: 2 CFMI CFM56-7B24E Crew: Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9 Passengers: Fatalities: 167 / Occupants: 167 Total: Fatalities: 176 / Occupants: 176 Aircraft damage: Destroyed Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: near Sabashahr ( Iran) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Tehran-Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA/OIIE), Iran Destination airport: Kiev-Borispol Airport (KBP/UKBB), Ukraine Flightnumber: PS752 Narrative: Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, a Boeing 737-800, crashed near Sabashahr, 7 minutes after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, Iran. Al 167 passengers and nine crew members on board were killed. The Boeing 737-800, registration UR-PSR, had landed on schedule at 00:57 hours local time at Tehran. The return leg back to Kiev was due to depart at 05:15 local time (01:45 UTC). In the meantime, around 02:15 hours local time in Iran, numerous ballistic missiles were fired from Iran towards U.S. bases in Iraq in response to the killing of Major General Qasem Soleimani by a United States drone strike. As a result this military operation changed the alertness level of Iran's air defense. At approximately 04:00 the military sector informed the civil sector of the country's Airspace Control that only the flights already detected and cleared for flight operations by the defense network could be permitted to start up. This would ensure the correct identification of civil flights by the defense network and avoiding targeting them by mistake. At 05:49 the doors were closed and the aircraft was ready to depart. Two minutes later the flight requested the to start up the engines. After contacting the Area Control Center, the ATC unit requested clearance for the Ukrainian flight at 05:52. The Area Control Center forwarded the request for flight PS752 to the Air Defense Coordination Center, which subsequently issued the clearance accordingly. The aircraft then taxied to runway 29R and commenced the takeoff roll at 06:11. After takeoff the flight contacted Mehrabad Radar and was cleared to climb to FL260 and turn right after reaching 6000 feet, heading direct to the PAROT reporting point. As the aircraft was climbing after departure, it appeared on the air defense system. However, a wrong initialisation procedure of the system's north alignment had induced a 107-degree error in the system. Thus, the direction of objects and targets detected by this system was being observed with an increase of 107 degrees by the operator. At 06:13:56, the air defense unit operator detected a target at his 250-degree azimuth, flying on a 52-degree course. At the same time, PS752 had been flying towards the defense system from a 143-degree azimuth. The aircraft was flying a 309-degree course. At 06:14:21, the operator notified the specifications of the detected target to the Coordination Center over the communication network. The notification was not communicated successfully. Meanwhile the system operator began analyzing the observable information and categorized the detected target as a threat. At 06:14:41, without receiving any response from the Coordination Center, the air defense unit operator fired a missile at the threatening target he had detected. Under the applicable procedures, if the defense system operator cannot establish communication with the Coordination Center and does not receive the fire command, they are not authorized to fire. The missile radio fuse was activated at 06:14:59. At that point flight PS752 was at 8100 feet at a position about 20 km west-northwest of the airport. After the first missile radio fuse was activated, the air defense unit radar still locked on the target, and the defense system kept detecting and tracking it. By observing the continuity of trajectory of detected target, the second missile was fired at the aircraft by the operator of defense system at 06:15:11. At 06:45:24, the last communication between the missile and the defense system was recorded in a place close to the aircraft route. After that, the defense system showed a message indicating the strike had failed, with the aircraft clearing from the radar lock-on after some time. The aircraft turned to the right and about 06:16:11, a fire broke out on the aircraft, which was intensifying. Altitude was lost and at 06:18:23, the aircraft crashed into a playground in Khalajabad near Shahedshahr area, 15 km north of the airport. It disintegrated completely and wreckage was strewn along a 300 m long path. Probable Cause: Cause of the Accident The air defense's launching two surface-to-air missiles at the flight PS752, UR-PSR aircraft the detonation of the first missile warhead in proximity of the aircraft caused damage to the aircraft systems and the intensification of damage led the aircraft to crash into the ground and explode instantly. Other Contributing Factors - The mitigating measures and defense layers in risk management proved to be ineffective due to the occurrence of an unanticipated error in threat identifications, and ultimately failed to protect the flight safety against the threats caused by the aleltness of defense forces. Accident investigation: cover Investigating agency: AAIB Iran Status: Investigation completed Duration: 1 year and 2 months Accident number: final report Download report: Final report https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20200108-0 Canada’s air-safety investigator to address final report on Iran plane crash The Transportation Safety Board, Canada’s air-safety investigator, says it will comment this morning on a report from Iran on the downing of a passenger jet by its military in January 2020. The final report from Iran’s civil aviation body blames “human error” as the reason why the Revolutionary Guard shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 minutes after it took off from Tehran on Jan. 8 last year. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization says an operator fired two surface-to-air missiles after misidentifying the Boeing 737-800 as a “hostile target” and despite not getting a green light from superiors, per procedure. The Canadian government has rejected the report outright, describing it as “incomplete” and devoid of “hard facts or evidence.” A group representing families of the victims also dismissed the report findings as riddled with inconsistencies and “fabrications” that are “grossly inadequate” to explain the shootdown. All 176 people on board the jetliner were killed, including 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and dozens of others bound for Canada. The safety board’s press conference is slated for 9:30 a.m. Iran initially denied responsibility for the crash, but three days later said the Kyiv-bound aircraft was shot down by accident after being mistaken for a missile amid heightened tensions with the United States. The admission came after video footage on social media appeared to show at least one missile striking the jet. The disaster unfolded hours after Iran launched missiles into Iraq at two American military bases in retaliation for the U.S. having killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani near the Baghdad airport by order of then-U.S. president Donald Trump. Ralph Goodale, the former Liberal public safety minister who was named Canada’s special adviser on the response to the crash, called the report unconvincing, “shambolic” and “insulting” to loved ones. Britain, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Sweden also lost citizens when the plane was destroyed, and the countries formed a coalition with Canada to deal with Iran, demanding reparations and a more transparent report. https://globalnews.ca/news/7703957/iran-plane-crash-final-report-tsb/ US threatens to retaliate against Hong Kong's strict quarantine rules for FedEx crew, warning it could restrict Cathay flights Washington warned it could limit the number of flights Hong Kong-based carriers operate to the US. This was a response to strict quarantine measures that forced FedEx to relocate 180 crew. Hong Kong now requires a mandatory quarantine for crew who enter the city for more than two hours. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Washington warned that it could limit the number of flights Hong Kong-based carriers like Cathay Pacific operate to the US. The warning was made in retaliation for strict regulations that the city earlier imposed, which the US department of transportation says denies "fair and equal opportunity" to US carriers. Hong Kong's quarantine rules came into force in February and require crew who entered Hong Kong for more than two hours to undergo a mandatory quarantine. These quarantine regulations exempted crew members flying in from the Chinese mainland and Anchorage, Alaska. Fed Ex has had to move nearly 200 employees out of Hong Kong These strict regulations have hit US all-cargo carrier FedEx especially hard, as its crew members operate intra-Asian flights, and do not qualify for the exemption. This has forced the company to move some 180 pilots out of Hong Kong. FedEx has since relocated its Hong Kong-based pilots to San Francisco for operations to continue without the need for repeated quarantine periods and prolonged separation from their families. "We continue to work with US and Hong Kong government authorities as well as Air Line Pilots Association to address Hong Kong's entry and quarantine requirements for locally-based crewmembers," a FedEx spokesman told Insider. "We hope that the action taken by the US Department of Transportation will aid in resolving this matter." The spokesman added that Hong Kong is an important market for the company, and that it would continue to operate and serve its customers there with the safety and well-being of its team members as its "top priority." The Department of Transportation said the quarantine rules benefit Hong Kong carriers over US carriers The DOT said however that Hong Kong's measures have made it "impossible" for FedEx to maintain what is a "critical hub in its intra-Asia network," further charging that the city's government has "significantly harmed the US carrier's operations and drastically upended the competitive dynamics of the market." "The manner in which Hong Kong has imposed its restrictions disproportionately impacts US carriers to the exclusive benefit of Hong Kong carriers. This imbalance denies US carriers their bilateral right to a fair and equal opportunity to compete in the US-Hong Kong market," said the DOT in a statement this week. In response, the DOT has ordered all Hong Kong-based carriers like Cathay Pacific, HK Express, and Hong Kong Airlines to file their schedules and disclose all their current passenger and cargo services to the US for review, among other requirements. All code-shared services between Hong Kong International Airport, landing at any points in the US, are also subject to this order. The DOT will be reviewing the filed data, to verify if these flights "may be contrary to applicable law or adversely affect the public interest," which in turn could lead to potential restrictions on where Cathay could fly in the US. A Cathay spokesman told Insider that the airline had acknowledged the DOT's order to file schedules, and would continue to comply with all applicable aviation regulations. "Cathay Pacific believes that it is in the interest of the general and traveling public for this matter to be resolved among all relevant parties as soon as possible," the spokesman said. The spokesman added that the introduction of new crew quarantine measures had also "hit Cathay Pacific hard," and that due to crew resource constraints, the weekly freighter frequency between Hong Kong and the US had been reduced from the usual 35 to 39 flights, to 21 to 28 flights on average. "We have had to cut our passenger capacity by about 60% of January 2021 levels, and our cargo capacity by about 25% of January 2021 levels, while our operating cash burn has increased by about HK$300-400 million per month," the spokesman said. Jae Woon Lee, an aviation law and policy expert and an assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told SCMP that the fact that only Anchorage had been exempted from the crew quarantine supported the argument that "the playing field is not level." According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the exception for Alaska appears to have been made due to it being an essential stopover for Cathay Pacific airline's cargo flights. The DOT objected to this exception being made for Cathay, saying that the "carve out" provided Cathay with the ability to continue its operations without being impacted at all by the crew quarantine regulations. "However, this is not a clear-cut case, as the exemption is not based on the nationality of airlines," Lee said. "A bigger question is whether and to what extent Hong Kong's international aviation hub status could be affected." https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-threatens-retaliate-against-hong-040437092.html JetBlue, Singapore Airlines Start Health Passport Trials Two digital health pass platforms are getting new trials this week, as JetBlue has begun using the CommonPass platform on flights to Aruba and Singapore Airlines kicks of a trial program with Travel Pass. As a part of JetBlue's program, the carrier has partnered with two Covid-19 testing suppliers: Vault, which provides supervised at-home testing, and XpresCheck, which provides in-person, at-airport testing. JetBlue travelers from Boston to Aruba can get tested, download the CommonPass app and upload their results into the app, which gives them access to expedited immigration lanes upon arrival in Aruba. Aruba currently requires all arriving travelers to test negative for Covid-19 either within 72 hours of arrival or upon arrival. JetBlue began using CommonPass for its flights from Boston to Aruba on Tuesday. It will be available on flights from other cities to Aruba in "the coming weeks," according to the carrier. JetBlue's at-airport XpresCheck partner currently operates at Los Angeles International Airport, Orlando and all three New York City area airports in addition to Boston Logan. The International Air Transport Association, meanwhile, reported a "successful implementation" following the first full deployment of its Travel Pass platform with Singapore Airlines. The carrier has completed its first flight to London with travelers using the platform, in which travelers can verify requirements, book testing and receive results. "Airlines understand that their ground operations will grind to a halt if they have to manage Covid-19 travel requirements—test results or vaccine certifications—with paper documentation," IATA SVP of airport, passenger and security Nick Careen said in a statement. "This real-life proof of concept should give all governments confidence that industry has a workable digital solution that will ease the pressure of incorporating health certificate checks into the travel process, including at borders." https://www.businesstravelnews.com/Global/JetBlue-Singapore-Airlines-Start-Health-Passport-Trials FAA: Airlines have reported more than 500 cases of unruly passengers since December WASHINGTON (AP) — Airlines have reported more than 500 cases involving unruly passengers since late December, and most started with passengers who refused to wear a face mask, federal officials said Wednesday. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is reviewing more than 450 of the cases and has started enforcement action against about 20 people. The FAA reported the figures shortly after it extended a “zero-tolerance” policy against unruly people on airline flights. The agency said that under the policy, passengers who disrupt or threaten the safety of a flight could face fines and jail time. “The number of cases we’re seeing is still far too high, and it tells us urgent action continues to be required,” FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson said. The tougher enforcement stance was due to expire at the end of this month, but the FAA announced Monday that it will stay in place as long as airline passengers are required to wear face masks. Airlines began requiring masks last year. The FAA, which resisted a federal requirement during the Trump administration, added its own mask mandate in January. The FAA is seeking civil penalties against at least four passengers. The agency announced two new cases on Wednesday. In one, the FAA said it is proposing a $20,000 fine against a woman who repeatedly ignored flight attendants’ instructions to remain seated and wear her mask, then shouted obscenities and shoved an attendant. Pilots turned around the Dec. 27 JetBlue Airways flight to Puerto Rico and returned to Boston. The FAA said it is seeking a $12,250 penalty against another JetBlue passenger on a Dec. 31 flight from New York to the Dominican Republic. The man drank alcohol he had brought on board, which violates federal rules, and refused to wear a mask. The man also shouted profanities, slammed overhead bins and threw his bottle behind a seat, the FAA said. The crew asked police to meet the plane after it landed. https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-faa-unruly-passengers-masks-20210317-orhyj7ezvvdxfbuyft3b7pqtyu-story.html Ukraine blocks Chinese takeover of jet engine maker on US urging Ukraine's Motor Sich builds engines for military aircraft. China has become Ukraine's top trading partner since Russia's annexation of Crimea, and a Chinese company seeks to take over Motor Sich. © AP MOSCOW -- Ukraine will halt the takeover of an aircraft engine maker by a Chinese company, responding to U.S. objections over the prospect of important military technology falling into Beijing's hands. Kyiv plans to return Motor Sich to Ukrainian control, ending efforts by Beijing Skyrizon Aviation to take management of the company, following a yearslong battle over the manufacturer's fate. "The Motor Sich enterprise will be returned to the Ukrainian people," Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said after a March 11 meeting. "It will be returned to the ownership of the Ukrainian state in a legal, constitutional way in the near future." The decision angered China, which has grown increasingly important economically to Ukraine since Kyiv's relationship with Moscow broke down following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. But when tensions between Beijing and Washington forced a choice between the two, Kyiv prioritized its relationship with a crucial security partner. "Ukraine, being in a state of war, cannot afford to hand over the enterprise, on which the Ukrainian defense capability depends, into the wrong hands," Danilov said in a television appearance the following day, according to local media. Russia, which bought military aircraft engines from Motor Sich, was the company's biggest customer before the Crimea annexation. The loss of this business left Motor Sich struggling, opening the door for Skyrizon. The aviation company has sought control of Motor Sich for the past few years. The battle escalated when Skyrizon's move to take a majority stake a few years ago was stymied by regulators. Washington sees Beijing gaining access to technology for developing military aircraft engines as a security threat to China's neighbors, including U.S. ally Japan. The U.S. in 2019 sent then-national security adviser John Bolton to Kyiv to push for the government to block the acquisition. A fierce tug of war has ensued. Skyrizon -- which is Motor Sich's majority shareholder, though its stake is disputed -- tried to force a shareholders meeting in January. Ukraine and the U.S. Commerce Department both imposed sanctions on the Chinese company that month, moves criticized by China's Foreign Ministry. Skyrizon has brought an international arbitration case about the matter. Kyiv intends to put majority control in the hands of Motor Sich's Ukrainian management team, Danilov said, rather than nationalize the company. Ukraine's ruling party is expected to draft legislation to enforce the move within two or three weeks. Kyiv's decision to fight the takeover ties into the conflict with Russia. China has made inroads in Ukraine through its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, and Beijing became the country's top trading partner in recent years as Kyiv slashes business dealings with Russia. But as China and Russia develop closer military ties amid mounting Sino-U.S. tensions, suspicions arose that Moscow has a hand in Skyrizon's pursuit of Motor Sich. Clashes between Ukrainian and Russian-backed forces have continued in eastern Ukraine since 2014, and a cease-fire enacted in July has been violated on numerous occasions this year. Kyiv seeks to proceed on talks with Moscow, with Washington's backing. While Germany and France have mediated previous peace talks between the two sides, no such meetings are on the horizon. Frustrated by the deadlock, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently went on the political offensive. Kyiv last month banned three opposition television broadcasters accused of receiving funding from Moscow and froze the assets of an opposition party leader aligned with the Kremlin. Russia objected to these moves, while escalating tensions further by suggesting that Ukraine could take military action backed by the U.S. Washington strongly supports Kyiv. President Joe Biden said in a statement last month that the U.S. "will stand with Ukraine against Russia's aggressive acts." The Defense Department on March 1 announced $125 million in military support to Ukraine, with an additional $150 million to be provided if the country makes progress on defense reforms. News emerged Sunday -- days before the seventh anniversary of the annexation of Crimea on Thursday -- that a delegation of representatives from Chinese companies had visited the peninsula to discuss investment. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/Ukraine-blocks-Chinese-takeover-of-jet-engine-maker-on-US-urging Air China to buy 18 Airbus A320neo jets from GECAS subsidiary BEIJING (Reuters) - Air China will buy 18 Airbus A320neo jets from AFS Investments Inc, a subsidiary of aircraft lessor GECAS, the airline said on Thursday, in a boost to Airbus as it competes with Boeing for Chinese market share. Air China said the order was worth $2.24 billion, based on list prices and deliveries of the narrow-body aircraft were expected to be completed by 2022. The airline said it believed the new jets would make it more competitive in a domestic market recovering fast from the coronavirus pandemic and that low financing costs and a favourable exchange rate had helped with the deal. GECAS and Ireland's AerCap, the world's two biggest aircraft leasing companies, announced plans last week to combine, with AerCap agreeing to pay more than $30 billion for GECAS, the air finance business of General Electric. Air China last announced a deal with Airbus in 2019, when it bought 20 A350 aircraft. Boeing's popular narrow-body 737 MAX jet remains grounded in China following crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019 that killed 346 people. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/air-china-buy-18-airbus-103551707.html Flair goes frugal as 737 MAX buyer plans European-style relaunch MONTREAL (Reuters) - Canada's tiny Flair Airlines, which made headlines by handing Boeing a crucial order for 737 MAX jets last week, is forging growth plans inspired by the austerity that transformed Hungary's Wizz Air into one of Europe's largest carriers. Former Wizz executive Stephen Jones, brought in from Europe to run Flair last year, said the Canadian company had grabbed planes at "a great price" to accelerate a relaunch based on the imported recipe of extreme cost discipline. "In many ways, the future of Flair will be a cookie-cutter of the success of Wizz," the CEO told Reuters. One difference? Flair is basing its growth on Boeing jets whereas Wizz shot up the rankings to become one of Airbus's biggest customers. In both cases, jet prices were key. Shares in Boeing rose 6% on Friday when one of Flair's main backers said it would order 24 of the troubled MAX, before leasing 13 of them to Alberta-based Flair. The MAX is back in the air after regulators declared it safe in December, following a 20-month grounding in the wake of two fatal crashes. But Boeing has dozens of cancelled jets in storage and is seen as aggressively chasing deals to restore confidence. "(That) we are actually able to order them this month and have them delivered in two months' time is very unusual under normal circumstances. You may have anything up to a two or three year wait," Jones said. "And also to get them at a great price," he added, without giving details. The MAX sells for $122 million at list prices, but market sources say 50% discounts were common across the industry before the crisis and may now be steeper. That comes as Flair, originally a charter airline, is in the midst of re-inventing itself as an "ultra-low-cost carrier" (ULCC). Such airlines offer even lower prices than many budget rivals but charge multiple extras. They have made less headway in North America than in Europe, but analysts say that could change post-crisis. TOUGH MARKET With one plane now flying, Flair is moving forward this summer with domestic growth plans at a time when the Canadian aviation sector is reeling due to the pandemic. Air traffic was hit so hard that a British Columbia airport which largely serves corporate aircraft and flight schools eclipsed Toronto's Pearson as the country's busiest airport in 2020 by aircraft movements, according to Statistics Canada. Such upheaval is synonymous with the rise of Wizz, one of the few airlines in the world to keep taking planes during the crisis at a time when many rivals are doing the opposite. Founded in 2003, Wizz Air was originally focused on stimulating travel with its cheap ticket prices in central and eastern Europe. It increasingly competes with Europe’s two largest low cost carriers Ryanair and easyJet. Like former bosses at Wizz, Jones and a commercial chief also recruited from the Hungarian budget giant are betting that travel will rebound quickly as COVID-19 vaccinations ramp up. Flair plans to bring in eight MAX jets over the summer and the remaining five before 2022. It will eventually add cross-border flights with a goal to get to 50 jets within five years. But analysts warn the two Wizz veterans face one of the world's hardest markets for airlines. Canada has high taxes and fees, and tough travel rules, including a mandatory 14-day quarantine for arrivals during the pandemic. "Challenger businesses are often dismissed by the incumbent," Jones said. "But piece by piece you have to prove yourself." https://finance.yahoo.com/news/flair-goes-frugal-737-max-113339073.html Space station tosses 2.9-ton hunk of space junk overboard. It will stay in orbit for years. The SUV-sized pallet of old batteries is the most massive object the station has ever jettisoned. The International Space Station got a little lighter last week. The orbiting lab discarded a 2.9-ton (2.6 metric tons) pallet of used batteries on Thursday morning (March 11) — the most massive object it has ever jettisoned, NASA spokesperson Leah Cheshier told Gizmodo. The space junk is expected to fall back to Earth in two to four years, agency officials wrote in an update last week. That update also stated that the pallet will burn up "harmlessly in the atmosphere," but not everyone is convinced that's the case. "This strikes me (haha, a pun given the circumstances) as dangerous. It seems big and dense so unlikely to burn up completely," astronomer and author Phil Plait, whose "Bad Astronomy" blog runs on Syfy Wire, wrote on Twitter Thursday. "Yes. On the other hand e.g. Tiangong-1 was 7500 kg [kilograms], much bigger. But I would say given how dense EP9 is, it's concerning, albeit at the low end of concerning," responded astronomer and satellite Jonathan McDowell, who's based at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tiangong-1 was China's first prototype space station, which hosted astronaut crews in 2012 and 2013. The school-bus-sized craft ended up crashing back to Earth over the southern Pacific Ocean in April 2018. EP9, short for "Exposed Pallet 9," is the recently jettisoned object. EP9 came to the station last year on a Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), as part of the effort to replace the orbiting lab's old nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium-ion ones — an extended process that has required a number of spacewalks over the past five years. Previously, the old batteries were packed into the disposable HTV, which carried them down to their doom in Earth's atmosphere. But the October 2018 launch failure of a Soyuz rocket carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin disrupted this pattern, Spaceflight Now reported. (Hague and Ovchinin ended up landing safely, thanks to their Soyuz capsule's launch-abort system.) And EP9 came up on the ninth and final HTV, meaning it was left without a doomsday ride. So space station managers decided to jettison the battery-packed pallet. On Thursday morning, ground controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston commanded the orbiting lab's 57.7-foot-long (17.6 meters) robotic arm to release EP9 into orbit, NASA officials wrote in the update. The SUV-sized pallet has plenty of space-junk company up there. According to the European Space Agency, researchers estimate that Earth orbit is cluttered with about 34,000 debris objects at least 4 inches (10 centimeters) wide and 128 million pieces that are 1 millimeter across or larger. https://www.space.com/space-station-jettisons-huge-space-junk-pallet Graduate Survey Survey of Commercial and Airline Transport Pilot’s Perception of the Impact Cockpit Organizational Framework has on Flight Safety and Subordinate Pilot Behavior https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/COF-Survey Curt Lewis