Flight Safety Information - April 21, 2021 No. 081 In This Issue : Incident: Delta B739 at New York on Apr 17th 2021, airspeed and altitude indication problems : Incident: Azul E195 at Sao Paulo on Apr 16th 2021, WOW failure : Learjet 35A - Runway Excursion (Brazil) : NTSB: Obstructed views, lack of alerts caused midair crash : U.S. watchdog will review FAA decision to unground Boeing 737 MAX : AVIATION GROUPS ASK FAA FOR CLARIFICATION ON FLIGHT TRAINING RULES : Volaris announces the addition of eight incremental A320 NEO aircraft in 2021 : American Airlines to resume hiring pilots this fall as travel demand recovers : Dubai Aerospace orders 15 Boeing 737 MAX jets : Astronauts flying reused SpaceX rocket, capsule for 1st time : POSITION AVAILABLE: Manager, Internal Evaluation Program Incident: Delta B739 at New York on Apr 17th 2021, airspeed and altitude indication problems A Delta Airlines Boeing 737-900, registration N904DN performing flight DL-1855 from N904DN from New York JFK,NY (USA) to Santiago (Dominican Republic), was climbing out of New York when the crew stopped the climb at FL230 advising ATC they had an issue with one of their airspeed and altitude indicators. The crew continued along their departure route maintaining FL230 while working the checklists, then decided to return to JFK. The aircraft landed safely on runway 31L about 50 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 737-900 registration N894DN reached Santiago with a delay of 3:20 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service after about 16 hours on the ground in New York. https://avherald.com/h?article=4e6284f5&opt=0 Incident: Azul E195 at Sao Paulo on Apr 16th 2021, WOW failure An Azul Linhas Aereas Embraer ERJ-195, registration PR-AYV performing flight AD-4212 from Sao Paulo Viracopos,SP to Belo Horizonte,MG (Brazil) with 94 passengers and 5 crew, was in the initial climb out of Viracopos' runway 15 when the crew stopped the climb at FL070 due to a message "LG WOW SYS FAIL", worked the related checklists and returned to Viracopos for a safe landing on runway 15 about 15 minutes after departure. Brazil's CENIPA rated the occurrence an incident. A replacement ERJ-195 registration PR-AUF reached Belo Horizonte with a delay of about 90 minutes. https://avherald.com/h?article=4e634180&opt=0 Learjet 35A - Runway Excursion (Brazil) Date: Tuesday 20 April 2021 Time: 14:30 Type: Learjet 35A Operator: Eletric Power Construção Registration: PR-MLA C/n / msn: 35-072 First flight: 1976 Crew: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 Aircraft damage: Destroyed Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Belo Horizonte/Pampulha - Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport, MG (PLU) ( Brazil) Phase: Landing (LDG) Nature: Test Departure airport: Belo Horizonte/Pampulha - Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport, MG (PLU/SBBH), Brazil Destination airport: Belo Horizonte/Pampulha - Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport, MG (PLU/SBBH), Brazil Narrative: A Learjet 35A, operating on a test , suffered a runway excursion after landing on runway 13 at Belo Horizonte/Pampulha Airport, Brazil. The aircraft went through the perimeter fence broke in two. One pilot died, two other occupants were injured. Runway 13 has a Landing Distance Available of 2364 meters, followed by a 150 m stopway. The aircraft went off the stopway and traveled 60 m on the grass before crashing through the perimeter fence. It continued another 60 meters before it came to rest in some bushes to the right side of a concrete construction for the localizer antenna array. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20210420-0 NTSB: Obstructed views, lack of alerts caused midair crash JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Two Alaska sightseeing planes collided in 2019 because the views of the pilots were obscured and aircraft-tracking systems failed to warn them about nearby aircraft, federal investigators concluded on Tuesday. Six people died, and 10 people survived. The National Transportation Safety Board in its probable-cause finding determined that the limitations of the “see and avoid” concept prevented the pilots from seeing each other before the collision. The board also cited a lack of alerts from the planes’ display systems. The board during its meeting also noted the planes’ structures or a passenger had limited the pilots' views. Mountain Air Service pilot Randy Sullivan and his four passengers, and a passenger in a plane owned by Taquan Air were killed. Ten people were injured when the aircrafts converged at 3,350 feet (1,021 meters). The NTSB, citing information provided by the operators, said the Ketchikan-based floatplanes were on sightseeing tours and both “converging on a scenic waterfall” before returning to Ketchikan when the crash occurred. Mountain Air’s single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 MK 1 Beaver and Taquan’s larger de Havilland DHC-3 Otter collided just after noon over the west side of George Inlet following tours of Misty Fjords National Monument. NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg said the “see and avoid” system that pilots rely on to avoid mid-air crashes doesn’t work well in high-traffic areas where the sight-seeing planes were traveling. Chairman Robert Sumwalt said the pilots didn’t see each other in time to avoid a collision. Staff members told the board the Otter pilot recalled seeing a white and red flash, then a tremendous collision. The Beaver pilot’s view would have been obstructed by the airplane’s structure and a passenger seated to his right during the critical moments before the crash. The Otter pilot’s view was obscured by a window post, the NTSB staff said. William Bramble, the NTSB’s human performance specialist, told the board that both planes were equipped with systems that track other planes, but visual and audible alerts weren’t working in either plane. “The Otter pilot seemed to miss seeing the target (the other plane) on the display because he last recalled looking at the display about four minutes before the collision,” Bramble said. Contributing to the crash were the Federal Aviation Administration allowing new transceivers that lacked alert capability and the lack of a requirement for air-traffic-advisory systems to have audio alerts on planes flown by companies that carry passengers, according to the probable-cause finding. Board members also recommended Tuesday that the FAA require planes that operate in high-traffic tour areas broadcast their locations to other aircraft. The FAA said it had begun in October “a sweeping examination of safety issues specific to the challenges of flying in Alaska.” The agency said it would “carefully consider all of today’s recommendations from the NTSB as that work continues.” It said some are similar to recommendations an FAA safety team made after the accident and that the FAA is weighing or implementing the safety team proposals. Sumwalt, speaking to reporters, said the investigation found systems limitations that weren’t necessarily known before. He said before an Otter system was upgraded in 2015, its system could generate visual and aural alerts. After the upgrade, he said there were no algorithms to generate alerts. NTSB investigator Aaron Sauer said the upgrades installed in 2015 met the FAA standard at the time. A safety issue the board noted was what it said was an “inadequate checklist” used in Taquan Air operations. The checklist found in the Otter did not include an item for a device that transmits certain altitude data, and the board recommend the carrier update its checklists, according to a summary of the board's actions. The device on the plane had been off for two weeks, Sumwalt said. Messages seeking comment were left for Taquan Air on Tuesday. In documents released earlier by the NTSB, Otter pilot Lou Beck estimated his plane took five seconds to hit the water 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of Ketchikan. At least three people could be heard saying, “brace brace brace,” on a camera recording audio before the Taquan plane hit the water. The Mountain Air Beaver plane broke up in flight, scattering debris across 3,000 feet (914 meters). Mountain Air Service closed after the accident. https://www.yahoo.com/news/pilot-views-obstructed-alerts-missing-145038086.html U.S. watchdog will review FAA decision to unground Boeing 737 MAX FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 MAX 8 sits outside the hangar during a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General said on Tuesday it will audit the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) November decision to unground the Boeing 737 MAX and other agency decisions. The 737 MAX was grounded in March 2019 after two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia within five months killed 346 people. The FAA approved its return to service after significant safety enhancements developed during the plane's 20-month grounding. The new audit will examine the FAA’s actions following the two accidents, including the the agency's risk assessments, the grounding of the aircraft and the subsequent recertification, the inspector general's office said. Boeing declined to comment. The inspector general's office added "its objective is to evaluate FAA’s processes and procedures for grounding aircraft and implementing corrective actions." The FAA said it "will cooperate fully with the Inspector General’s audit, as it has with all other outside reviews of the agency’s oversight of the Boeing 737 MAX." FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told Reuters in November he was "100% confident" in the safety of the 737 MAX. The FAA imposed new training requirements to deal with a key safety system called MICAS that was blamed for the two fatal crashes as well as significant new safeguards and other software changes to ensure the system does not erroneously activate. The inspector general issued two prior reports on the 737 MAX including one in February that outlined "weaknesses" in the FAA's certification of the aircraft. Legislation signed into law in December revamped the FAA’s aircraft certification program and required an independent review of Boeing's safety culture. Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department in January as part of a deferred prosecution agreement after the government said the crashes "exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world’s leading commercial airplane manufacturers." https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-watchdog-review-faa-decision-210802045.html AVIATION GROUPS ASK FAA FOR CLARIFICATION ON FLIGHT TRAINING RULES In the wake of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 2, AOPA and other general aviation organizations sent a letter to the FAA, asking that the agency address “significant confusion and concern in the aviation community regarding the impact of the decision on compensated flight training.” Leaders from AOPA, the Experimental Aircraft Association, and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association sent the letter on April 19 to FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Ali Bahrami, asking the FAA to provide guidance related to the court’s judgment and its potential negative impact on compliance issues and enforcement efforts. The letter stated: “When pilots look for guidance on what they can and cannot do, they look to the Federal Aviation Regulations and FAA policy announcements, not court decisions. We therefore urge the FAA to expedite a direct and final statement of its position on the impact of the Court’s decision.” AOPA and other GA organizations filed a “friend of the court” (amicus curiae) brief in anticipation of a ruling, cautioning the court to narrowly tailor its decision to avoid negative implications for a wide variety of flight instruction provided to owners in their own aircraft. In its ruling, the court declined to lift a cease-and-desist order issued by the FAA against Warbird Adventures of Kissimmee, Florida. The judgment concluded that Warbird Adventures was operating a limited category aircraft for compensated flight training without a required exemption. Unfortunately, the court went further and stated that a flight instructor who receives compensation for flight instruction is carrying persons for compensation or hire. This occurred in the form of an unpublished opinion, meaning the court did not see precedential value in the ruling, but the FAA could cite the decision as precedent in future cases. “We filed the brief with the court for just this reason,” said AOPA President Mark Baker. “We’ve been concerned that a decision from the court, which may have limited understanding and appreciation of standard aviation practices, can have a negative and wider downstream impact on flight training. It’s important that the FAA clarify the practical impact of this ruling on flight training, as a whole. “There are many flight schools and CFIs that have been left confused, as well as owners of limited category aircraft who may be unable to obtain flight instruction in their own airplanes unless they have an exemption, or if the instructor is not compensated.” The letter centered on three major aspects of flight training in the context of the court’s decision: Characterization of flight instruction The letter argued that the court’s characterization of instructor compensation as flying for hire is contrary to the FAA’s longstanding position that a CFI is paid for giving instruction, not piloting. This ruling could impact the FAA’s characterization of compensation for flight instruction, flight tests, and line checks. Flight instruction in limited category aircraft The letter explained that the FAA has not prohibited owners of limited category aircraft from paying an instructor to receive training in their own aircraft in the absence of an exemption. It recommended that owners who wish to pay for flight training in their own aircraft be able to do so in the name of safety. Flight instruction in other categories of aircraft Along with limited category aircraft, the letter further explained that aircraft are used for flight training in a variety of contexts, including individual ownership, shared ownership, flying clubs, flight schools, and air carriers. As such, the letter asked that the FAA provide clarification regarding how flight training in these contexts may be impacted by the court’s ruling. The GA organizations are concerned that the FAA order and the subsequent court decision only feed into the confusion among flight instructors and schools about what is, and isn’t, allowed in flight training. At the same time, the groups cite their common understanding with the FAA that flight training is the cornerstone of safe flying, and having wide and easy pathways to obtain flight training is vital. As such, the groups are requesting necessary clarifications so that flight training can continue to build and maintain a healthy and safe GA community. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2021/april/20/aviation-groups-ask-faa-for-clarification-on-flight-training-rules Volaris announces the addition of eight incremental A320 NEO aircraft in 2021 MEXICO CITY, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Volaris" or the "Company") (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR), the ultra-low-cost airline serving Mexico, the United States and Central America, today announces the addition of eight more A320 NEO aircraft to its fleet in 2021, on top of the three aircraft from its purchase order with Airbus, closing the year with at least 98 aircraft. Volaris has been able to take advantage of the favorable leasing market conditions under which these aircraft can be added to the fleet, all on long-term leases. Our competitors have been scaling down and this has represented an unprecedented opportunity for Volaris to add additional healthy capacity. As the vaccination rollout gains momentum in our markets, confidence in air travel has accelerated accordingly and therefore Volaris will be incorporating eight additional A320 NEO aircraft to its fleet in 2021 through straight operating leases, five of which will enter into service this summer. This additional capacity will be deployed primarily to strengthen our leading position in the Mexican domestic market. The Company is evaluating further market opportunities to add additional aircraft. These fuel-efficient aircraft will enable Volaris to take advantage of market opportunities in the second half of the year and will further increase the percentage of A320 NEO family aircraft in its fleet. All this aligned to the Company's sustainability strategy to ensure industry and business viability in the future. The information included in this report has not been audited and it does not provide information on the company's future performance. Volaris' future performance depends on many factors and it cannot be inferred that any period's performance or its comparison year over year will be an indicator of a similar performance in the future. About Volaris: Volaris or the "Company" (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR), is an ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), with point-to-point operations, serving Mexico, the United States and Central America. Volaris offers low base fares to build its market, providing quality service and extensive customer choice. Since beginning operations in March 2006, Volaris has increased its routes from five to 170 and its fleet from four to 87 aircraft. Volaris offers more than 410 daily flight segments on routes that connect 43 cities in Mexico and 25 cities in the United States with one of the youngest fleets in The Americas. Volaris targets passengers who are visiting friends and relatives, cost-conscious business and leisure travelers in Mexico and in selected destinations in the United States and Central America. Volaris has received the ESR Award for Social Corporate Responsibility for eleven consecutive years. For more information, please visit: www.volaris.com. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/volaris-announces-the-addition-of-eight-incremental-a320-neo-aircraft-in-2021-301273254.html American Airlines to resume hiring pilots this fall as travel demand recovers American is joining United, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines in plans to resume pilot hiring this year. The carrier will start with adding 300 pilots by the end of the year and double that in 2022, according to a company memo. American Airlines plans to resume hiring pilots this fall, the carrier told aviators on Tuesday, as a rebound in demand prompts airlines to rethinking their future staffing. The coronvirus pandemic derailed airline hiring plans in March of last year as carriers scrambled to reduce their head counts to cut costs when travel demand plunged. American last week said it plans to fly more than 90% of its 2019 domestic schedule this summer. Bookings have since recovered, led by vacationers flying within the U.S., airlines have recently reported. United Airlines also plans to restart pilot hiring next month, while low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines began training for new pilots in March. JetBlue Airways has also made plans to start hiring pilots later this year. American plans to start by hiring 300 new pilots by the end of the year and plans to double that number in 2022, Chip Long, American’s vice president of flight operations, wrote in a staff note, which was viewed by CNBC. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier has about 15,000 pilots though hundreds have taken early retirement or are scheduled to stop flying in the coming years as they turn 65, the federally mandated retirement age for airline pilots. Business and long-haul international demand remains weak as travel restrictions persist and large network carriers continue to lose money. United reported a $1.4 billion first-quarter loss on Monday while Delta Air Lines last week said it lost close to $1.2 billion in the first three months of the year. American will detail its demand and hiring outlook when it reports quarterly results on Thursday before the market opens. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/20/american-airlines-says-it-will-resume-hiring-pilots-fall-year-as-travel-demand-recovers.html Dubai Aerospace orders 15 Boeing 737 MAX jets DUBAI (Reuters) -Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) on Tuesday announced an order for 15 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, signalling an end to the aircraft leasing giant's pricing standoff with planemakers. Dubai state-owned DAE in 2019 abandoned plans to place a major order with Airbus and Boeing after it said it was unable to reach agreements on pricing. It instead sought to expand its fleet by taking over a rival, which is yet to take place, and bought aircraft from airlines who would then take them back on lease. "We are delighted to deepen our already strong relationship with Boeing," DAE Chief Executive Firoz Tarapore said in a statement. "We are confident in the success of these aircraft as domestic and regional air travel is seeing strong signs of recovery." The order, worth $1.8 billion at list prices, though discounts are common, also signals a further show of confidence in the narrow-body jet that until recently was banned worldwide. The United States late last year lifted its safety ban, imposed after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, and the United Arab Emirates followed earlier this year. DAE, which says it own and manages 162 Boeing aircraft, last year announced an agreement to purchase 737 MAX jets from American Airlines, who would then take them back on lease. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/dubai-aerospace-orders-15-boeing-065646601.html Astronauts flying reused SpaceX rocket, capsule for 1st time CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — For the first time, NASA is putting its trust in a recycled SpaceX rocket and capsule for a crew. Astronaut Megan McArthur takes special pleasure in the reused spacecraft set to soar Thursday morning. In “a fun twist,” she’ll sit in the same seat in the same capsule as her husband, Bob Behnken, did last spring for a test flight to the International Space Station. “It's kind of a fun thing that we can share. I can see him and say, ‘Hey, can you hand over the keys. I'm ready now to go,' “ she said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. While their 7-year-old son, Theo, is becoming a pro at parent launches, McArthur said "he's not super excited" about her being gone for six months. That's how long she and her three crewmates will spend at the space station. This will be SpaceX’s third crew flight for NASA from Florida's Kennedy Space Center in under a year. The commercial flights ended the U.S.'s reliance on Russian rockets launched from Kazakhstan to get astronauts to and from the space station after the shuttles retired. SpaceX’s Benji Reed noted Tuesday the private company already has put six people in space — as many as NASA's Project Mercury did back in the early 1960s when it launched the first Americans. The upcoming flight will boost that number to 10. Some highlights of the SpaceX flight: USE, RECYCLE, REPEAT Both the Dragon capsule and Falcon rocket for this mission have soared once before. The capsule launched the first SpaceX crew last May, while the rocket hoisted the second set of astronauts, who are still at the space station. For SpaceX, recycling is key to space exploration, Reed said, lowering costs, increasing flights and destinations, and allowing more kinds of people to jump on board. Each capsule is designed to launch at least five times with a crew. SpaceX and NASA are assessing how many times a Falcon can safely launch astronauts. For satellites, Falcons can be used for 10 flights. The company uses the same kind of rocket and similar capsules for station supply runs, and recycles those, too. US-FRENCH-JAPANESE CREW This is the most internationally diverse crew yet for SpaceX. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, a retired Army colonel, is the spacecraft commander, with McArthur, an oceanographer, as his pilot. Thomas Pesquet, a former Air France pilot, is representing the European Space Agency. Engineer Akihiko Hoshide has worked for the Japanese Space Agency for nearly 30 years and helped build the space station. All but McArthur have already visited the 260-mile-high (420-kilometer-high) outpost. But she's ventured 100 miles (160 kilometers) higher on the space shuttle, taking part in NASA's final Hubble Space Telescope mission in 2009. The four have started a new recycled-rocket tradition for SpaceX crews, writing their initials in the soot of their booster. BON APPETIT With French and Japanese astronauts flying together, dining promises to reach new heights. Hoshide is taking up curry and rice, as well as canned fish and yakitori — grilled and skewered chicken — but no sushi. Pesquet had a Michelin-starred chef whip up some French delicacies: beef with red wine and mushroom sauce, truffled potato and onion tart, and almond tart with caramelized pears. There are also Crepes Suzette. Pesquet said last weekend he had “some national pressure” to fly French cuisine. His crewmates also had high expectations: “OK, we're flying with a Frenchman, it better be good." COMING & GOING Five days after this crew's arrival at the space station, the one Japanese and three U.S. astronauts who have been up there since November will strap into their SpaceX capsule to come home. NASA wants some time in orbit between the two crews, so the newcomers can benefit from their colleagues' experience up there. SpaceX is targeting an April 28 splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. The company already is conferring with the Coast Guard to prevent pleasure boats from swarming the area like they did for the first SpaceX crew's splashdown in August. More Coast Guard ships will be on patrol this time. SPACE ‘SEXY’ AGAIN As France's Pesquet sees it, the U.S. and European space agencies may be cool, but SpaceX is even cooler. “They’ve done a really good job, I think, making human spaceflight sexy again. Sometimes people don’t like me saying that, but that’s kind of the truth. And it’s not that easy,” he told the AP in a recent interview. Take the white-with-black-trim SpaceX spacesuits, which are color-coordinated with the rocket, capsule and gull-winged Teslas used to transport astronauts to the launch pad. Looking good is important for SpaceX, Pesquet noted, and “it's a reasonable price to pay” to get the public enthusiastic about space travel. https://www.yahoo.com/news/astronauts-flying-reused-spacex-rocket-175707859.html Manager, Internal Evaluation Program 1. Minimum Qualifications a. At least 3 years of auditing experience with a Part 121 airline, in either maintenance or flight operations b. At least 2 years of supervisory/managerial experience c. US citizen or have the legal right to accept employment in the United States d. Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite e. Possess strong leadership, written, verbal and interpersonal skills f. Must be able to work with a variety of personalities and conduct professional interviews g. Ability to organize own work, while working under pressure to meet tight deadlines h. Must be detail oriented i. Ability to maintain professional conduct at all times j. Ability to maintain confidentiality k. Must be a self-starter 2. Preferred Qualifications a. Bachelor’s degree or higher in aviation or safety-related field b. FAA license, such as a Commercial Pilot’s License, an Airframe and Powerplant License (A&P), or Dispatcher license c. IOSA familiarity d. Safety Management System (SMS) familiarity e. Technical writing experience f. Knowledge and/or experience with Q-Pulse 3. Authorities a. Develop and maintain processes for the Internal Evaluation Program, approved by the Director of Safety, to include authoring procedures in airline manuals b. Develop and maintain an IEP auditor training curriculum, approved by the Director of Safety, ensuring auditors are trained and qualified to conduct IEP audits as assigned 4. Duties and Responsibilities a. Coordinate with the Director of Safety to establish and maintain an auditing schedule and required checklists b. Assign IEP audits to trained and qualified IEP auditors to ensure completion of all audits in a timely and accurate manner c. Supplement the conduct of scheduled audits d. Conduct Special Audits as assigned by the Director of Safety e. Ensure the IEP Auditor position is staffed by an appropriately qualified individual f. Conduct initial and recurrent auditor training g. Develop and manage audit and finding processes within the Q-Pulse system h. Assist operational departments regarding responses to audit outputs in Q-Pulse i. Assist in the development of processes for IEP-related SMS activity j. Facilitate completion of the Swift Air IOSA Conformance Report according to IOSA requirements k. Participate in FAA, IOSA, and DoD audits as requested by the Director of Safety l. Attend industry meetings as appropriate to maintain currency with industry best practices related to the Internal Evaluation Program 5. Reporting Chain a. The Manager, IEP reports directly to the Director of Safety APPLY to Safety Director at: ecates@flyiaero.com Curt Lewis