Flight Safety Information - August 6, 2021 No. 156 In This Issue : Accident: Transnorthern DC3 at Goodnews on Aug 4th 2021, runway excursion : Incident: Aeroflot B773 at Moscow on Aug 4th 2021, rejected takeoff : Incident: Hawaiian B712 at Kona on Aug 3rd 2021, engine problem : de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk 1 - fatal accident (Alaska) : Activist says Southwest told her to cover Biden sign because 'many' were offended : Qatar Airways says regulator grounds 13 of its Airbus A350s over surface issue : FAA issues directive on Boeing 737 NG, MAX planes over potential fire suppression issue : United Airlines makes COVID-19 shots compulsory for U.S. employees : FAA urges airports to help stop alcohol to go amid unruly passenger spike : Mach 5 hypersonic aircraft company wins USAF flight test contract : Atlas Air Buys Eight 747 Freighters Off Lease To Maintain Capacity : Boeing's Starliner ready for crucial do-over launch to orbit : Position: Apply Now! - Manager – Quality Control Accident: Transnorthern DC3 at Goodnews on Aug 4th 2021, runway excursion https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb5a1d1&opt=0https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb5a1d1&opt=0A Transnorthern Douglas DC-3, registration N30TN performing flight TNV-83 from Anchorage,AK to Goodnews,AK (USA) with 15 passengers and 2 crew, landed on Goodnews' gravel runway 06 at 12:47L (20:47Z) but suffered a runway excursion and came to a stop on soft ground. There were no injuries. The FAA reported: "AIRCRAFT LANDED AND VEERED OFF RUNWAY INTO THE MUD, GOODNEWS, AK." stating the damage was minor, the occurrence was rated an incident. https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb5a1d1&opt=0 Incident: Aeroflot B773 at Moscow on Aug 4th 2021, rejected takeoff An Aeroflot Boeing 777-300, registration VQ-BUB performing flight SU-2578 from Moscow Sheremetyevo (Russia) to London Heathrow,EN (UK), was accelerating for takeoff from Sheremetyevo's runway 24C when the crew received indication of a malfunction of the fire control system of the right hand engine (GE90) and rejected takeoff at low speed (about 70-75 KIAS). The aircraft slowed safely and returned to the apron. A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration VQ-BQG reached London with a delay of 3 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 36 hours after the rejected takeoff. https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb62ba7&opt=0 Incident: Hawaiian B712 at Kona on Aug 3rd 2021, engine problem A Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717-200, registration N483HA performing flight HA-197 from Kona,HI to Honolulu,HI (USA) with 84 people on board, was climbing through FL110 out of Kona's runway 17 when the crew stopped the climb and decided to return to Kona reporting a problem with the left hand engine (BR715). The crew did not declare emergency, however, ATC did declare emergency for the aircraft. The aircraft landed safely on runway 17 about 25 minutes after departure, emergency services reported the left hand engine looked good. The aircraft positioned to Honolulu about 28 hours after landing and subsequently resumed service. https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb59972&opt=0 Incident: LOT B789 at Warsaw on Aug 1st 2021, rejected takeoff due to engine problem A LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 787-9, registration SP-LSC performing flight LO-8579 from Warsaw (Poland) to Heraklion (Greece), was accelerating for takeoff from Warsaw's runway 33 when the crew rejected takeoff at low speed (about 50 knots over ground) due to a problem with the right hand engine (Trent 1000). The aircraft slowed safely and returned to the apron. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 3 hours while maintenance resolved the problem, then departed and reached Heraklion with a delay of about 2.5 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb59014&opt=0 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk 1 - fatal accident (Alaska) Date: 05-AUG-2021 Time: c. 11:20 LT Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk 1 Owner/operator: Southeast Aviation Registration: N1249K MSN: 1594 Fatalities: Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Category: Accident Location: Misty Fjords National Monument, about 10 mi NE of Ketchikan, AK - United States of America Phase: En route Nature: Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi Departure airport: Misty Fjords, AK Destination airport: Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base, AK (WFB) Investigating agency: NTSB Narrative: The float-equipped DHC-2 Beaver Mk 1 was destroyed in an impact with mountainous terrain near Misty Fjords National Monument northeast of Ketchikan, Alaska in poor weather conditions. The one pilot and 5 passengers were fatally injured. The flight was an air tour for cruise ship passengers. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka located the wreckage at 14:37 and lowered two rescue swimmers who reported no survivors. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/266418 Activist says Southwest told her to cover Biden sign because 'many' were offended On Friday, Jenny Grondahl flew from Phoenix to San Diego, carrying a souvenir: a cardboard sign she wanted to frame when she got home to Southern California. It read "Arizonenses Con Biden" with a cactus and was made by an artist named Javier Torres. It marked an accomplishment for the labor organizer - outreach to Latinos in Arizona to vote for Joe Biden for president in 2020. Grondahl serves on the executive board of Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), representing workers in California and Arizona. She also volunteered for the Biden campaign, and a friend had given her the sign for the hours she worked. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. "I worked very hard to register Latino voters … And Latinos showed up, Arizona went blue," she said, explaining why it meant so much to her. When she got to the gate, Grondahl said, a Southwest Airlines employee told her, "Many customers are offended by your sign." The agent asked her to either cover it with white paper and tape or to fold it to put underneath her seat. Then Grondahl asked what would have happened if she had been wearing a T-shirt supporting Biden and Vice President Harris. The agent told her that she would have had to turn it inside out to board the flight. Instead of covering up the sign, Grondahl folded it and placed it under her seat. As Americans return to the skies during the pandemic, they are facing unruliness among fellow passengers. Flight attendants are getting the worst of it as passengers become violent and refuse mask mandates. But fliers may also be reminded of other disruptions: the arbitrary power over passenger dress code and what they can bring onboard. Airlines have long been able to enforce this, but in this political climate, it could include signage and other memorabilia. "I'm looking around at the gate, and I'm thinking, how many of you was it - 20 out of 110 people? And how offended were you? What did you say?" she told The Washington Post several days after the incident. "How could people have such a visceral reaction to seeing the name of our president on a sign?" She found herself physically shaking at the confrontation, despite the fact that she said the gate agent was "very nice." Grondahl would have understood had she been told the sign was too big, or if she had been actively campaigning, but she said that's not what she was told by the airline. "It's in Spanish. I just looked around, and I thought about humanity in general. How devastatingly horrible that someone saw a name, or a different language, on a sign that I'm carrying, and stood in line to complain to the airline staff to the point that they then had to come complain to me, and asked me not to bring this on board?" Grondahl said. Southwest would not comment directly on the situation, but the airline denied it would censor political expression. "We pride ourselves on providing a welcoming, comfortable, and safe environment for all Customers and Employees regardless of political beliefs. We're in conversations with the Customer to address her concerns and we hope to welcome her back on a future Southwest flight," Southwest spokesman Dan Landson said in email. Grondahl tweeted at Southwest about the incident on Monday, but she did not hear from airline until after The Washington Post contacted the company for comment. So far, they only have reached out to say they have heard about her complaint. Legal experts said the incident was probably a one-off that occurred because decisions about what customers can bring or wear onboard are at the discretion of individual employees. Each airline has a contract of carriage, which you agree to when you purchase a ticket, but it can be ambiguous. Delta says it can keep a passenger off a plane if their attire "creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers." Southwest and JetBlue say clothing cannot be "lewd, obscene, or patently offensive." "I just think [Grondahl] ran into a buzz saw with a flight attendant, who was trying to placate some unhappy people," said Tom Demetrio, a Chicago-based lawyer who represented David Dao, a passenger who was dragged off a United Airlines flight in 2017. Since that case, Demetrio said, he has received over 1,000 complaints centered around the actions of either a flight attendant or gate agent. "One-hundred percent of the time they are backed up by the pilot, who has the ultimate say," Demetrio said. "If you have an issue where a flight attendant is questioning you or making fun of you, play along because he wins or she wins. No use in quibbling or protesting." "What if it's a Chicago Cubs shirt, and you've got a bunch of Yankee fans on the plane, are they going to whine to the flight attendant? Make him turn his shirt inside out?" In 2012, a woman was who worked for an abortion provider was asked to cover her T-shirt on an American Airlines flight. An American Airlines spokesman said the flier was asked to cover up because the shirt contained an expletive. Later that year, graduate student Arijit Guha was taken off a Delta flight in Buffalo because his T-shirt said, "Terrists gonna kill us all." He said the misspelled shirt was satirical and mocked federal screening policies that he said racially profiled. The pilot countered that it scared fellow passengers. Again, there is little passengers can do because rules can be interpreted unevenly. "[Contracts of carriage] are written in broad language that makes these determinations particularly subjective, so that one person's behavior or clothing on one flight may not be considered offensive on another," travel lawyer Adam Anolik said. That turned out to be true for Grondahl, who flew from Orange County in California back to Phoenix just four days later on Southwest. She didn't have the sign, but she wore a "LIUNA! For Biden/Harris" mask on her flight without incident. These guidelines are often justified for safety reasons, Anolik said. "Airlines can claim offensive attire or behavior can cause conflicts on board so that the airlines need to police problems before they escalate." Flight attendants and crews have dealt with a spike in disruptive passenger behavior recently. Since January, the Federal Aviation Administration has received 3,715 reports of unruly passengers. The FAA has started 628 investigations and moved forward with 99 cases with penalties. There have been incidents involving flight attendants being punched, losing teeth and having to restrain passengers with duct tape. The problem with leaving such interpretations on dress code or carry-on items up to individual airline employees is that they are "susceptible to inherent biases of employees, which may be, in this situation, politically motivated. Airlines should not be policing political speech," Anolik said. Several days later, Grondahl's sign was in her office waiting to be framed, despite the folds. "It will have a crease in it to remind me of Southwest Airlines approaching me to say people were offended by it," Grondahl said, laughing. https://www.yahoo.com/news/activist-says-southwest-told-her-222800113.html Qatar Airways says regulator grounds 13 of its Airbus A350s over surface issue DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar Airways has been instructed by its regulator to ground 13 Airbus A350 planes due a faster than expected deterioration of the fuselage surface below the paint on the jets. The state-owned Gulf airline said on Thursday it had been told to ground the planes until "the root cause can be established and a satisfactory solution made available to permanently correct the underlying condition." Qatar Airways has been locked in a months-long public dispute with Airbus, insisting it would not take any deliveries of the carbon-composite widebody jet until the problem was resolved. "With this latest development, we sincerely expect that Airbus treats this matter with the proper attention that it requires," Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in a statement announcing the regulator's grounding of the jets. "Qatar Airways expects Airbus to have established the root cause and permanently corrected the underlying condition to the satisfaction of Qatar Airways and our regulator before we take delivery of any further A350 aircraft.” An Airbus spokesperson told Reuters the planemaker was always in talks with its customers but those discussions were confidential, declining to comment further. Qatar Airways said in June it had grounded some of its A350 jets until the issue could be understood and fixed, without disclosing how many aircraft had been pulled from service. It said on Thursday it had brought A330 aircraft back into to service to make up for the lost capacity and was also "looking at other solutions." Qatar Airways is the largest customer for the A350 and has taken delivery of 53 out of 76 on order. The airline has periodically criticised Airbus or its U.S. rival Boeing for delays or quality lapses. It says its exacting standards reflect its premium brand, although aerospace executives have accused it of seizing on such details in the past to delay taking deliveries or gain leverage in other negotiations, a suggestion it has denied. Many airlines have adjusted deliveries due to the pandemic-related travel downturn. Qatar Airways said in June 2020 it would not take Boeing or Airbus jets in 2020 or 2021 and later that year said it had reached a deal on schedules with Airbus. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/qatar-airways-says-regulator-grounds-134014855.html FAA issues directive on Boeing 737 NG, MAX planes over potential fire suppression issue WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday issued a new safety directive for Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) and MAX airplanes to address a potential issue with reduced fire suppression capabilities. The FAA said planes may have a failed electronic flow control of the air conditioning packs that vent air into the cargo hold from other areas of the plane. The directive prohibits operators from transporting cargo in the cargo hold if airplanes are operating with this condition unless they can verify items are nonflammable and noncombustible. The FAA said the directive covers all Boeing 737 8, 737 9, and 737 8200 MAX airplanes and some 737-800 and 737-900ER series airplanes. Boeing did not immediately comment. The airworthiness directive impacts 663 airplanes registered in the United States and approximately 2,204 worldwide. Operators must comply with this directive beginning 10 days after date of publication. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/faa-issues-directive-boeing-737-200614138.html United Airlines makes COVID-19 shots compulsory for U.S. employees (Reuters) -United Airlines Inc on Friday became the first U.S. airline to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all domestic employees, joining a swelling list of companies mandating jabs for workers as coronavirus cases rise. Employers from Microsoft to Tyson Foods have mandated vaccines, recent moves that experts said were legal but could raise labor tensions in unionized workplaces. United, the No. 3 U.S. carrier by revenues in 2019 according to government data, said its 67,000 U.S. employees would need to show proof of inoculation for a vaccine fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Such approval is expected this fall.. "The facts are crystal clear: Everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated," United Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart said in a letter to employees. Kirby and Hart said they expected some employees would disagree with the decision, although 90% of the carrier's pilots and 80% of flight attendants are already vaccinated. Eric Feldman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, said mandates like the one United announced are on "strong legal footing." Workers who lack medical or religious exemptions and refuse to get the vaccination would need to find a different job. The mandate comes as concerns over the variant reverberate through the U.S. airline industry, which is rebounding from a slowdown in travel last year due to the virus. On Thursday, Frontier Airlines lowered its third-quarter forecast and warned the Delta variant was hurting demand. Health officials have called for reinstating indoor mask mandates for most vaccinated Americans and some companies are delaying return-to-office timetables. Unions from several industries, including ones representing pilots from American Airlines Group and United, want any vaccine mandate to be worked out through collective bargaining. Paul Clark, a professor of labor and employment relations at Penn State, said he believes unions want to avoid any precedent of employers taking decisions alone on working conditions. "If you allow an employer to make a unilateral decision in this area it erodes their bargaining rights," Clark said. "What are they going to make a unilateral decision about next time?" The Association of Flight Attendants, the union representing United flight attendants, backed the move. "There is now too much at risk to not ensure the safety and well-being of United Flight Attendants," the union said in a statement. United, like rival Delta Air Lines, was already requiring the vaccine for new employees and had encouraged current employees to voluntarily take the vaccine through incentives like bonuses or vacation time. Some other major industries like U.S. automakers have reinstated mask requirements but declined to mandate vaccines for employees. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/united-airlines-makes-covid-19-113353752.html FAA urges airports to help stop alcohol to go amid unruly passenger spike The FAA's investigations show that alcohol often contributes to unruliness. FAA asks airport bars, restaurants to stop selling alcoholic drinks to go The administration is targeting alcohol use to combat a spike in unruly passengers. The Federal Aviation Administration is calling on U.S. airports to help put an end to the recent spike in unruly passenger cases. The FAA is urging airport police to arrest more people who are unruly or violent on flights and asking airport bars and restaurants to stop serving alcoholic drinks to go. "Even though FAA regulations specifically prohibit the consumption of alcohol aboard an aircraft that is not served by the airline, we have received reports that some airport concessionaires have offered alcohol 'to go,'" FAA Administrator Steve Dickson wrote to airport leaders nationwide. "And passengers believe they can carry that alcohol onto their flights or they become inebriated." The agency's investigations into the surge in aggressive behavior on-board has shown that alcohol is often a contributing factor. MORE: 85% of flight attendants have dealt with an unruly passenger in 2021: Survey "Airports can help bring awareness to this prohibition on passengers carrying open alcohol onboard their flights through signage, public service announcements, and concessionaire education," Dickson said. Some major U.S. airlines, including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, have prohibited purchasing alcohol on board until the mask mandate expires. It is currently in place until mid-September. Southwest was prompted to make the change in June after an unruly passenger allegedly knocked a flight attendant's two front teeth out. "Certainly with the number of incidents you can tell why flight attendants would feel leery about beginning to sell alcohol onboard the aircraft again," Lyn Montgomery, a spokesperson for the union that represents Southwest flight attendants told ABC News. Alcohol was reported to be a factor in one of the most recent unruly passenger incidents that occurred on a Frontier Airlines flight on Saturday. The 22-year-old had at least two drinks on the flight, according to authorities, before allegedly groping two flight attendants and punching a third flight attendant in the face. The crew resorted to duct taping the man to his seat for the duration of the flight. He was arrested when the plane landed in Miami and is now facing three counts of battery. "While the FAA has levied civil fines against unruly passengers, it has no authority to prosecute criminal cases," Dickson told airport executives. The agency has received more than 3,700 reports of unruly passengers since January with more than 2,700 of them involving fliers who refuse to wear a mask. He said they see many passengers -- some who physically assaulted flight attendants -- interviewed by local police and then released "without criminal charges of any kind." "When this occurs, we miss a key opportunity to hold unruly passengers accountable for their unacceptable and dangerous behavior," he said. The FAA is still enforcing its zero-tolerance policy for in-flight disruptions which could lead to fines as high as $52,500 and up to 20 years in prison. The agency has looked into more than 628 potential violations of federal law so far this year -- the highest number since the agency began keeping records in 1995. e American Airline departure check in desks at Miami International Airport...Read More The largest flight attendant union in the U.S. doubled down on its call last week for the FAA and Department of Justice to "protect passengers and crew from disruptive and verbally and physically abusive travelers." A DOJ spokesperson told ABC News that "interference with flight crew members is a serious crime that deserves the attention of federal law enforcement." "As with any case, we exercise prosecutorial discretion in deciding which cases to charge federally," the spokesperson continued. "Factors include egregiousness of the offense, were lives in danger, victim impact, mental health, did the plane have to make an unscheduled landing, is this a repeat offense, are there mitigating factors, etc. This is a serious crime that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison."ABC News maximum penalty of 20 years in prison." https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/faa-urges-airports-stop-alcohol-amid-unruly-passenger/story?id=79271866 Mach 5 hypersonic aircraft company wins USAF flight test contract Aerospace company Hermeus has won a $60 million US Air Force contract to flight test its first Mach 5 hypersonic aircraft. The aircraft, called Quarterhorse, will validate the company's proprietary turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine, based around the GE J85 turbojet engine, and is the first in a line of autonomous high-speed aircraft. By the end of the flight test campaign, Quarterhorse aims to be the fastest reusable aircraft in the world and the first of its kind to fly a TBCC engine. The award was made under the AFWERX Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) programme led by the Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate (PE) as a follow-on to a Phase II SBIR contract. The collaboration also includes support from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). “Small business partnership is recognized by the U.S. Air Force as an important component to driving innovation. Reducing risk in high speed transport technologies, as we are doing with this contract, provides near-term and long-term benefits to both the U.S. Air Force and the defense industrial base,” said Joshua Burger, the Vector Initiative programme manager who is spearheading the effort. “We are very excited to see Hermeus translate their demonstrated successes in engine prototyping into flight systems.” Hermeus is taking a different approach than traditional high-speed flight test programmes. Hermeus will be leveraging autonomous and reusable systems, ruthlessly focused requirements, and a hardware-rich programme. These three strategies allow the team to push the envelope, sometimes strategically to the point of failure in flight test, which accelerates learning while simultaneously improving the safety of flight test crew and the public. Pushing more risk to flight allows the company to move through the engineering lifecycle quickly, reducing programmatic costs. When exploring beyond the speeds that air-breathing aircraft have flown before, learning must come through testing in the real world. The technology Hermeus has chosen positions the company in the dual-use space for hypersonic aircraft – technologies normally used for civilian purposes but which may have military applications. "While this partnership with the US Air Force underscores U.S. Department of Defense interest in hypersonic aircraft, when paired with Hermeus' partnership with NASA announced in February 2021, it is clear that there are both commercial and defense applications for what we're building," said Hermeus CEO and co-founder, AJ Piplica. www.hermeus.com https://www.aero-mag.com/hermeus-mach-5-hypersonic-05082021 Atlas Air Buys Eight 747 Freighters Off Lease To Maintain Capacity Atlas Air Worldwide (NASDAQ: AAWW) said Thursday it is purchasing eight Boeing 747-400 freighters as their leases expire between this summer and the end of 2022 to ensure capacity as strong air cargo volumes collide with supply shortages. The cargo airline holding company's second-quarter revenue increased 20% to $990.4 million and it projected sales will reach $1 billion in the current period as shippers flock to air transport to support heavy ordering from customers and avoid ocean shipping congestion that has doubled or tripled transit times. Atlas officials said exorbitant ocean prices have been a catalyst for increased volumes, with aircraft utilization increasing to 93,190 block hours compared with 84,966 hours in the second quarter of 2020. With airfreight volumes above pre-pandemic levels and the exit of many international widebody flights due to COVID, Atlas is flying more hours and charging more for space on its aircraft, resulting in higher yields. Air cargo volumes increased 8.8% for the first half of the year, the strongest performance in four years, according to the International Air Transport Association. Revenue and earnings exceeded internal forecasts and consensus expectations on Wall Street. Adjusted pretax earnings of $243.7 million dipped a hair from $247 million a year ago because of increased operating costs due to higher pilot pay and COVID-related measures to maintain crew safety, but relative stability of profits shows the market for air cargo services remains very strong. "Economic and supply chain conditions remain favorable for air cargo and our dedicated freighters," President and CEO John Dietrich said. Comparisons are skewed by a huge boom in 2020 charter activity when governments and their partners needed emergency deliveries of personal protective equipment and medical supplies to combat COVID. Adjusted profit jumped $157.3 million compared to the second quarter of 2019, which was a more normal year for the global economy. Yields have fallen industrywide since the pandemic rush last year but are much higher than normal. Atlas Air said it expects third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of about $250 million, with adjusted net income up 50% versus 2020 ($82.7 million). "This outlook reflects the contribution of long-term customer agreements with favorable rates and guaranteed levels of flying; high levels of aircraft utilization driven by strong customer demand; and commercial cargo charter yields to remain above typical seasonal levels," Dietrich said. Management said it is experiencing higher operating costs due to higher pilot pay and COVID-related measures to maintain crew safety. The largest operator of 747 cargo aircraft in the world said it has purchased three 747-400 aircraft that were previously leased and reached an agreement with lessors to take ownership of five more aircraft at the end of their existing lease terms next year. Officials said the move reflects the company's confidence in the ongoing strength of the air cargo market, which is being turbocharged by the rapid growth of e-commerce transactions and demand from express parcel carriers for extra airlift. Second-quarter performance was boosted by the reintroduction last year of four 747 freighters that were in long-term storage, and a 777 that Atlas kept for its own use rather than leasing to other airlines. "This capacity, along with a tremendous team effort, contributed to our ability to enter into and extend long-term agreements with strategic customers, as well as to capitalize on lucrative short-term opportunities in the strong global airfreight market," Dietrich said. Flexport, for example, last year signed a long-term agreement with Atlas to fly two 747 freighters six or seven times per week from Asia to the U.S., officials at the San Francisco-based freight forwarder have said. The parent company said contentious negotiations with its Atlas Air and Southern Air pilots have moved closer to completion, with an arbitrator's binding decision expected late in the third quarter. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/atlas-air-buys-eight-747-201149112.html Boeing's Starliner ready for crucial do-over launch to orbit SEATTLE, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Boeing Co's CST-100 Starliner capsule is poised to blast off on Tuesday from Florida's Cape Canaveral bound for the International Space Station in a crucial do-over test flight following a near-catastrophic failure during its 2019 debut. Tuesday's planned uncrewed mission is a precursor to a closely watched crewed flight potentially to be conducted before the end of the year. It also marks a key trial for the U.S. aerospace giant after back-to-back crises - a pandemic that crushed demand for new planes and a safety scandal caused by two fatal 737 MAX crashes - that have damaged Boeing's finances and engineering reputation. If all goes according to plan, the Starliner capsule loaded with supplies will blast off atop an Atlas V rocket flown by the United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp, at 1:20 p.m. EDT (1720 GMT) from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch had been planned for last Friday https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/space-station-mishap-prompts-nasa-postpone-launch-boeing-starliner-2021-07-29, but was postponed by NASA after the space station was briefly thrown out of control with seven crew members aboard, a mishap caused by the inadvertent reignition of jet thrusters on a newly docked Russian service module. Russia's space agency blamed a software glitch. Atlas V's dual Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A-4-2 engines are poised to shoot Starliner on a 113-mile (98 nautical miles/181 km) suborbital trajectory before the capsule separates and flies under its own power to the space station in a roughly 24-hour overall journey. The Starliner capsule headlined Boeing's efforts against billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX to be the first to return NASA astronauts to the space station from U.S. soil in nearly a decade. But a series of software glitches during the December 2019 debut launch resulted in its failure to dock at the orbital laboratory outpost. SpaceX's Crew Dragon has gone on to launch three crewed space station missions since 2020, with a fourth slated as early as Oct. 31, according to NASA. Boeing has spent a year and a half correcting issues flagged during NASA reviews, part of the U.S. space agency's strategy to ensure access to the sprawling international research satellite some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth. NASA in 2014 awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to build their own capsules that could fly American astronauts to the space station in an effort to wean the United States off its dependence on Russia's Soyuz vehicles for rides to space following the end of NASA's space shuttle program in 2011. If all goes well, Boeing will bring the capsule home on Aug. 9, and then attempt the follow-on crewed mission that the company has said will take place no earlier than December. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/boeings-starliner-ready-crucial-over-100000259.html Apply Now! - Manager – Quality Control mba is seeking an experienced mid-career individual to manage its Quality Control function with respect to IOSA* (IATA Operational Safety Audit). The candidate must meet the following requirements, be a self-starter and a leader within the organization. • Must have aviation/airline quality control, operational and/or safety experience and be familiar with the IOSA Program. • Be familiar with Quality Control processes and methodology. • Manage and lead a team of experienced individuals in the performance of aviation safety focused audits. Duties and Responsibilities: Become familiar with IOSA Standards and Recommended Best Practices by discipline Interface with IOSA Auditors, as necessary, through the Quality Control process Together with Director of Audit Programs, responsible for IOSA Audit Report (IAR) production and Program Quality requirements, including: . • Structuring the QC process for IOSA reports; • Ensuring that a complete QC review of all IOSA Audit Reports is carried out in accordance with the IOM Quality Control procedures; and • Ensuring that published deadlines for report delivery and QC processes Maintain QC procedures and documentation support structures for auditors Monitor and administer the QC and continual improvement processes Review outputs from all phases of audit and administrative processes, measuring results, and suggesting improved processes, when appropriate Monitoring of AO and Auditor quality performance and provide feedback to Auditors by means of: • Performing analysis of the gaps in the internal QC process and Auditor QC performance; • Performing analysis of IATA AO monthly performance report biannual AO QC performance summary (Statistical analysis and performance results); • Identifying weaknesses in internal processes, repetitive errors, and auditor behavior or techniques; and • Identifying and recommend any training needs, provision of internal QC training, or any other action necessary to ensure IAR quality to VP of Technical and Quality APPLY NOW! *IOSA is a registered trademark of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Curt Lewis