Flight Safety Information - August 9, 2021 No. 159 In This Issue : Incident: KLM Cityhopper E175 near Amsterdam on Aug 7th 2021, engine vibrations : Incident: Qatar B772 near Male on Aug 6th 2021, cracked windshield : 18 US Orthodox Jewish girls kicked off a Delta-KLM flight following a COVID-19 protocols dispute, reports say ' Delays Possible At DIA As Pilots Rely On Instruments To Land In Thick Smoke : Singapore Changi Airport falls from top spot as world's best airports for 2021 revealed : Airbus sees 1,000 German jobs at risk without parts unit spinoff : The Future of Personal Transport: A Self-Navigating Single-Seat Aircraft : Rocket Lab will launch its first Moon mission from New Zealand in late 2021 : Position: Apply Now! - Manager – Quality Control Incident: KLM Cityhopper E175 near Amsterdam on Aug 7th 2021, engine vibrations A KLM Cityhopper Embraer ERJ-175, registration PH-EXU performing flight KL-1251 from Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Nice (France), was climbing out of Amsterdam when the crew requested to stop the climb at FL290 to work a problem and consult maintenance. The crew subsequently indicated they needed to return to Amsterdam, an engine (CF34) showed high vibrations but didn't need to be shut down. The aircraft returned to Amsterdam for a safe landing on runway 27 about 40 minutes after departure. A replacement Embraer ERJ-175 registration PH-EXR reached Nice with a delay of 2.5 hours. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Amsterdam about 14 hours after landing back. https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb72993&opt=0 Incident: Qatar B772 near Male on Aug 6th 2021, cracked windshield A Qatar Airways Boeing 777-200, registration A7-BBD performing flight QR-677 from Male (Maldives) to Doha (Qatar), was enroute at FL380 about 210nm northnorthwest of Male when the left windshield cracked prompting the crew to return to Male. The aircraft descended normally to FL100 initially levelling off at FL100 about 30 minutes after leaving FL380 and landed safely back on Male's runway 36 (to be assigned 36L) about 90 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration A7-BEI was dispatched from Doha to Male as flight QR-3162, landed in Male but has not departed again about 10 hours after landing. Another replacement Boeing 777-200, registration A7-BBE, performed flight QR-672 from Doha to Male and carried the passengers for the return flight QR-677D back to Doha, who arrived with a delay of 16:20 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb6d712&opt=0 Accident: Azul E295 at Caxias do Sul on Aug 6th 2021, tail strike on landing An Azul Linhas Aereas Embraer ERJ-195-E2, registration PR-PJN performing flight AD-2860 from Sao Paulo Viracopos,SP to Caxias do Sul,RS (Brazil), landed on Caxias do Sul's runway 33 at 14:00L (17:00Z) but struck its tail onto the runway surface. The aircraft rolled out without further incident. The aircraft was unable to continue its schedule and is currently still on the ground. https://avherald.com/h?article=4eb69425&opt=0 18 US Orthodox Jewish girls kicked off a Delta-KLM flight following a COVID-19 protocols dispute, reports say A group of Orthodox Jewish teens had a layover in Amsterdam on their way home to New York from Kyiv. On the flight from Kyiv, they were reprimanded for eating their own food outside of designated mealtimes. 18 were reportedly barred from boarding the Amsterdam-New York flight after the food dispute. See more stories on Insider's business page. Eighteen Orthodox Jewish girls were barred from boarding a Delta flight from Amsterdam to New York on Thursday because of a dispute on a KLM flight about COVID-19 protocols, according to reports. The girls were part of a group of about 55 Jewish teenagers who had spent two weeks visiting religious sites in Kyiv, Ukraine, their rabbi told Fox News. During the first leg of their journey - a KLM-operated from Kyiv to Amsterdam - flight attendants reportedly disciplined the girls for failing to comply with coronavirus safety measures. The passengers breached the protocols by taking their masks off to eat their own food outside of the designated mealtimes, The Jerusalem Post reported. The girls were eating religiously approved kosher food provided to them by a rabbi that was not available on the flight, the paper added. Witnesses told Fox News that a KLM security guard "jeered" at the girls and made some of them cry. The Jerusalem Post reported that Dutch police were then called to remove the girls from the flight after they turned down requests to put their food away, but Fox News said that the girls were advised by an attorney not to vacate their seats. In response, all passengers were asked to leave the plane and flight attendants refused to allow 18 of the girls to board their Delta flight to New York, Fox News reported. KLM did not reply to Insider's request for comment. https://www.yahoo.com/news/18-us-orthodox-jewish-girls-161146178.html Delays Possible At DIA As Pilots Rely On Instruments To Land In Thick Smoke DENVER (CBS4) – The wildfire smoke overtaking Colorado will create a host of problems around the state on Saturday, from health concerns for people on the ground, to potential problems for pilots in the air. The visibility could be as low as a mile at times for most of the day. The smoke will be thick enough to restrict visual flight rules at airports around the state, which means pilots will have to rely on their instruments for a safe landing. The ILS, or instrument landing system, has been the mainstay of safe landings for over 50 years, according to the FAA. For smaller airports the smoke won’t create too much of a problem, but for the volume of flights at DIA, the ILS approach means planes will have to have more spacing between them for safety, and that could lead to delays, especially for arriving flights. Check ahead with your airline before heading to the airport and make sure you allow enough time to get through all of the construction taking place inside and around DIA. The smoke could be an issue once again on Sunday as we anticipate very little change in the current weather pattern. https://denver.cbslocal.com/2021/08/07/smoke-flight-delays-denver/ Singapore Changi Airport falls from top spot as world's best airports for 2021 revealed 10 skytrax world best airport 2021 Hong Kong 9 skytrax world best airport 2021 Kansai 8 skytrax world best airport 2021 London 7 skytrax world best airport 2021 Zurich 6 skytrax world best airport 2021 Munich 5 skytrax world best airport 2021 Narita 4 skytrax world best airport 2021 Incheon 3 skytrax world best airport 2021 Changi 2 skytrax world best airport 2021 Haneda 1 skytrax world best airport 2021 Haneda 1/10 (CNN) — For the first time in nearly a decade, Singapore's Changi Airport has lost its place at the top of Skytrax's annual ranking of the world's best airports at the World Airport Awards. Doha's Hamad International Airport, which has been climbing the ranks for years, has been rewarded with the number one spot in 2021 in the "World's Best Airport" category. This year, Changi placed third -- an achievement for any other airport, but perhaps not from the perspective of its superfans, who regularly praise the airport's ease, comfort and top-notch food and drink options. Doha's ascendance coincides with hard work from its flagship airline, Qatar Airways. The Qatari government has invested heavily in both its national carrier and its airport, with pretty spectacular results. Travelers on Qatar Airways who have a connecting flight at HIA can enjoy free city tours, gratis accommodation and food (depending on the length of the layover) and a VIP transfer service where airline employees meet visitors as they de-plane and guide them seamlessly through the airport and onto their connecting flight. Airports in Europe and Asia dominated the rest of the 2021 list. Japan was voted best-rated country overall, with three airports in the top 10, including both of Tokyo's airports (Narita and Haneda). The World Airport Awards are voted for by customers in a global airport satisfaction survey conducted from August 2020 until July 2021. Here's the full list of the top 10 in the "World's Best Airport" category: 1. Hamad International Airport (HIA) 2. Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) 3. Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) 4. Incheon International Airport (ICN) 5. Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) 6. Munich Airport (MUC) 7. Zurich Airport (ZRH) 8. London Heathrow Airport (LHR) 9. Kansai International Airport (KIX) 10. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) Seoul's Incheon International Airport (ICN) is the biggest and busiest airport in South Korea. In a year still battered by the coronavirus pandemic, it could be difficult to rate airports. Skytrax, which is an independent airline industry consulting group based in the UK, addressed that issue by creating a second list to specifically call out airports that did a good job of addressing the new health and hygiene protocols. Rather than ranking them, Skytrax opted to simply acknowledge the good work done by 39 airports, listed in alphabetical order. This included Rome's Fiumicino, which was given the first-ever "COVID-19 5-Star Airport Rating" from Skytrax last fall. Tokyo Haneda was also awarded the designation of Cleanest Airport. Istanbul Airport was singled out as Most Improved, Changi won the Best Airport Staff award, Seoul's Incheon was commended for Best Airport Security and Centrair Nagoya in Japan took home the prize for Best Regional Airport. Skytrax also broke down the best airport recognitions based on the number of visitors who passed through each. China's Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was best in class for airports serving 35-45 million annual passengers, Hamad International Airport in the 25-35 million group, London Heathrow in the 20-25 million group, Frankfurt in the 15-20 million group, Changi in the 10-15 million group, Zurich in the 5-10 million group, Centrair Nagoya in the 2-5 million group and Quito in the under 2 million group. Regionally, Canada's Vancouver International Airport was voted "Best Airport in North America." For the full list of 2021 winners, visit the Skytrax World Airport Awards website. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/skytrax-world-best-airport-2021-intl-hnk/index.html Airbus sees 1,000 German jobs at risk Airbus has warned employees of job losses at its small-parts manufacturing business in Germany if it doesn't get in line with a cost-cutting strategy set out in April. A source told Reuters that the group sees up to a 1,000 small-parts manufacturing jobs at risk if it continues to manufacture within the group rather than spinning off the activities. Under the shakeup set out four months ago, Airbus's Premium Aerotec unit in Germany would be split off, with part of it combined with other Airbus manufacturing plants. The rest would be folded into a new business specialising in small mass-produced "detail" parts which could be spun off. Premium Aerotec makes components for commercial and military aircraft in Germany. But the unit has been loss making for years. Airbus has previously said that Premium Aerotec is between 25% and 30% more expensive than other suppliers. The planemaker declined to comment when asked about the numbers of jobs at risk under the restructuring. Trade union IG Metall is opposed to the spinoff, fearing job cuts and less favourable working conditions after a break-up of the unit. https://news.yahoo.com/airbus-sees-1-000-german-095209606.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall The Future of Personal Transport: A Self-Navigating Single-Seat Aircraft Road traffic is increasing with the growing population, and it’s only going to get worse. As a result, getting to your destination fast and safely will become increasingly complex, with more and more delays along the way. Hence, people are veering toward the idea of air travel to speed things up and for convenience. Many new kinds of aircraft – mostly eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) – have sprung up recently. These new transportation modes are different than airplanes and helicopters that require lots of people and grand infrastructure to be functional. Instead, they’re smaller and designed to accommodate a few people, like taxis, and travel shorter distances, hopping from hub to hub like a bus. Most likely, eVTOLs are the vehicle of the future. However, their makers are shaping them up to be something we’ll see as a service. They’re not going to be available for people to buy for personal use. But air mobility startup Next UAS hopes to change that. It’s re-opening the conversation on private ownership with this single-seat iFly aircraft concept. The iFly is a simple coaxial octocopter, with eight batteries running eight props – one on each end of four carbon arms. Two arms are mounted above the cabin and two below. It appears to be around 2 meters (6.6 ft) high and small enough to fit in a wide parking space in front of someone’s house. It features an emergency evacuation parachute in case of an emergency. Perhaps most interesting is how iFly doesn’t need to be driven or monitored. Instead, the system is autonomous and compatible with a mobile application. All the rider needs to do is input the destination, and the aircraft will take over from there. Next UAS is in the process of getting a permit for iFly to be flown without a pilot license. It plans to do this by registering it as a powered ultralight by the FAA. Although, this also means that the aircraft will have to weigh under 115 kilograms (254 pounds) and max out at 55 knots (64 mph or 102 km/h). Also, its range would be extremely limited because the FAA counts batteries as part of the airframe and, therefore, the weight restriction. And people won’t be able to fly it over populated areas. So, iFly will only be usable for single-person flights over unpopulated areas to a destination only a few miles away. Nevertheless, the company has already demonstrated iFly’s flying capabilities with a 1/3 scale prototype and acquired the license to proceed. It’s currently searching for investors to take this project to the next level. A demo video of the Next iFly can be seen here. A few other single-seat eVTOL designs include WatFly’s Starwars-like aircraft and Cadillac’s jetpack-like aircraft, and the US Airforce’s Hexa. https://www.intelligentliving.co/future-of-personal-transport-a-self-navigating-single-seat-aircraft Rocket Lab will launch its first Moon mission from New Zealand in late 2021 Rocket Lab is narrowing down the details for its first Moon launch. The private spaceflight firm has revealed that its CAPSTONE mission will lift off from the company's original launch complex in New Zealand sometime in the fourth quarter of 2021. The mission was originally slated to launch in early 2021 from NASA's Wallops facility in Virginia. The CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) cubesat will serve as a vanguard for NASA's Artemis program. It will verify the propulsion needs for a highly elliptical lunar orbit, test spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation systems and show the potential for private support in future missions. A successful mission would help NASA's future Gateway spacecraft safely approach and orbit the Moon. The launch should also represent a technical breakthrough for Rocket Lab. While the Electron rocket will serve a familiar role in carrying the mission into space, this will be the first time the company uses its Photon platform to put a satellite on a lunar trajectory. CAPSTONE could serve as redemption for the company. Rocket Lab has dealt with two prominent rocket failures, and only recently resumed launches following its May incident. A successful Moon launch would both reinforce that return to form and show that Rocket Lab can handle particularly ambitious projects. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/rocket-lab-moon-mission-launch-location-time-192347551.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