Flight Safety Information - September 2, 2021 No. 177 In This Issue : Incident: GOL B738 at Rio de Janeiro on Aug 31st 2021, tail strike on departure : Cessna 525B CitationJet CJ3 - Rejected Takeoff (Turkey) : Woman charged with assaulting attendant on San Diego flight : Ethiopian Aims to Fly Max Jet by January After Boeing Deal : Nepal starts preparations for ICAO's aviation safety audit : FAA: Iowa laser pointers targeted aircraft in flight 271 times : Philippine military aircraft crashed after 'unrecoverable stall': armed forces : Is it still safe to fly a foreign country's airlines if FAA downgrades its aviation system? : Mexico Expecting Return To FAA Category 1 Safety Rating In 2022 : Air Force C-17 crews exhausted but proud after largest airlift in US military history : Lockheed's Aerojet deal gets support from 13 members of Congress - letter : During Richard Branson's spaceflight, Virgin Galactic's rocket plane blared a red warning light and flew out of its clearance zone : POSITION AVAILABLE: Decision Science Lead, Flight Safety : POSITION AVAILABLE: FOQA Specialist Incident: GOL B738 at Rio de Janeiro on Aug 31st 2021, tail strike on departure A GOL Transportes Aereos Boeing 737-800, registration PR-GUF performing flight G3-1011 from Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont,RJ to Sao Paulo Congonhas,SP (Brazil) with 120 passengers and 6 crew, was departing runway 20L when the tail of the aircraft contacted the runway surface. The crew continued takeoff, initially climbed to FL120, later FL220 and continued to Sao Paulo Congonhas for a safe landing about 55 minutes after departure. Brazil's CENIPA reported the aircraft sustained no damage, the occurrence was rated an incident. http://avherald.com/h?article=4ec9c209&opt=0 Cessna 525B CitationJet CJ3 - Rejected Takeoff (Turkey) Date: 01-SEP-2021 Time: Type: Cessna 525B CitationJet CJ3 Owner/operator: Kaz Air Jet Registration: UP-CS301 MSN: 525B-0259 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 Aircraft damage: Minor Location: Dalaman Airport (DLM/LTBS) - Turkey Phase: Take off Nature: Private Departure airport: Dalaman Airport (DLM/LTBS) Destination airport: Narrative: The tire of the right-hand main gear burst during takeoff from Dalaman Airport, Turkey. The takeoff was aborted. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/267278 Woman charged with assaulting attendant on San Diego flight SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California woman who allegedly punched a flight attendant in the face and grabbed her hair was charged with assault Wednesday in federal court. Vyvianna M. Quinonez was also charged with interfering with a flight crew. She is scheduled to appear in court in San Diego on Sept. 17. The attendant on the Southwest Airlines plane lost two teeth and suffered other injuries to her face on the May 23 flight from Sacramento, California, to San Diego, prosecutors said in court documents. A cut under left eye required four stitches, her left eye was bruised and swollen, and her right arm was bruised. The flight attendant had asked Quinonez to fasten her seatbelt, stow her tray table and properly wear her facemask as the plane began its final descent. Quinonez told authorities that she acted in self-defense, according to a probable cause statement. Her attorney, Knut Johnson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Sacramento Bee has reported that Quinonez lives in the Sacramento suburb of Antelope. The incident marked an escalation in unruly behavior by airline passengers and led the president of the flight attendants’ union to ask for more federal air marshals on planes. Quinonez also faces charges in state court. Tanya Sierra, a spokeswoman for the San Diego County district attorney's office, said she is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 10. https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-charged-assaulting-attendant-san-003929550.html Ethiopian Aims to Fly Max Jet by January After Boeing Deal • Africa’s largest airline agrees deal after deadly 2019 crash • Ethiopian, Boeing to partner on expansion of Addis Ababa hub Ethiopian Airlines Group plans to resume flights with the Boeing Co. 737 Max jet by early next year after reaching an out-of-court settlement with the U.S. planemaker over a deadly crash in March 2019. Chief Executive Officer Tewolde GebreMariam is now convinced “beyond reasonable doubt” the model is safe after various modifications. He had previously said Africa’s biggest carrier would be the last to return to the Max after it was cleared to fly again by regulators. Many other airlines already have the model back in service. “I can confirm that we are committed to the Boeing 737 Max,” the CEO said in an interview on Thursday. “My estimate is by the end of the calendar year or beginning of next year, January, we will be flying the airplane.” The deal Ethiopian has reached with Boeing over the crash that killed 157 people is confidential, but the airline considers the matter finalized. “We have settled our case with Boeing, that’s why we are now starting the process to fly back the airplane,” Tewolde said. “This happened in the last three months. We are happy on the settlement.” Healing Relationship Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa five months after a similar incident in Indonesia, triggering a grounding of the Max worldwide. Boeing reached a $2.5 billion agreement earlier this year to settle a criminal charge that it defrauded the U.S. government by concealing information about the jet. That included almost $1.8 billion to reimburse Max customers. Ethiopian’s settlement with Boeing is separate to that U.S. accord, Tewolde said. The airline’s relationship with Boeing showed further signs of healing this week when the carrier announced a partnership with the planemaker to expand its aviation hub. The project will look to increase aerospace manufacturing capacity in the country’s capital, and will come alongside the planned construction of a $5 billion new airport south of the city, Tewolde said. “We are going to manufacture parts, components of airplanes and supply them to Boeing and Airbus SE and other manufacturers,” he said. The airline isn’t seeing significant disruption from an ongoing conflict between Ethiopia’s government forces and rebels in the northern Tigray region, which has killed thousands of people and displaced millions. Ethiopian’s business is 85% to 90% from outside the nation, the CEO earlier told Bloomberg TV, and connections through the Addis Ababa hub are largely unaffected. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-02/ethiopian-aims-to-fly-max-jet-by-january-after-boeing-settlement Nepal starts preparations for ICAO's aviation safety audit In 2017, the global safety watchdog withdrew the significant safety concern tag given to the country’s aviation sector. • Nepal starts preparations for ICAO's aviation safety audit • The decennial full safety audit of Nepal’s aviation sector was to have been conducted in 2019, but the government had asked to defer it by a year. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is expected to conduct a full safety audit of Nepal’s aviation sector next April. The last such assessment by the aviation safety watchdog of the United Nations was done in 2009. Raj Kumar Chhetri, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, told the Post that they had started preparations for the big event, and were constantly holding meetings with area counterparts. A separate steering committee has been formed, led by Bhola Prasad Guragain, deputy director general of the aviation regulator. ICAO's Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring Approach (USOAP CMA) focuses on a state's capability to provide safety oversight by assessing whether it has effectively and consistently implemented the critical elements of the safety oversight system. The decennial full safety audit of Nepal’s aviation sector was to have been conducted in 2019, but the government had asked to defer it by a year. The reason for the postponement was to give the government time to complete institutional reform of the sector: Splitting the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal into two different entities—regulator and service provider. As per international norms, the same entity cannot be both service provider and regulator, two roles the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has been performing currently by providing airport services and also overseeing compliance with aviation regulations. Such dual functions lead to a conflict of interest, the European Commission, for example, has maintained. ICAO had agreed to the request for the year-long deferment, and had planned to conduct a full safety audit of Nepal from May 10-20, 2020. Covid-19 further pushed back the schedule. The ICAO team was expected to arrive for an audit on March 21, 2021, but due to the pandemic and consequent border closures, the plan was shelved once again. “Now the UN agency has published a bulletin for South Asia, including Nepal. They will send official letters four months prior to the proposed audit date to the respective countries,” said an official at the civil aviation regulator. “Accordingly, we have started preparations from our side. The global aviation safety watchdog will start its audit from zero.” ICAO will look into eight critical elements of aviation safety—primary legislation; organisation and safety oversight functions; personnel licensing; aircraft operations; airworthiness of aircraft; aerodromes; air navigation system; and accident and incident investigation. Out of the eight critical elements, accident and incident investigation comes under the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Ministry, as it is responsible for monitoring developments in accident investigation techniques and practices as well as accident prevention matters. Based on the audit, ICAO will award Nepal a score for effective implementation of safety standards. During the last audit on May 14, 2009, ICAO gave Nepal a score of 46 percent in the effective implementation of critical elements of the safety oversight system, which was way below the global average of 60 percent. In July 2013, a mission visited Nepal to validate the corrective measures taken by the country to address the deficiencies pointed out by the global aviation watchdog in 2009. It detected several lapses during an on-site audit held from July 10-16, and ICAO gave a “significant safety concern” tag to Nepal’s aviation sector in its audit report in August 2013. The 2013 audit report pointed out that Nepal’s score of 54.97 percent was still far below the global average. The Montréal-based agency raised the red flag on operations among the eight critical elements of safety oversight due to a sharp rise in the number of air accidents and incidents between 2009 and 2012. Based on the significant safety concern tag, the European Commission blacklisted all Nepali carriers in December 2013 for the worst record in air safety oversight. On March 31, an off-site validation team again gave Nepal a score of 58.4 percent in the effective implementation of critical elements of the safety oversight system. Nepal invited the next audit in 2017 to observe the progress of its safety enhancement effort. In July 2017, the ICAO-coordinated validation mission gave Nepal a score of 66 percent for effective implementation of safety standards—way above the global standard of 60 percent. That same year, ICAO withdrew the significant safety concern tag given to Nepal’s aviation sector. According to an internal audit of the country’s civil aviation body, Nepal in its current position can achieve a 67 percent score for effective implementation of safety standards. The safety indicators keep fluctuating all the time. https://kathmandupost.com/money/2021/09/01/nepal-starts-preparations-for-icao-s-aviation-safety-audit FAA: Iowa laser pointers targeted aircraft in flight 271 times • The FAA and FBI are going after people who point lasers at aircraft. People in Iowa pointed lasers at aircraft in flight 271 times from 2010-20, breaking federal law, records show. Only 12 states had a lower number. That placed Iowans among the least-guilty of an offense that can mean a $11,000 fine per incident, and a $30,800 civil fine if you make a habit out of risking pilots’ eyesight, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a new report. The act also can land offenders in prison for five years under a federal law passed in 2018. The FBI offers up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest. FAA is encouraging people to report offenses. Incidents grew during pandemic The number of offenses nationwide grew in 2020 even as many people were grounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of flights that came with it, according to the report. Between 2010 and 2020, the United States and its territories had 57,835 incidents of lasers pointed at planes. “Many high-powered lasers have the ability to incapacitate pilots, thus threatening the safety of everyone on board and within the vicinity of the aircraft,” FAA said in its new report. The agency used a new software program to track laser incidents. Iowa ranked 40th in laser incidents per capita. Every Midwestern state but Wisconsin had more incidents than Iowa on that basis. California led nation in lasers pointed at planes California had the most incidents with 11,198. That was the nearly double second-place Texas’ 5,802. Hawaii ranked first in the per-capita ratings. Nationally, laser-pointing incidents involving aircraft over the past decade hit a high 7,383 in 2016, then dropped to 5,663 before rising to 6,852 in 2020, FAA reported. In raw numbers, Saturdays saw the most lasers pointed at planes. Fridays were second. Although it didn’t address pilots or flights, the Iowa Legislation addressed assaults using lasers in its “Back the Blue Act,” Senate File 342. The law made it a serious misdemeanor to point lasers at various public safety officials. The offense is an aggravated misdemeanor if an officer, firefighter or other official is injured, and a felony if weapons are involved. https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2021/09/01/faa-iowa-laser-pointers-targeted-aircraft-in-flight-271-times/ Philippine military aircraft crashed after 'unrecoverable stall': armed forces A Philippine aircraft carrying soldiers crashed in July after an "unrecoverable stall", killing more than 50 people in one of the country's worst military air disasters, the armed forces said Thursday. The C-130 Hercules transport plane was loaded with nearly a hundred people, most of them fresh army graduates, when it overshot the runway while trying to land on the southern island of Jolo in Sulu province. Most of the dead were soldiers being deployed to the island -- a haven for Islamist militants -- as part of a counter-insurgency effort. Dozens were injured. "Based on the investigating team's report, no single factor can be attributed to have exclusively caused the accident," the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said in a statement. "The aircraft component, the environmental condition and aircrew response led to (an) unrecoverable stall in a critical phase of the aircraft operation," it said without providing details. Armed forces spokesman Colonel Ramon Zagala told AFP a component "failure" triggered a light that "caused the pilots to concentrate on that instead of recovering the stall or doing the turnaround". The plane stalled after losing "thrust and lift" at low altitude. "Usually you can recover a stall... if you have altitude, if you're way up, but in this case it doesn't have altitude," said Zagala, without specifying which part of the aircraft failed. National Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told a congressional committee hearing he had been informed the crash was caused by a "confluence of many events". They included "defective instruments or systems, plus of course the reaction of the pilot was not also appropriate for the emergency," he said Wednesday. The military said previously the C-130 was in "very good condition" when it crashed in sunny weather. The full results of the investigation have not been made public. It is not clear if the findings were also based on information recovered from the flight data recorders, which were sent to the United States for analysis. - Landed hard - Witnesses and survivors told investigators shortly after the crash that the plane landed "hard" and then bounced twice before taking off again, Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan, then chief of the Western Mindanao Command, told AFP days after the crash. "Then at the right side of the airport it hit a tree -- that's the account of the injured," Vinluan said. At least three civilians who were not on the flight were also killed as the plane ploughed through coconut trees and houses. C-130s have been the workhorses of air forces around the world for decades, used to transport troops, supplies and vehicles. The second-hand Hercules that crashed was acquired from the United States and delivered to the Philippines earlier this year. The aim of the investigation was to "determine the cause of the accident rather than apportion blame", the statement said. The armed forces also reported Thursday that a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in June after it "inadvertently entered a thunderstorm" and the pilot suffered "spatial disorientation or vertigo." All six on board died. https://news.yahoo.com/philippine-military-aircraft-crashed-unrecoverable-075300257.html Is it still safe to fly a foreign country's airlines if FAA downgrades its aviation system? By: John Cox What does it mean for flight safety when the Federal Aviation Administration downgrades another country's aviation system like it did with Mexico this year? In May, the U.S. downgraded the Mexican aviation system from Level 1 to Level 2 after reviewing its performance from October 2020 through February 2021. The FAA found about 24 noncompliance issues, of which Mexico had resolved four. Level 2 status means that the FAA found that Mexico “lacks the necessary requirements to oversee the country’s air carriers in accordance with minimum international safety standards, or the civil aviation authority is lacking in one or more areas such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record keeping, inspection procedures or resolution of safety concerns.” So what does it mean for American travelers? While Mexican airlines can continue existing service and routes to the U.S., they can't add any new ones and American carriers can't brand codeshare flights operated by Mexican airlines with their own names and designator codes in flight numbers (for instance, DL123) or put them on tickets or boarding passes. It also means that the FAA will be scrutinizing Mexico's aviation program more carefully. At the time of the downgrade, the agency said in a statement that they are committed to helping Mexico regain Level 1 status and offered expertise and resources to help them do so. Mexico has said that they intend to resolve all of the issues quickly “within a few months." In terms of safety, it's preferable to fly on a carrier from a Level 1 country whenever possible. At one, time international commercial aircraft carried cargo on the main passenger deck but I haven't seen this in many years. Does it still occur – and if so, where? When a flight carries cargo on the main deck it is known as a “combi”. Combi flights were common in some parts of the world, such as Alaska where there is more freight demand than passenger demand. However, the proliferation of dedicated freight airplanes and operators has reduced the number of combi flights. Combi flight may still be flown in some remote parts of the world, but I do not know of any. These days, modern wide body airliners can carry enough belly cargo that the need for combi flight with their limited passenger capacity has decreased. John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/cox/2021/09/02/what-does-mean-when-faa-downgrades-another-countrys-airlines/5657289001/ Mexico Expecting Return To FAA Category 1 Safety Rating In 2022 The Mexican government expects the country to return to a Category 1 Safety Rating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within the first six months in 2022. Currently, the Mexican Civil Aviation Federal Agency (AFAC) has been working towards complying with international safety standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Let’s investigate further. How long will it take to recover Category 1 status? On May 25, the FAA downgraded Mexico’s air safety rating. According to the US entity, Mexico’s AFAC does not meet ICAO’s safety standards. A few days after the FAA announcement, the Mexican government issued a statement saying that it was a priority to recover the Category 1 safety rating. While in Category 2, the Mexican airlines can’t add capacity, frequencies, or routes to the US. Additionally, only a handful of countries worldwide are in Category 2 with the FAA, including the likes of Venezuela, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. It is the second time that Mexico is in Category 2. The first time happened in 2010, and it took the government four months to regain its prior status. The Mexican government promised it would take the same amount of time on this occasion, but it seems it won’t be possible. During a press conference, Mexico’s Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, said on Tuesday, “Where are we now? We have an agreement, so both agencies (AFAC and FAA) are working together; there have been technical visits (from FAA inspectors), and there will be more. We believe that we will regain Category 1 status during next year’s first semester.” Not good news Mexico could be up to a year in Category 2 if the process drags all the way to May 2022. If that happens, it wouldn’t be good news for the Mexican airline industry. As previously stated, Mexican airlines have severe restrictions while AFAC is unable to comply with ICAO standards. They can’t add new routes to the US, increase frequencies on current routes, operate codeshare agreements, or use new planes. The Mexican carriers are basically frozen in their growth to the US. In the meantime, US carriers can continue adding up capacity and routes into Mexico. This disparity has already given US carriers an even larger market share on the connectivity between both countries. US airlines control more than 70% of the market. Therefore, while Mexico remains in Category 2, this market (which has rebounded exceedingly well from the COVID-19 crisis) is up for grabs, but only for US operators. Do Mexican airlines comply with safety standards? It is important to clarify that the FAA’s degradation is on the Mexican authorities, not on the carriers. The local airlines like Aeromexico, Volaris, and Viva Aerobus comply with international safety standards (like IATA’s IOSA). The FAA determined through its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) whether Mexico’s oversight of its air carriers that operate or seek to operate into the US or codeshare with a US airline comply with safety standards established ICAO. Like the Mexican Pilots Association said in May in a statement, “The downgrade is for the country and the civil aviation authority, not for the Mexican airlines. We are fully committed to help the authority with our expertise and knowledge and find a solution to the findings of this audit.” https://simpleflying.com/mexico-faa-category-1-rating/ FAA mulls using drones in aircraft accident response Aircraft engine fires, a collision between two jets, a fire on a flight deck with missing maintenance personnel, a small airplane crashing into a warehouse… these are only some of the emergency scenarios that an airport’s aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) unit have to deal with. Typically, first responders are able to view accidents like these only from the ground — meaning critical time is lost before incident commanders are able to ascertain where the fire is located, what’s the disposition of the passengers, or how the fire response is proceeding. So now, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is trialling the use of drones to get a bird’s-eye view over aircraft accident scenes. In collaboration with Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport, the FAA is conducting research into how airport firefighting can be improved with the help of drones. According to Mike DiPilato, an airport research specialist with the FAA: Drones will provide an eye in the sky, which will help the incident commander and firefighters make more informed decisions during an accident/incident. Drones used during simulated aircraft accidents at DFW airport In the past few weeks, the FAA and DWF firefighters have used during multiple live-action exercises. The drones, which were manually operated by an FAA-certified remote pilot, were generally flown to within 300 feet of a scene, relaying optical and infrared imagery to the incident commanders, who used a wireless handheld tablet to view the live camera feed. During each scenario, the incident commander instructed the drone pilot on where they would like the drone positioned and what views they would like to see. Some preferred to have the drone circle the scene, searching for victims from the incident, while others used it to monitor a blind spot, allowing firefighters and equipment to focus on a specific section of the scene. In an industry where every second counts, drones can be an integral part of any response. The main benefit they bring to the fire scene is increasing the speed of information and providing accessibility in hard-to-reach areas. These tools allow us to see the complete picture of a scene. Having the ability to scan large areas of terrain without the loss of workforce is highly beneficial. Integrating drones into the airport environment It’s worth noting that in addition to ARFF testing, the FAA is also researching the feasibility of integrating drones into the airport environment for airport obstruction surveys, airport pavement inspections, wildlife hazard management, and perimeter security. While the research has been focused on controlled environments (similar to the ARFF testing) and at small general aviation airports, the agency is planning to expand its research to larger, more complex airports, which will present different challenges and help further the research. https://dronedj.com/2021/09/02/drones-aircraft-accident-response/ (Photo Courtesy: US Air Force) Air Force C-17 crews exhausted but proud after largest airlift in US military history “Many see it as just a cargo aircraft. To me, it was always a vessel of hope." However you feel about the end of the war in Afghanistan, one thing is certain: the U.S. Air Force airlifted a hell of a lot of people and supplies in and out of Kabul since Aug. 15, when the city fell to the Taliban. By the time the last C-17 took off from Kabul on Monday, 120,000 Americans, Afghans and other allies had been moved out of the city, according to the White House, all without a major aircraft mishap or accident, which is an achievement all its own considering the crowded airspace and limited air traffic control over Kabul. It was the largest non-combatant evacuation (NEO) in U.S. military history. But such an achievement comes at a cost, and some of that was borne by the Air Force crews constantly flying in and out of danger. Two C-17 Globemaster III cargo jet pilots who participated in the evacuation told Task & Purpose they were exhausted, but glad to have accomplished their mission at a time when the U.S. and its allies needed them most. “Yeah, the C-17 community is burned out, never been ran this hard,” said one pilot who spoke on the condition of anonymity since he was not cleared to speak with the press. “Jets broken everywhere. But we got a lot of folks out. Hopefully, they can find better lives in the U.S. Maybe the silver lining to this whole thing.” The C-17, also known as the “Moose” by the people who fly them, was the jet that lifted a record 823 people out of Kabul in one flight. Earlier this month, an Afghan mother even named her daughter “Reach” after the call sign of the C-17 she gave birth on when it landed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Airlift missions like this one are exactly what the Moose, which can take off and land on relatively short runways around the world, is designed for. But it also takes a certain type of pilot who is willing to fly into desperate situations and pick people up. “When I look back on why I chose the C-17 in pilot training, it’s this defining moment that comes once in a generation that makes the long stretches of being tired, of being stretched to the limits worth it,” said a second pilot, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for the same reason as the first. Air Force C-17 pilots have been flying in and out of Afghanistan since the beginning of the conflict 20 years ago, but the mission to evacuate tens of thousands of civilians in a short amount of time presented unique challenges for pilots, especially early on when C-17 crews were cramming as many people as possible into the jets and the runway was filled with people trying to get on board. When you don’t know exactly how many passengers are in the back, you don’t know how much weight you’re carrying, which means you’re not sure how much runway you’ll need to take off, the second pilot explained to Task & Purpose last month. Making things worse, Kabul is at an altitude of about 5,900 feet, where the air is thin and therefore there is less of it around to generate lift below the plane’s wings. Plus, it’s the summer, so the air is even less dense because it’s hot out. That’s a challenge in a place like Kabul, which is surrounded by hazardous mountains. “The higher you go and the hotter it gets, then yeah it cuts into your lift capability,” the first pilot said. But even once you are airborne, there’s another problem: hundreds of people on board and only one toilet. At the end of the airlift the “smell was not great,” the pilot said. “Most jets only had one bathroom so some people used the cargo floor. I don’t blame them. Terrible set up.” If you think the smell is bad, just remember that C-17 and other Air Force pilots and loadmasters had to bear with it flight after flight throughout the mission. Air Mobility Command spokesperson Capt. Christopher Herbert told Task & Purpose it committed more than 230 aircraft to the effort, including C-17s, C-5 Galaxies, KC-10, KC-135 and KC-46 tankers, and C-130 turboprop transports. “At one point, more than half the fleet of 222 C-17s were committed to this operation, with approximately 80 forward deployed into the EUCOM and CENTCOM” areas of responsibility, Herbert said. More than 400 aircrew members from active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units supported the operation, which flew 332 sorties out of Kabul alone since Aug. 15, Herbert added. “In terms of scale, this was an all-hands-on-deck operation,” he said, and his top commander was proud of the results. “The bravery, professionalism, and adaptability displayed by the men and women of Air Mobility Command over the past few days were and continue to be awe-inspiring,” AMC chief Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost said in a Facebook post on Aug. 18. “When our nation called, you maneuvered the joint force forward within hours.” The U.S. Air Force was not the only one flying refugees out of Kabul. The effort was joined by commercial airliners and military pilots from other countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, India, Hungary and 17 other countries, according to Reuters. Still, the U.S. Air Force pilots on the scene had enough to do that they required assistance from the military’s number one hero: energy drinks. “Energy drinks were so necessary that the base completely ran out of them,” said the second pilot of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. “From there it was Crystal Light Energy.” That pilot flew 12 sorties in support of Operation Allies Refuge, the military’s name for the airlift out of Afghanistan. The pilot said 12 was a pretty middle-of-the-road number, but keep in mind that flying a military aircraft is an all-day affair, especially for long flights like the one from Kabul or Al Udeid to Ramstein, Germany, during which you might have to go through the mentally taxing process of air-to-air refueling, or declare an in-flight emergency when one of your passengers goes into labor. “It all depends on how many 24-36 hour days a crew had,” the second pilot explained. “For a 2.5 week period, it’s a lot of flying when most duty days were 24 hours with the required 12 hours rest between them. Mathematically we were busy.” The second pilot estimated that he had anywhere from 200 to 400 passengers on each flight, so he definitely moved more than a thousand people in total. Still, his was only one crew in a vast sea of airlifts flowing through Kabul. “With 30 flights a day, we were a small cog in a big wheel, which is how so many were moved in such a short period of time,” he said. “Many cogs working together to move a huge wheel.” The first pilot was not sure how many sorties he flew, but he lifted nearly 1,000 refugees in total. The C-17 is a strong airplane: it can carry up to 85 tons of equipment or a 69-ton M1 Abrams tank. But even the Moose wears out after taking enough punishment, like the kind it faced during Operation Allies Refuge. “Jets aren’t in great shape,” the first pilot explained. “We flew with overworn tires, offline generators, low oxygen. Just not enough manpower to keep up. Will probably take a year for maintenance to catch up on repairs and cleaning. Never seen anything like this.” But at the end of the day the jets and the crews pulled through to accomplish their mission, and in the process saved more than a hundred thousand lives. The second pilot felt the full weight of what he and his crew were doing after one flight carrying 200 people to Ramstein Air Base. “After the flight, I went down to meet the passengers, and the most common question was ‘where are we?’” he said. “I cannot even begin to fathom leaving everything behind, let alone getting on a plane not knowing where it was going.” But despite the bleak circumstances, the pilot saw Afghan children “playing games and making friends with people they had never met before,” he said. “It shows you that regardless of circumstance, humanity will always rise to the surface.” For the pilot, the moment underscored one of the reasons why he loves the Moose. It’s more than an aircraft, he said, it’s a symbol all its own. “Many see it as just a cargo aircraft. To me, it was always a vessel of hope,” the pilot explained. “Hope for soldiers coming home, hope for foreign aid assisting in natural disasters and national crises. Hope for the families who won’t get to hold their sons and daughters again, but will receive closure. To over 100,000 people of Afghanistan, the ‘17 became a vessel of hope and freedom.” https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-c-17-pilot-afghanistan/ Lockheed's Aerojet deal gets support from 13 members of Congress - letter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A bipartisan group of 13 members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter to the Pentagon supporting Lockheed Martin's proposed acquisition of rocket engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne, according to the letter seen by Reuters. Shares of Aerojet rose more than 2% after the Reuters report as investors cheered congressional support for a deal that has run into headwinds among some lawmakers. In July, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the Federal Trade Commission to take a tougher look at defense industry mergers, questioning Lockheed Martin's plan to buy the biggest independent maker of rocket motors, Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings. The Aug. 31 letter sent to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said it was in "both our national security interests and the U.S. taxpayer's best interest to approve this proposed acquisition." The lawmakers said Northrop Grumman's 2018 purchase of rocket engine maker Orbital ATK upset the structure of the rocket engine marketplace and a Lockheed deal would restore equilibrium. "The only reasonable assurance we have that the American rocket propulsion manufacturing sector remains strong and has at least two well-resourced merchant suppliers for all defense and space propulsion products is to approve the merger with Lockheed," the letter said. Lockheed announced a $4.4 billion agreement to buy Aerojet late last year, but the deal has raised eyebrows because it would give Lockheed - the No. 1 defense contractor - ownership of a vital piece of the U.S. missile industry. Aerojet motors are used in everything from the homeland missile shield to Stinger missiles. Lockheed has said Aerojet Rocketdyne would continue to supply the entire defense industry, a premise met with skepticism by Raytheon Technologies, a major customer for rocket motors. A Lockheed spokesperson said the company is expecting the deal to buy Aerojet to close by year-end. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/exclusive-lockheeds-aerojet-deal-gets-151554388.html During Richard Branson's spaceflight, Virgin Galactic's rocket plane blared a red warning light and flew out of its clearance zone • Richard Branson's flight to the edge of space has triggered an FAA investigation, The New Yorker reported. • A red light on the pilots' console warned that the spaceship could fly out of bounds on its descent. • Virgin Galactic's pilots kept flying, and the ship left its airspace clearance zone on its return. As Richard Branson was screaming towards the edge of space aboard a Virgin Galactic rocket plane, a red warning light came on in the cockpit. The New Yorker's Nicholas Schmidle reported Wednesday that Branson's spaceflight on July 11 didn't go as smoothly as it seemed. The plane didn't climb to space steeply enough, ultimately causing it to deviate from its approved flight path on its way back to Earth. The space plane's pilots, Dave Mackay and Mike Masucci, corrected the error enough to fly and land safely, but in the process, they flew outside their airspace clearance zone for a total of one minute and 41 seconds, according to The New Yorker. As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident. In a statement emailed to Insider, an FAA spokesperson said: "During its July 11, 2021 flight, the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo vehicle deviated from its Air Traffic Control clearance as it returned to Spaceport America. The FAA investigation is ongoing." Virgin Galactic disputed the New Yorker report, calling it "misleading" in a statement to CNBC reporter Michael Sheetz. The company did not, however, immediately reply to Insider's request for comment. "At no time were passengers and crew put in any danger as a result of this change in trajectory," the company told Sheetz. "At no time did the ship travel above any population centers or cause a hazard to the public." Schmidle spoke to eight people with knowledge of Virgin Galactic's spaceflight program, according to his New Yorker article. Those sources told him that the first sign of trouble came when a yellow caution light appeared on the pilots' console as Virgin Galactic's space plane was ascending at more than twice the speed of sound. The light indicated that the spacecraft was veering slightly off course - enough to affect its path back down to Earth. According to Schmidle, the plane must fall towards the ground within a particular "entry glide cone" in order to reach the runway where it must land. The yellow light indicated that the plane's upward trajectory wasn't steep enough, so it risked venturing outside its cone. Then, the New Yorker reported, a more urgent red light replaced the yellow one. Earlier discussions between Virgin Galactic pilots suggest that this was a serious issue, according to Schmidle. "Red should scare the crap out of you," Masucci said in a meeting that Schmidle attended in 2015. CJ Sturckow, another Virgin Galactic test pilot who is a former NASA astronaut, took it a step further. Even a yellow light should "scare the shit out of you," Sturckow said, according to Schmidle, because "when it turns red, it's gonna be too late." In its statement to CNBC, Virgin Galactic said "high altitude winds" changed its spaceship's trajectory. "Our pilots responded appropriately to these changing flight conditions exactly as they have been trained and in strict accordance with our established procedures," the statement said. Overall, the company added, this was "a safe and successful test flight that adhered to our flight procedures and training protocols." But the New Yorker reported that sources at the company said the safest course of action would have been for Mackay and Masucci to abort the flight once they saw that red light. It's not clear why the pilots chose to continue flying instead. There was a lot riding on this event: Virgin Galactic had widely publicized it, was livestreaming it with Stephen Colbert as the host, and was flying its founder-CEO (Branson) for the first time. The FAA does not regulate passenger safety for commercial spaceflight. For now, the agency's job is only to ensure the safety of people on the ground and of other aircraft. A rocket that ventures outside its airspace-clearance zone could pose a risk to both. Even when a spaceflight itself is regulated, though, it's risky for the people onboard. About 1% of US human spaceflights has resulted in a fatal accident, according to an analysis published earlier this year. That's about 10,000 times more dangerous than flying on a commercial airplane. Branson's trip was one of Virgin Galactic's final test flights of its space plane. The company plans to start flying paying customers next year. https://www.yahoo.com/news/during-richard-bransons-spaceflight-virgin-001310244.html POSITION AVAILABLE: Decision Science Lead, Flight Safety Atlanta, GA This position will support the delivery and continued evolution of products based on the safety data, classifications, and models built with Flight Safety metrics and data science. The Technical Lead will help develop the safety data best practices for adoption and training within Flight Safety as well as Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance. This requires a deep knowledge of aviation safety metrics and models, classification models, statistical processes, and core data science/data engineering skill sets. This role will report directly to the Manager, Data and Decision Science. Primary responsibilities: • Bridge the gap between data collected from operations and the risk analysis needed for Delta to make informed decisions about areas of flight safety risk. • Design, develop and implement software products based on data science/machine learning models. • Help develop best practices for flight safety data architecture, data stewardship, and data presentation. • Define and execute the data modeling roadmap. • Build data sets from multiple data sources, both internally and externally. • Partner with Operational data analysis teams to optimize and enhance the data environment for addressing known safety risks and applying methods to discover potential new risks. • Work with operational leaders to ensure that the data products are produced with optimal efficiency and best practices. • Leverage emerging technologies and identify efficient and meaningful ways to disseminate data and analysis in order to satisfy the business' needs. • Provide technical leadership to the Flight Safety department and Corporate Safety. • Practice safety-conscious environment resulting in employee safety and well-being. • Embraces diverse people, thinking and styles. What you need to succeed: • Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or equivalent experience. • Must have at least 2 years of relevant analytical/project management experience. • Must have a working knowledge of Flight Operations and Flight Safety metrics. • Proficiency in working with relational databases and query authoring (SQL). • Proficiency in data visualization best practices and commercially available tools (e.g. Tableau). • Proficiency in Python, Bash script or other basic functional programming tools. • Strong written, oral communication, and interpersonal skills. • A natural curiosity towards constant improvement. • Strong project management, organizational, and prioritizations skills. • Must be able to interact and collaborate at all levels within Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance, Flight Operations, cross-divisional working groups and outside entities. • Must be performing satisfactorily in current position. What will give you a competitive edge: • PhD degree/candidate preferred. • Working knowledge of statistical/machine learning tools (e.g. scikit-learn) preferred. To apply, please visit: https://delta.avature.net/careers/JobDetail/Decision-Science-Lead/6087 APPLY HERE FOQA Specialist (NJUS) Purpose of Position The FOQA Specialist processes day-to-day Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) data using the Ground Data Replay Analysis System (GDRAS) and performs routine data analysis. The FOQA Specialist creates weekly and monthly deliverables in addition to working with Gatekeepers and other members of Safety and FOQA Management Team (FMT). Tasks and Responsibilities · Supports the FOQA Program Manager with daily administration of the FOQA efforts to ensure analysis of flight data for improved flight safety including validation of FOQA events, identification of events for Gatekeeper contacts and identification of events for Maintenance reporting. · Performs data analysis, root cause analysis and determines corrective actions of digital flight data to determine adverse events, trends in flight and maintenance operations. Coordinates and validates aircraft specific event definitions. Maintains and identifies new FOQA events, and manages documentation supporting these functions. · Prepares flight operations trending analysis charts and reports. Compiles and presents FOQA data summaries to enhance training, maintenance, flight operations. Performs specialized studies and fulfills special data requests. Assists in the creation of safety and FOQA department publications. Prepares reports, presentations, and statistical data required to identify trends for safety enhancement. · Oversees data collection process of aircraft fleet in conjunction with Maintenance. Education Bachelor's in Aviation or Engineering Certifications and Licenses Years of Experience 0-2 years of experience Core Competencies Adaptability Collaboration Curiosity Service-Oriented Strives for Positive Results Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other (KSAOs) · Basic computer programming and statistical methods experience · Strong work ethic, ability to work in a fast-paced environment and a positive attitude toward teamwork · Previous experience maintaining and enhancing corporate safety standards and safe operation practices · Extensive working knowledge of Microsoft Office Programs, including spreadsheet and database applications · Travel up to 10% of the time, including overnight stays · FAA Commercial Pilot License or higher preferred · Prior experience with Austin Digital or equivalent GDRAS platforms preferred · Knowledge of aircraft flight data recorders preferred · Previous work experience, preferably in 14 CFR Part 121 or 135 air carrier operations; quality control, maintenance, operations, safety or a combination of these areas. APPLY HERE Curt Lewis