Flight Safety Information - October 13, 2021 No. 206 In This Issue : Incident: IrAero SU95 at Novy Urgengoy on Oct 11th 2021, rejected takeoff due to excessive EGT : Incident: Ryanair B738 at Manchester on Oct 13th 2021, bird strike : Rebuffing Texas governor, American Airlines, Southwest stand by vaccine mandate : Boeing requires Covid-19 vaccinations for employees by Dec. 8 federal deadline : Pilots flying over Utah are having problems with laser strikes : Pilot in deadly California crash repeatedly warned to climb : Former NTSB Chair to Spearhead New Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle : Million Air Dallas Earns FAA SMS Nod : Air New Zealand Transforms Boeing 787 Into Vaccination Clinic : Florida Woman Allegedly Hacked Flight System, Cleared Unsafe Aircraft to Fly : MC-21 airplane to be certified in December 2021 — Russian transport ministry : DOT to audit FAA staffing challenges after Southwest Airlines chaos : United Airlines Gives All Employees $1,000 Bonus : The Dutch Made Jet: The Story Of The Short Lived Fokker 100 : Conservatives Want to Launch Their Own Anti-Vax Airlines : ROLLS-ROYCE STRENGTHENS BUSINESS AVIATION SERVICE NETWORK : James Webb super-telescope arrives at launch site : OmniSMS - Maximize your SMS Investment : PhD - Graduate Research Survey Request (1) Incident: IrAero SU95 at Novy Urgengoy on Oct 11th 2021, rejected takeoff due to excessive EGT An IrAero Sukhoi Superjet 100-95, registration RA-89075 performing flight IO-351 from Novy Urgengoy to Samara (Russia), was accelerating the engines (SaM146) for takeoff from Novy Urgengoy's runway 27 when the EGT overtemperature warning activated. The crew rejected takeoff at low speed, upon retarding the thrust levers the EGT warning ceased. The aircraft returned to the apron on own power. The flight and its next leg to Volgograd were cancelled. The aircraft returned to service about 26 hours after the rejected takeoff. http://avherald.com/h?article=4ee9c74e&opt=0 Incident: Ryanair B738 at Manchester on Oct 13th 2021, bird strike A Ryanair Boeing 737-800, registration EI-EKR performing flight FR-2131 from Manchester,EN (UK) to Lanzarote,CI (Spain), was climbing out of Manchester's runway 23R when the crew stopped the climb at 4000 feet due to a bird strike and decided to divert to Liverpool,EN (UK) where the aircraft landed safely on runway 27 about 55 minutes after departure. Ground observers at Manchester reported the engines (CFM56) sounded rough, almost like a helicopter, as the aircraft climbed out. http://avherald.com/h?article=4ee9c526&opt=0 Rebuffing Texas governor, American Airlines, Southwest stand by vaccine mandate CHICAGO (Reuters) - Rebuffing the Texas governor, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines said on Tuesday they would comply with U.S. President Joe Biden's executive order to require that their employees be vaccinated for COVID-19 by a Dec. 8 deadline. The two Texas-based carriers said the federal mandate superseded an order by Republican Governor Greg Abbott barring https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-governor-bars-all-vaccine-mandates-state-2021-10-11 COVID-19 vaccine mandates by any entity, including private employers. Southwest said it "would be expected to comply with the President's Order to remain compliant as a federal contractor." American said while it was reviewing Abbott's executive order, "this does not change anything" for the company. Both carriers have asked U.S.-based employees to submit proof of vaccination by Nov. 24. Biden issued his mandate last month as his administration struggled to control the pandemic, which has killed more than 700,000 Americans. It covers all federal contractors. While supporters of vaccine mandates see them as necessary to pull the country out of the nearly two-year-old pandemic, critics are calling them unconstitutional and authoritarian. Six employees of United Airlines, which became the first U.S. carrier in August to require vaccinations for all domestic employees, have filed a class action in federal court in Texas claiming that workers who sought exemptions from the vaccine mandate were subjected to intrusive inquiries about their medical conditions or religious beliefs, including a requirement that they obtain letters from pastors. The court, which is due to hear the case on Wednesday, issued an order on Tuesday restraining the airline until Oct. 26 from placing on unpaid leave any employee who receives religious or medical exemptions from the company for COVID-19 vaccinations. The court also temporarily restrained United from denying any late requests for religious or medical accommodations. In his executive order, Abbott said the Biden administration was "bullying" many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions. In its response, the White House said on Tuesday that Abbott's order was out of step with businesses in the state. Press secretary Jen Psaki said the governor's decision was motivated by politics, not science. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/rebuffing-texas-governor-american-airlines-201542506.html Boeing requires Covid-19 vaccinations for employees by Dec. 8 federal deadline The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is now requiring most of its U.S.-based employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19 by Dec. 8 or face losing their jobs. The jet maker announced the policy in a presentation to its workforce Oct. 11. The move follows an executive order by President Joe Biden last month requiring vaccinations for large private employers and federal contractors. Boeing has nearly 57,000 employees in Washington and 141,000 nationally, according to Business Journal research. Employees can obtain exemptions based on disability or religious accommodations, but must undergo regular testing for the coronavirus if they're not fully vaccinated, the company said in the presentation. That gives employees just two weeks to receive their first dose of the Moderna vaccine, three weeks to begin vaccination with the two-dose Pfizer shot or until Nov. 24 to receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. “Employees who are unable to meet these requirements, and do not have an approved accommodation, by Dec. 8 may be released from the company,” Boeing wrote. Antibody tests or prior infection do not qualify employees for exemption, it added. Boeing’s engineers union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), said it is working with Boeing and other employers to ensure the rollout of the new policy meets the terms of employees’ contracts and urged its members to get the vaccine. “We are encouraged that the vast majority of members we are hearing from are vaccinated and following health professionals’ recommendations to wear a face mask, wash hands frequently and practice social distancing,” SPEEA said in an email statement. The union currently represents around 17,000 engineers, technical workers, pilots and other employees at Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems and Triumph Composite Systems in Washington, Oregon, Kansas and a handful of other states. Airlines have also made moves to require Covid-19 vaccinations among their workforce. Alaska Air Group announced Oct. 1 that it would require all of its employees and some contractors to be vaccinated. Southwest Airlines and American Airlines, both based in Texas, will also require workers vaccinations, despite an executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday banning such mandates. “Boeing will continue to carefully monitor guidance from public health agencies, and requirements from federal, state and local governments to inform our COVID-19 policies,” a Boeing spokesperson said in an email statement. “We continue to prioritize the health and safety of all of our employees.” As of Oct. 11, more than 77% of eligible Washington residents had received their first dose of the vaccine, according to the state Department of Health. https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/10/12/boeing-vaccine-mandate.html?ana=yahoo Pilots flying over Utah are having problems with laser strikes Utah ranks as one of the worst states for pilots dealing with laser strikes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that through the month of September, Utah ranked number eight with 203 laser strikes all occurring over Salt Lake City. The FAA said aiming a laser at a pilot is extremely dangerous. Lasers can temporarily blind a pilot putting everyone on the plane, and the communities they are flying over, in danger. The FAA reported that pilots reported 6,852 laser strikes in the nation in 2020. This is an increase from previous years despite the pandemic reducing flights. Those caught pointing a laser at a plane could owe up to $11,000 dollars in fines and could face criminal penalties for repeating offenses. https://www.upr.org/post/pilots-flying-over-utah-are-having-problems-laser-strikes#stream/0 Pilot in deadly California crash repeatedly warned to climb A recording shows that the pilot of a twin-engine plane was repeatedly warned to fly straight and to climb before he crashed into a San Diego suburb, killing himself and someone on the ground The air traffic controller repeated the warnings to the pilot more than a half-dozen times. Stop drifting, keep on course and a chilling, urgent plea: “Low altitude alert, climb immediately, climb the airplane.” Instead, the twin-engine plane plowed into a San Diego suburb, killing the pilot and a delivery driver on the ground and burning homes. Now, federal investigators must try to figure out what caused the crash that left a shocked and damaged neighborhood. The Cessna 340 nose-dived and clipped a UPS van in Santee after noon Monday as it was preparing to land at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego. An elderly couple suffered burns when their home went up in flames. Neighbors helped the woman out of a window. Nearly a dozen other homes in the eastern San Diego suburb were damaged. The plane was owned and piloted by Dr. Sugata Das, a cardiologist who worked in Yuma, Arizona, and commuted to his home in San Diego, according to the website for a non-profit charity group he directed called the Power of Love Foundation. On a recording made by LiveATC, a website that monitors and posts flight communications, an air traffic controller repeatedly warns Das that he needs to climb in altitude. He also cautioned that a C-130, a large military transport plane, was overhead and could cause turbulence. Das responded he was aware. The controller later is heard saying, “It looks like you’re drifting right of course, are you correcting?” “Correcting,” Das responds. Das asks if he has been cleared for the runway. The controller says “I need you to fly,” warning him that he is coming in too low. Das tells him he is climbing. The controller urges him to climb again, and Das says he is ascending. “Ok. It looks like you’re descending sir. I need to make sure you are climbing, not descending,” the controller says. Then the controller speaks with more urgency. “Low altitude alert, climb immediately, climb the airplane,” he says. “Climb the airplane please.” The controller repeatedly urged the plane to climb to 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and when it remained at 1,500 feet (457 meters), the controller warned: “You appear to be descending again, sir.” There is no response. An investigator from the NTSB arrived at the crash scene Tuesday morning and will review radar data, weather information, air traffic control communication, airplane maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records, agency spokeswoman Jennifer Gabris said. Al Diehl, a former National Transportation Safety Board investigator, said the recording indicates the pilot was trying to deal with a major distraction or significant emergency on his own — breaking a basic rule that aviators should always tell controllers everything. “The first thing you do when you’re in trouble is call, climb and confess — and he did not do any of the three,” Diehl said. “These are very basic rules that flight instructors tell their students.” Diehl, who helped design a Cessna cockpit, said the aircraft has a complex system that could lead to deadly mistakes. Clouds and windy weather may have complicated Das’ ability to handle the aircraft, Diehl said. Investigators also will look at whether there could have been a medical emergency, something an autopsy should help reveal. Diehl noted the plane at the last minute made a sweeping turn to the right as if trying to switch back to another airport that was closer because something was wrong. Das didn’t mention that to air traffic control. Robert Katz, a certified flight instructor, said he believed Das “was totally disoriented.” Katz said the clouds were low enough that the pilot had to use an instrument landing system while approaching. “He does not know which way is up,” Katz told CBS8 in San Diego. Das grew up on the western coast of India and earned a medical degree from the University of Pune. He went to Yuma in 2004 and established a cardiovascular practice, according to the Power of Love Foundation. He leaves a wife and two sons. UPS driver Steve Krueger, 61, lived in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of Ocean Beach and was on his regular route when he was killed. He planned to retire on Oct. 22, said his brother, Jeffrey Krueger. He was immensely popular with his customers, the brother said. “At Christmastime, he really liked sweets and they would always bombard him with stuff,” he told KNSD-TV. “They really appreciated him, and he always had fun with them. He was that kind of guy.” “He was very much, you gotta be positive,” Jeff Kreuger said. “Things will always get better and don’t take life so serious that it gets you down. Have fun with things.” Krueger also liked skiing and other sports. He had bought a home near Mammoth Lakes. Krueger sent pictures of himself wearing his brown uniform and holding a UPS package while water-skiing and posing with the mammoth mascot for the Mammoth Mountain ski resort, his brother said. On Tuesday, UPS held a moment of silence of honor of Krueger, and the flag outside a UPS customer service center in San Diego was lowered to half-staff. “Those who knew Steve said he took pride in his work," said a company statement, “And his positive attitude and joyful laugh made the hardest days a little lighter.” https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pilot-deadly-california-crash-repeatedly-warned-climb-80549686 Former NTSB Chair to Spearhead New Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle The Honorable Robert L. Sumwalt will assume his position as Distinguished Fellow in Aviation Safety and Executive Director of Embry-Riddle’s Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety on Jan. 4, 2022. The Honorable Robert L. Sumwalt III, a highly distinguished aviator and former chair of the world’s premier transportation safety board, is teaming up with his alma mater, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, to launch a unique global Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety. “Embry-Riddle’s Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety will serve as a business magnet for our region, by attracting industry and government partners eager to identify timely solutions,” said University President P. Barry Butler. “With our famously rigorous focus on safety, Embry-Riddle and Volusia County have become known as the perfect home for aerospace entrepreneurs and innovators. Robert Sumwalt’s deep knowledge of aerospace safety issues, and his professionalism and commitment to excellence make him an ideal leader of this much-needed new enterprise. We are pleased and proud to announce his acceptance of a leadership position at Embry-Riddle.” Sumwalt will assume his position as Distinguished Fellow in Aviation Safety and Executive Director of Embry-Riddle’s Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety on Jan. 4, 2022. “By joining the world’s leading aviation and aerospace institution, my goal is to continue making human mobility as safe as possible,” Sumwalt said. “I’m excited about this opportunity and I look forward to cultivating transformative partnerships with government and industry.” A member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) since 2006 who served under four U.S. Presidents, Sumwalt served as NTSB chair from 2017 until June 2021. He was also a pilot for 32 years, including 24 years with Piedmont Airlines and U.S. Airways, accumulating more than 14,000 flight hours and earning type ratings in five aircraft. In 2014, Sumwalt earned a Master of Aeronautical Science degree (now called a Master of Science in Aeronautics), with Distinction, from Embry-Riddle Worldwide, with concentrations in aviation/aerospace safety systems and human factors aviation systems. Along with his Embry-Riddle degree, Sumwalt earned a B.S. degree from the University of South Carolina, and he was awarded honorary doctorate degrees from both institutions. Advancing Safety and Innovation Safety issues related to unmanned aerial systems, urban air mobility technologies and human-machine or machine-to-machine interfaces are examples of work to be completed by the Embry-Riddle Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety. The university’s broad vision for the center also encompasses the safety of new technologies such as automatic taxiing, artificial intelligence solutions, and streamlined or “trajectory-based” operations. Work may further include safety assessments of alternative aviation fuels, the safety impacts of new training systems such as virtual and augmented reality tools, high-tech options for increasing the efficiency of safety investigations and more. In addition to overseeing all operations of the new center, Sumwalt will provide university-wide leadership for aerospace safety research and outreach activities, including the oversight of existing safety initiatives. Among his many responsibilities, Sumwalt will create an external advisory board of recognized industry and government experts; recruit and retain talent; promote student participation in research projects; provide career counseling for students; work with Embry-Riddle academic leadership to guide and mentor center-affiliated faculty; and coordinate guest lectures, events and professional development programs. Sumwalt’s many honors include the Flight Safety Foundation – Boeing Aviation Safety Lifetime Achievement Award; the Flight Safety Foundation’s Laura Taber Barbour Award; and the Air Line Pilots Association’s (ALPA) Air Safety Award. He chaired the ALPA’s Human Factors and Training Group and co-founded the association’s critical incident response program. Sumwalt also spent eight years as a consultant to NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System and he has written extensively on aerospace safety matters. He is a freelance transportation safety analyst for CBS News. https://news.erau.edu/headlines/sumwalt-to-spearhead-new-aviation-and-aerospace-safety-center-at-embry-riddle Million Air Dallas Earns FAA SMS Nod Addison Airport-based Million Air Dallas has earned FAA recognition for its safety management system, as part of the agency's Safety Management System Voluntary Program Standard. Million Air Dallas, one of the largest aircraft charter and management providers in Texas, has received formal FAA approval for its safety management system (SMS). This places the Million Air chain franchisee among the approximately 1 percent of all U.S. Part 135 operators that have achieved the agency’s acceptance and recognition of full compliance or "active conformance" with its Safety Management System Voluntary Program Standard (SMSVP). The company (Booth 2945) began its involvement with the program in 2018. It follows the same guidelines that are required of Part 121 commercial airline operators regarding implementation, validation, and standards. “Million Air Dallas’s commitment to safety ensures the welfare of our passengers, crew, and ground support employees in every aspect of our operation,” said Don Rickerhauser, the company’s v-p of operations. “We always look beyond the standard procedures and protocol, always perform to the highest level of safety, and utilize the most sophisticated safety tools available to our industry. Completing the pathway to recognized Active Conformance status with the FAA SMSVP Standard is our way of ensuring that commitment.” Company president and CEO Bob Schmidt added, “This may be the end of demonstrating and testing our [SMS], but it is just the beginning of an evolution to the next level of safety for Million Air Dallas and the private jet transportation industry.” https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2021-10-12/million-air-dallas-earns-faa-sms-nod Air New Zealand Transforms Boeing 787 Into Vaccination Clinic Okay, now I really feel like I got the short end of the stick getting vaccinated at a supermarket pharmacy… This weekend, Air New Zealand will be transforming a Boeing 787-9 into a vaccination clinic, to encourage those in Auckland to get vaccinated. Here’s how the event is described: Bound for destination vaccination, Aucklanders will be able to board the Jabaseat flight, receive their vaccination and enjoy Air New Zealand’s world-renowned customer service and hospitality. In addition to a behind-the-scenes glimpse of an aircraft hanger, visitors will tour Business Premier, enjoy free inflight snacks and receive a special boarding pass to commemorate the moment. People will board through the front door into Business Premier, where they will receive one dose of the Pfizer vaccine in their arm of choice. Vaccines will be administered by Tāmaki Health. They will then move through the cabin into Economy where a snack service will commence while they wait to disembark after the observation period. Face masks will need to be worn throughout Saturday’s flight and physical distancing will be practiced, ensuring customer and crew safety. Air New Zealand will vaccinate people on a 787 Eligible people in the Auckland area can register at this link, on New Zealand’s official vaccination website. Air New Zealand is also one of the only airlines in the world to announce that it will require passengers to be vaccinated for international travel, even without a government mandate. How cool is this vaccination clinic idea?! https://onemileatatime.com/news/air-new-zealand-boeing-787-vaccination-clinic/ Florida Woman Allegedly Hacked Flight System, Cleared Unsafe Aircraft to Fly A Florida woman has been charged with allegedly hacking into a flight school's computer system and authorizing unsafe aircraft to fly in 2020, just months after she left the business. Derek Fallon, the CEO of Melbourne Flight Training, said he learned about the hack on January 12, 2020 when he logged onto a computer and noticed that there were several errors, WESH-TV, a local television news station, reported Monday. He noticed that the make, model and tail numbers of 12 airplanes were deleted and that planes previously flagged as having maintenance issues were cleared to fly, WESH reported. According to an affidavit obtained by WESH, "aircraft which may have been unsafe to fly were purposely made 'airworthy'." Fallon also said that inspection limitations were deleted, WESH reported. Fallon said that he instructed all flights to be grounded until the correct information could be restored. "Between the time the data was altered and fixed, it was a situation that could have endangered human life," Fallon said in an affidavit. Two suspects have since been identified—a man who previously worked as the flight school's director of maintenance and his 26-year-old daughter Lauren Lide, who had previously worked as flight operations manager at the company. The man, who was not identified, was fired in November 2019, and Lide resigned that same day, WESH reported. Investigators allegedly found that a login belonging to the current flight operations manager was used to alter the status of the planes, but that manager signed an affidavit saying he didn't change information, WESH reported. Authorities discovered the IP address used to access the software belonged to Lide's father, who reportedly told investigators he "didn't have a clue" why his computer was used to login to the company's software. When asked if he knew anyone who might want to access the computer information, he told authorities, "I'm kinda concerned about my daughter at this point." He alleged Fallon made Lide "miserable" and lied to her," WESH reported. "She couldn't wait to get out of there," he said, according to WESH. "You guys don't understand the torment he put her through." Detectives determined that Lide is one of the only people in the area who had the "knowledge, skills and ability" to change the flight records. She was charged with accessing a computer electronic device without authority and modifying computer data programs without authority. https://www.newsweek.com/florida-woman-allegedly-hacked-flight-system-cleared-unsafe-aircraft-fly-1638146 MC-21 airplane to be certified in December 2021 — Russian transport ministry It is the medium-range passenger jet under development. The airplane is developed with engines of two types MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. Russian aviation authorities intend to certify the MC-21 passenger jet in December of this year, Deputy Transport Minister Igor Chalik said on Tuesday. "Our scheduled completion of MC-21 certification is in December 2021 and I have actually just received a confirmation from the Federal Air Transport Agency that we are on track so far. The MC-21 must be certified in December of this year," the official said. The MC-21 is the medium-range passenger jet under development. The airplane is developed with engines of two types: domestic PD -14 and Pratt & Whitney (PW140). It is planned that the aircraft with US engines will be initially available for ordering. This aircraft version already undergoes flight tests and first airplanes are to be supplied to airlines in 2022. The version with Russian engines made the maiden flight last December. https://tass.com/economy/1348627 DOT to audit FAA staffing challenges after Southwest Airlines chaos Southwest Airlines has blamed cancellation issues on weather and staffing problems. The federal Department of Transportation’s inspector general will audit hiring and staffing challenges at the Federal Aviation Administration after Southwest Airlines blamed mass cancellations over the weekend on a shortage of air traffic controllers. Matthew Hampton, assistant inspector general for aviation audits, issued a memo Tuesday announcing the audit, which he said would “assist FAA’s efforts” to keep air traffic control fully staffed and continue training new hires amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since the pandemic started, controllers at numerous air traffic control facilities have tested positive for COVID-19, leading to partial shutdowns of towers and radar control facilities and impacting staffing and training operations,” the memo said. “Moreover, with veteran controllers leaving for various reasons, including retirements, and increased training demands, FAA faces the challenge of ensuring it has the required number of controllers.” IG reports in 2012 and 2016 documented ongoing staffing challenges, the memo said. The 2016 audit found the FAA “had not yet established an effective process for balancing training requirements with pending retirements.” Southwest Airlines blamed the thousands of canceled flights on air traffic staffing shortages, but the FAA has denied there being any shortages since Friday, when it admits that there were a “few hours” of delays due in part to staffing issues. Airline industry expert Arthur Wheaton of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations said the US DOT audit had been a long time coming. “Our air traffic control system is woefully out of date. They haven’t really invested in that system in decades,” said Wheaton. “There have been issues with our skies — having too many planes and not enough computer capacity to route them for 40 years … It makes it more dangerous and more difficult to manage.” Southwest, its union and the FAA have all denied any connections between the weekend’s chaos and President Biden’s forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine requirement for airline employees. The airline’s CEO on Tuesday told CNBC his airline was “significantly set back on Friday.” “When you get behind, it just takes several days to catch up,” CEO Gary Kelly said. https://nypost.com/2021/10/12/dot-to-audit-faa-staffing-issues-after-southwest-airlines-chaos/ United Airlines Gives All Employees $1,000 Bonus This is a pleasant surprise for United Airlines employees… United Airlines thanks employees with bonus United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has this week announced that all active employees will receive a $1,000 bonus on their paycheck next month. This is intended to thank team members for their hard work during the pandemic. Not only is this an awesome gesture, but $1,000 will make a big difference for many people. Maybe not a huge difference for a captain making $300K per year, but for some employees this could be a couple of weeks worth of pay. United has over 80,000 employees, so that’s a minimum of $80 million in bonus payments. I guess those airline bailout funds have to be spent somehow. 😉 United’s in a good spot right now As I’ve written about before, I’ve been impressed by United CEO Scott Kirby. I never thought I’d say that based on his time as Doug Parker’s right-hand man at American Airlines, US Airways, and America West, but he has taken a different approach at United, and has proven himself. In particular: • At this point United is well positioned in terms of employee vaccination, which is proving a huge issue at other airlines • In the past several months, we’ve seen operational meltdowns at American, Delta, Southwest, and Spirit, though United’s operations have been incredibly stable, despite how short staffed airlines are • We’ve seen rumblings that some employees at American and Southwest will disrupt holiday travel to protest the vaccine mandate, so for those airlines the worst may still be ahead of them when it comes to operational issues; that’s not a problem at United anymore • While I think Kirby is doing a lot of the right things, I still think United’s biggest weakness is the general service culture. There’s no consistency to service at United, and employees range from great to awful. I wonder if these gestures, along with United generally not having quite the division we’re seeing at other airlines right now, could positively impact that in the long-run. Bottom line United Airlines is giving all employees a $1,000 bonus, to thank them for their hard work. This is a lovely gesture, and it’s quite a contrast to the general state of relations between management and employees at other airlines. Here’s to hoping that this continues to lead to an improved service culture at United. https://onemileatatime.com/news/united-airlines-employee-bonus/ The Dutch Made Jet: The Story Of The Short Lived Fokker 100 When it comes to regional jets, Bombardier and Embraer are two manufacturers that likely spring to mind for most people. However, for a short time in the late 20th century, Dutch manufacture Fokker was also a key player in this domain. Its largest regional jet was the Fokker 100, of which it produced almost 300 in 11 years. This is its story. Based on a previous design While the Fokker 100 was a product of the 1980s, its roots date back two decades earlier. This is because the aircraft was a development of the Dutch manufacturer‘s earlier F28 ‘Fellowship’ regional jet. The F28 first flew in May 1967, and entered service just under two years later, in March 1969, with former Norwegian carrier Braathens SAFE. Fokker entered the regional jet market following the success of its earlier F27 ‘Friendship’ turboprop. The F27’s success inspired the Dutch planemaker to produce a larger and faster aircraft, resulting in the F28. While it didn’t sell as many units as the F27 (241 vs 586), the F28 laid solid foundations for the Amsterdam-based company’s next big thing. Fokker made various modifications to the original F28 when producing its new 100 series. These included 5.74-meter fuselage, three-meter wingspan, and 1.4-meter horizontal stabilizer stretches, as well as fitting new engines. Rolls-Royce RB.183 Tay turbofans provided power, whereas the F28 had used Rolls-Royce’s earlier Spey model. Fokker F28 Prototype The Fokker 100 was a development of the F28 ‘Fellowship. The larger airframe translated to an increased capacity of 97-122 passengers, depending on the exact configuration. Meanwhile, the largest F28 variants had 79-85 seats. Furthermore, aerodynamic improvements to the wings led to a reported 30% efficiency increase. Pilots benefitted from a digital flight management system and electronic instruments. Into service Fokker officially announced the 100 program in 1983, having received type certification in March that year. This led to the production of two prototype aircraft. The first of these (PH-MKH) undertook the type’s maiden test flight in November 1986. The second prototype aircraft (PH-MKC) followed it into the skies three months later, in February 1987. The first delivery of a production aircraft eventually took place in February 1988, with Swissair being the recipient. Fokker managed to accrue a solid order book during the type’s early years, with American Airlines even requesting 75 units. At $3.1 billion in 1989, this was not just Fokker’s largest-ever order, but the largest for any Dutch company at the time. A new variant, and Fokker’s demise The success of the Fokker 100 prompted the Dutch manufacturer to develop a new variant. Sporting a 4.62-meter shorter fuselage, this aircraft would go on to be known as the Fokker 70. It first flew in April 1993, and entered private service with Ford the following year. Its commercial introduction took place in 1995, when Sempati Air began flying the type. Fokker 70 Getty The Fokker 70 sold just 47 units before the company’s collapse. Photo: Getty Images However, both the original Fokker 100 and the smaller Fokker 70 were unable to be as widely produced as the manufacturer would have liked. While the Fokker 100, in particular, was a commercially strong aircraft, its success was unable to mask years of overall losses at the company. This culminated in Fokker’s bankruptcy in 1996. Both aircraft remained in production until 1997, the year after Fokker’s collapse. When all was said and done, the Fokker 100 had sold 283 units, outselling its F28 predecessor. Meanwhile, the Fokker 70 was too late to the party, and just 47 examples and a single prototype were produced before its short-lived five-year production cycle was curtailed. It is interesting to consider how many more units the Fokker 100 might have sold had its production continued. After all, as Simple Flying explored in May, it remains a niche but important regional jet even today. Between 1991 and 2004, American Airlines even deployed the Fokker 100 on mainline services, underlining its significance and capabilities. American Airlines Fokker 100 Despite being a regional jet, the Fokker 100 featured on America’s mainline routes in the ’90s and 2000s. Performance and specifications So how exactly did the Fokker 100 weigh up when it came to the aircraft’s statistics, specifications, and performance capabilities? In terms of its dimensions, the type measured 35.53 meters in length, and sported a 28.08-meter wingspan. Meanwhile, the Fokker 100 stood at 8.5 meters tall, with 2.01 meters of vertical clearance inside its cabin. The capacity of the aircraft depended on how each operator chose to configure it. A typical two-class setup (with 2-2 seating in business class and 3-2 in economy) had around 97 seats. Meanwhile, a high-density, all-economy layout could accommodate 122 passengers. American Airlines even flew certain examples with an all-first class, 56-seat setup. The range of the Fokker 100 depended on which engines a given aircraft had. The Rolls-Royce Tay Mk 620-15 model enabled 2,450 km (1,323 NM) of range, while aircraft with the Mk 650 turbofans could manage 3,170 km (1,710 NM). In any case, they all had the same Mach 0.77 cruising speed (845 km/h / 456 knots) and service ceiling (35,000 feet). Still active today It has now been more than 33 years since the Fokker 100 first entered service. Despite this, a reasonable number remain in service nowadays. Simple Flying took a closer look at this matter exactly a year ago today, and found that, in October 2020, airlines all over the world were still deploying the type. Australia and Iran are particular hotspots. In terms of how many Fokker 100s are left today, data from ch-aviation.com shows that 78 remain active at the time of writing. This is just over a quarter of the total production output for the type, and not an insignificant figure when you consider that it stopped being built 24 years ago, in 1997. So who exactly flies the Fokker 100 nowadays? Australian regional carrier Alliance Airlines remains the type’s largest operator. It has 23 active and two inactive examples, with an average age of 30 years old. Elsewhere in Australia, Network Aviation and Virgin Australia Regional are also key operators. Iran is a haven for old and rare aircraft, and the country’s largest 100 operator is Aseman Airlines, with six. https://simpleflying.com/fokker-100-story/ Conservatives Want to Launch Their Own Anti-Vax Airlines MAGA megafans are still determined to reinstall Donald Trump as president—but they’re divided over how to do so. As far-right efforts to “audit” the 2020 election fizzle, some of the movement’s biggest names have accused each other of being communists, FBI informants, and “homewreckers.” On this week’s episode of Fever Dreams, hosts Will Sommer and Kelly Weill dive into the feuds roiling the Republican Party. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon-hyping congresswoman from Georgia, went on the attack against a former ally this weekend when she implied that conspiratorial attorney Lin Wood might be cooperating in investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Wood, who previously acted as Greene’s attorney, has spent weeks accusing the lawmaker of being a “communist” because she has not instituted an “audit” of Georgia’s vote. Greene hit back, accusing Wood of swindling money fundraised in defense of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of killing two people at a protest last summer. “You have this fight between true believers like Lin Wood who think the election was stolen and that because the election was stolen, there’s really no point in campaigning or doing any activism on behalf of the midterms or 2024, no point in donating to Republican candidates, really nothing to support the party until the 2020 election is overturned,” Sommer says. “On the other hand, you have people who are certainly pretty kooky themselves, but are slightly more cynical, a little more opportunistic.” Greene and Wood aren’t alone in their rift over audits. Wendy Rogers, an Arizona state legislator who took Wood’s side in the argument, is embroiled in her own audit fight. Rogers was one of the most vocal champions of Arizona’s doomed audit, and is now calling for audits in all 50 states. Those calls, along with Rogers’ fundraising efforts, have struck a bad note with some Arizonans who were disappointed by their state’s audit. Some, in the group “Patriot Party of Arizona” have accused Rogers of being a “grifter” who only supports audits for their fundraising potential. In a series of tweets this weekend, Rogers struck back at the group, tweeting that its members were “homewreckers,” “fornicators,” unfaithful spouses, gold-diggers, and “#DeepState” operatives. Meanwhile, other right-wing figures have more pressing concerns: namely, how to launch their own airlines for pilots and passengers who refuse to be vaccinated. Those anti-vax voices are responding to airlines’ new requirements that pilots and flight crew be vaccinated. “I love this idea of conservatives hitting a minor social roadblock and then trying to launch a billion-dollar enterprise to avoid it,” says Weill. “It’s like all the Thiel fellows who want to live out in the sea to avoid taxes. At a certain point you’re like, ‘OK man, just go.’” Will a squadron of conservative Twitter personalities earn their pilot licenses, buy planes, and give a new meaning to “airborne” virus? Or will their efforts end as dismally as previous libertarian plots to avoid taxes by building boat-based societies in the middle of the ocean? Elsewhere on the podcast, Sommer and Weill speak to journalist Jennings Brown, whose new podcast, Revelations, chronicles the dark history of the California doomsday group Fellowship of Friends. Brown, who stayed on the group’s bizarre compound during its supposed apocalypse, says he was fascinated by what led people to their beliefs—and what kept them in the group even after its prophecies failed. “He’s been doing this for 50 years,” Brown says of the Fellowship’s leader. “These members, time and time again, have had to go through the mental gymnastics of processing these predictions and the buildup and then the disappointment and their new reasoning. It seems to have sowed this very strong devotion to their leader and begs the question: What does he do with that kind of devotion he’s built over half a century?” Finally, Weill and Sommer dish on the dumbest new t-shirt slogan that’s about to take off with Trump fans. “Let’s go Brandon” is the right’s favorite new chant. It’s a play on MAGA fans’ “Fuck Joe Biden” chants, which are too profane for TV. When one of the chants was audible on a recent NASCAR broadcast, a TV host cut away from the crowd, suggesting that they were chanting “Let’s go Brandon” in support of a driver. Since then, Trump fans have shown up at rallies with “Let’s go Brandon” printed on T-shirts. Donald Trump Jr. has also tweeted the slogan. “The Trump campaign has sent out fundraising texts with ‘Let’s go Brandon,’” Sommer says. “So I regret to inform our listeners, but this is really going to be with us for a while.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/conservatives-want-launch-own-anti-090657003.html ROLLS-ROYCE STRENGTHENS BUSINESS AVIATION SERVICE NETWORK Rolls-Royce announced at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas, US, that it is strengthening its business aviation services infrastructure by expanding the global network of Authorised Service Centres (ASC) for its CorporateCare® customer base. Authorised Service Centres form an important component of the Rolls-Royce services portfolio and add to the existing global service capabilities. The latest addition to the ASC network is Western Aircraft in Boise, Idaho, a Greenwich AeroGroup company, supporting BR710A1/C4 and Tay 611-8/8C engines. Andy Robinson, SVP Services – Business Aviation, said: “With more than 3,600 Rolls-Royce powered aircraft in service today we are the leading engine supplier in business aviation and our customers trust us to deliver outstanding in-service support. Our collaboration with the world’s most experienced maintenance providers ensures industry leading service levels for our growing global CorporateCare customer base.” With more than 75 Authorised Service Centres in place with key maintenance providers, Rolls-Royce offers its business aviation customers the largest global service network in the industry. The powerful infrastructure of the ASCs is complemented by On Wing Services specialists, who are located at strategic hubs in the USA, Europe, Middle East and Asia, and a number of spare parts and lease engine storage locations, around the world. CorporateCare customers benefit from faster response times and reduced maintenance time with simplified, streamlined administration wherever they fly. For high-res images please see here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rolls-royceplc About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc 1. Rolls-Royce pioneers the power that matters to connect, power and protect society. We have pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our operations by 2030. We joined the UN Race to Zero campaign in 2020, and have committed to ensuring our new products will be compatible with net zero operation by 2030, and all products will be compatible with net zero by 2050. 2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces and navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers. 3. Annual underlying revenue was £11.76 billion in 2020 and we invested £1.25 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research. 4. Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a publicly traded company (LSE:RR., ADR: RYCEY, LEI: 213800EC7997ZBLZJH69). For further information, please contact: Stefan Wriege External Communications – Business Aviation & Rolls-Royce Deutschland Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG Tel +49 (0) 171 6130802 Email stefan.wriege@rolls-royce.com www.rolls-royce.com James Webb super-telescope arrives at launch site The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope has arrived in French Guiana to prepare for its 18 December launch. The $10bn (£7.3bn) James Webb observatory was delivered to South America by ship. Engineers at Europe's Kourou spaceport will spend the coming weeks undertaking a series of final checks before mating the new telescope to its rocket. Webb is designed to see deeper into the Universe - and further back in time - than Hubble. The hope is it will detect the light even from the very first population of stars to switch on more than 13.5 billion years ago. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a joint venture between the US, European and Canadian space agencies. James Webb will be the 'launch to watch in 2021' It is an extraordinary machine that will unfurl the biggest astronomical mirror ever sent into orbit - at 6.5m (21ft) in diameter. All three agencies have contributed instrumentation, with Nasa and its industrial partner, Northrop Grumman, leading the observatory's assembly. This was completed at a facility in Los Angeles, California, in August, enabling Webb then to be packed off by sea and the Panama Canal to French Guiana. Wednesday saw the cargo ship MN Colibri enter the Kourou River at high tide to unload the telescope's sealed transport container. A truck took Webb the last few kilometres into the spaceport's cleanroom facilities. It will be a few days yet, however, before the observatory can be extracted from its bagging and hoisted into position to allow engineers to get to work on it. They'll want to know nothing has been damaged in transit. "You've probably seen the animations of how this telescope will unfold once it's in space, but it is coming to Kourou in a folded configuration," explained European Space Agency (Esa) project manager Peter Rumler. "We don't have the equipment to do any of the deployments here so we'll be restricted just to switch-on and electrical checks to see that everything is OK," he told BBC News. There is a detailed list of preparation milestones leading up to the scheduled launch in mid-December. These include fuelling Webb so that it can fire thrusters to manoeuvre itself once it gets into space; and, of course, attachment to its rocket, an Ariane 5. A key event occurs at the end of next week when another Ariane launch is due to take place. Once this gets off the ground, it will free up the big "table" on which rockets at Kourou, including Webb's vehicle, are integrated. "Right now our biggest concern is the next launch on 22 October," said Peter Rumler. "If that has a problem or is delayed, it affects us. We certainly want to get Webb off before Christmas." Whenever it occurs, Webb's launch will be one of the very last outings for the Ariane 5. It is being replaced as Europe's premier rocket from next year by an upgraded system, Ariane 6, which should be cheaper to manufacture and operate. Since its introduction in 1996, Ariane 5 has lofted several high-profile astronomy missions, including the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope, the Herschel infrared observatory and the Planck surveyor. But none of these carried the price tag hanging from Webb. Indeed, in terms of payload value, JWST will be the most significant launch in the veteran rocket's 25-year history. Lift-off is likely to occur somewhere between 08:45 and 11:00 local time (07:45-10:00 EST; 12:45-15:00 GMT). The flight time, up to the point where Webb is ejected from the top of the Ariane, will be just short of 30 minutes. This will have put Webb on a path to its chosen observing position some 1.5 million km from Earth, a journey that will take roughly a further 30 days. Controllers back on Earth will need time to set up the telescope for science operations, but the first sample high-resolution images should be released within two or three months. Astronomers are expecting great things. Webb has been tuned to see precisely those parts of the cosmos that are beyond Hubble's capability. "Webb will make amazing discoveries in all fields of astrophysics," predicted Esa project scientist Antonella Nota. "Webb is building on what Hubble has been able to do in its 31 splendid years in orbit. Hubble, in spite of the fact that it is still a relatively small telescope with a 2.4m primary mirror, has been able to push the horizon of the observable Universe all the way back to a few hundred million years from the Big Bang. "With a factor of 100 increase in sensitivity, Webb will push way through this and will be really able to see how the first galaxies assembled." https://news.yahoo.com/james-webb-super-telescope-arrives-155203081.html PhD - Graduate Research Survey Request (1) Calling All Pilots (and Non-Pilots) My name is Kurt Reesman and I am an Adult Education Ph.D. candidate teaching in the Department of Aviation at Auburn University. I invite you to participate in my research study entitled Training the Emerging Pilot Workforce: Does Generation and Gender Influence Curriculum Development? With your help, I will learn more about the following three questions: 1. Do non-pilots and pilots have different learning styles or preferences? 2. Do pilots in the Baby Boomer, Generation X, Generation Y (Millennials), and Generation Z generations have learning styles or preferences that differ from each other? 3. Do male pilots and female pilots have different learning styles or preferences? You may participate if you are 18 years or older. I am asking that you take 5-10 minutes of your time to complete an anonymous, on-line survey that asks you to provide basic demographic information and then answer 44 questions that only have 2 possible answers each. These questions are from the Felder and Solomon Index of Learning Styles questionnaire. If you are interested and eligible to participate, click the link below to begin the survey. If you would like to know more information, or have any questions about this study, you can send an email to Kurt Reesman at klr0051@auburn.edu or my advisor, Dr. James Witte at witteje@auburn.edu. Thank you for your consideration, Kurt Reesman, Lt Col, USAF (retired) Ph.D. Candidate / Lecturer Department of Aviation Auburn University Survey Link: https://auburn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_88HSBAVREFUHLE1 Curt Lewis