Flight Safety Information - March 10, 2022 No.049 In This Issue : Accident: TUI B738 at Manchester on Mar 9th 2022, tail strike on departure : Incident: S7 E170 at Irkutsk on Mar 8th 2022, descended below safe height on approach : Incident: Delta B738 at New Orleans and Los Angeles on Mar 8th 2022, dropped engine cowling : Incident: Delta B752 at Cancun on Mar 7th 2022, smoke in cabin : NTSB: Fighter jet’s engine quit before it crashed in Arizona : American Airlines adding more than 600 jobs in Miami : Russian Airlines Are Stopping In Morocco For South America : Boeing’s airplane deliveries slipped in February as Dreamliner problem lingers : Ukrainian Arms Company Offers $1M for Capture of Working Russian Aircraft : HAI joins NATA and TSI to offer safety manager certification program : Honda-General Electric's HF120 Jet Engines Pass 200k Flight Hours, Sadly Without VTEC : Finland detects GPS disturbance near Russia's Kaliningrad : Around a dozen Russian aircraft stranded in Switzerland : ISASI 2022 - Brisbane Australia - Call for Papers Accident: TUI B738 at Manchester on Mar 9th 2022, tail strike on departure A TUI Airways Boeing 737-800, registration G-TAWY performing flight BY-2384 from Manchester,EN (UK) to Fuerteventura,CI (Spain) with 57 people on board, departed Manchester's runway 23R when the tail contacted the runway surface. The crew stopped the climb at FL100, burned off fuel and returned to Manchester for a safe landing on runway 23R about 45 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration G-TAWU reached Fuerteventura with a delay of about 6.5 hours. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Manchester about 26 hours after landing back. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4f5c7f73&opt=0 Incident: S7 E170 at Irkutsk on Mar 8th 2022, descended below safe height on approach A S7 Sibir Airlines Embraer ERJ-170, registration VQ-BYM performing flight S7-5229 from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk (Russia), was on a VOR/DME approach to Irkutsk's runway 12 when the aircraft descended to 510 meters (1670 feet) height about 6.5nm before the runway and further descended to 260 meters (850 feet) height about 4.9nm before the runway. The Minimum Safe Altitude alert activated at the controller's desk. Rosaviatsia reported the aircraft touched safely down on runway 12 4 minutes later. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4f5c82e1&opt=0 Incident: Delta B738 at New Orleans and Los Angeles on Mar 8th 2022, dropped engine cowling A Delta Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N3766 performing flight DL-999 from New Orleans,LA to Los Angeles,CA (USA), departed New Orleans' runway 02, climbed to FL340 and completed the flight with a safe landing on Los Angeles' runway 24R about 3:50 hours after departure. The FAA reported: "AIRCRAFT REPORTED LOST COWLING ON LEFT ENGINE, LOS ANGELES, CA.", there was "UNKNOWN" damage and the occurrence was rated an incident. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4f5c0c86&opt=0 Incident: Delta B752 at Cancun on Mar 7th 2022, smoke in cabin A Delta Airlines Boeing 757-200, registration N673DL performing flight DL-643 from Cancun (Mexico) to New York JFK,NY (USA), was climbing through about FL200 out of Cancun when smoke was detected in the cabin. The aircraft stopped the climb at FL250 and returned to Cancun for a safe landing about 40 minutes after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 32 hours, then positioned to Atlanta,GA (USA). https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4f5c137c&opt=0 Russian Airlines Are Stopping In Morocco For South America Carriers like Azur Air and Nordwind are taking extreme route diversions due to the current sanctions. In order to fly to certain destinations in Latin America, some Russian airlines are flying previously unseen routes, including stopovers in airports like Agadir International Airport, Morocco. What has been the impact of the Western sanctions on Russian carriers? Let’s investigate further. Closed airspace In the last two weeks, the European Union, Canada, the United States, and a few other countries closed their airspaces to airlines and aircraft from Russia. Aeroflot, S7, Azur Air, Nordwind, and other Russian-based airlines have already felt the impact of the prohibition. The ban was one of the many economic sanctions imposed on Russia due to the country’s current invasion of Ukraine. Banning Russian airlines and aircraft from the European, Canadian, and American airspaces has temporarily led some carriers to ground many international flights. For instance, today, Aeroflot halted all international flights except Minks, Belarus. Other carriers have maintained a few international flights to countries that have not imposed travel restrictions on Russian airlines, like Mexico and Cuba. But, to keep those flights, they have had to operate longer routes, adding overall flight time, costs, layovers, and more. Let’s see a few examples. Traveling through Morocco Take, for instance, Azur Air’s flight ZF6680 between Moscow’s Vuknovo International Airport and Cancun International Airport in Mexico. We are using data from FlightRadar24.com for this flight. In January 2022, Azur operated the flight onboard a Boeing 777, registration VQ-BXJ. It covered 10,023 kilometers, flying nearly 13 hours. It flew over the European Union airspace through countries like Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Today, Azur Air is flying between Moscow and Cancun, but it is using a very different route, onboard a Boeing 767-300(ER), registration VP-BUX. The first leg of the trip was between Moscow and Agadir, Morocco. It covered 4,599 kilometers, but that flight alone took 11:04 hours. After a few hours in Agadir, the aircraft departed to Cancun, covering an additional 7,700 hours. Overall, the new route covers 12,299 kilometers and adds many more hours due to the layover in Morocco. Another Azur Air flight to Latin America, ZF555 between Moscow and Varadero, didn’t have layovers. Nonetheless, it took a different route avoiding the European airspace and adding three hours of flight. The route Kamchatka-Los Cabos Azur Air is not the only airline that has had to reroute its flights to Mexico due to the current sanctions. Nordwind has also had to change how it flies to certain destinations like Los Cabos, in the northwest of Mexico. On March 8, 2022, Nordwind operated its flight N49448 onboard an Airbus A330, registration VP-BUP. The flight was not originated from your traditional location, but instead, it came from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (PKC), the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. The flight lasted 10:25 hours and covered 8,099 kilometers. Repossessing the aircraft Due to the current sanctions, leasing companies must repossess hundreds of aircraft in Russia, an enormous task filled with political and operational implications. Despite the risk of losing its leased aircraft, Nordwind still operated the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky flight on Tuesday. The Airbus A330, registration VP-BUP, belongs to CDB Aviation, according to data provided by ch-aviation. We write risk in italics because the aircraft belongs to a lessor, so it should go back to its hands, but it seems Russian airlines are trying to avoid that through different strategies. https://simpleflying.com/russian-airlines-stopping-morocco-south-america/ Hundreds of Atlanta Delta pilots refuse to fly, protest flight schedules ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - Several Delta Airline pilots won’t be boarding any planes Thursday morning, instead they will be protesting their current flight schedules. CBS46 was informed that hundreds of Delta pilots will be dressed in their uniforms protesting outside the Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport starting at 10 a.m. Pilots will be picketing near the south terminal departure level near door one and door five. In the following statement Delta told CBS46 this will not impact any flights and they are working to address the issue. “This informational exercise by some of our off-duty pilots will not disrupt our operation for our customers. All of our pilot schedules meet or exceed safety requirements set by FAA as well as those outlined in our pilot contract. As we continue to deliver industry leading operational reliability and recover our network, we are also balancing ways to improve schedules for our pilots. All of our people, including our pilots, are working hard to restore our airline and deliver for our customers as we emerge from the pandemic. We are grateful for and proud of their efforts.” Pilots said the current scheduling practices are putting too much pressure on them. They said the flight schedules are forcing them to fly for long strenuous trips, too often and it causing fatigue. The pandemic forced many airlines to furlough pilots but now airline companies are desperately trying to fill these positions The FAA is also now allowing universities to reduce the number of logged flight hours needed for aviation students to graduate from 1500 hundred to 1,000. Middle Georgia State University is the only approved school in the state offering these options for aviation students. https://www.cbs46.com/2022/03/10/hundreds-delta-pilots-protest-flight-schedules-disrupt-travel/ Honda-General Electric's HF120 Jet Engines Pass 200k Flight Hours, Sadly Without VTEC (Variable Valve Timing & Lift Electronic Control) Honda has their hands in just about every facet of vehicle design, engineering, and production. The realm of passenger jet aerospace is no different, as their HF120 light turbofan jet engine. A design that just this week logged its 200,000th flight hour in the air. In conjunction with the American Aerospace giants at General Electric, Honda has been developing and fine-tuning the HF120 jet engine since the late 2000s. All in the hopes of creating an in-house developed powerplant for Honda's HA-240 HondaJet, an airframe that's already been built in over 200 units in its production cycle by the end of 2021. Not bad for a small yield private jet. Developed using engines from other manufacturers, the HondaJet began production using Honda-General Electric's own engine in December 2015. Since then, the HondaJet's passed every test the aviation sector could throw at it with flying colors. Including only a single loss of hull incident over seven years with no fatalities or injuries. The facility that manufactures HF120 engines for the HondaJet and other potential clients is based in Burlington, North Carolina. It's exported HF120 engines to as many as 42 different countries. At 2,095 lbs thrust, they're no afterburning screamers. But what they lack in raw power, they make up for in refinement, reliability, and brand recognition. It's an achievement Honda is no doubt extremely proud of. As nobody, some of us included, ever anticipated much would come out of Honda's light jet aircraft initiative. "We are excited to share this milestone with our customers," said Melvyn Heard, president of GHAE. "The engine has demonstrated best-in-class reliability and cost of ownership for our global customers. We realize the great importance our customer's place on reliability and aircraft availability. This is a testament to all those involved in this milestone, including our dedicated product support team." Here's to 200,000 more accident-free flying hours. The more of that, the merrier for all of us. Would you fly on a jet from the same company that brought us the Civic? https://www.autoevolution.com/news/honda-general-electric-s-hf120-jet-engines-pass-200k-flight-hours-sadly-without-v-tec-183542.html Finland detects GPS disturbance near Russia's Kaliningrad HELSINKI, March 9 (Reuters) - Finnair said on Wednesday it had noticed interference with its planes' GPS signals near Russia's Kaliningrad enclave, while other aircraft reported similar problems near Finland's eastern border with Russia since Sunday, Finnish authorities said. The interference began soon after Finland's President Sauli Niinisto met U.S. counterpart Joe Biden in Washington on Saturday to discuss deepening defence ties between Finland and NATO due to Russia's attack on Ukraine. Prime Minister Sanna Marin told Reuters on Wednesday she had no information about the source of the disturbances, nor about whether they originated in Russia, while the Foreign ministry said it was looking into the events. "If they would be caused by outside influence, it would surely be said publicly," Marin said. The Kremlin did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the reported interference. Some of Finnair's Asian flights and most of its European ones go past Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between NATO members Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea's eastern coast, the company told Reuters. "Our pilots have noticed interference in GPS near the Kaliningrad area in the past few days," a spokesperson for Finland's national carrier said in an email. Some 10 aircraft have also reported unusual disturbances in GPS signals near Finland's eastern border with Russia since last Sunday, Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom said on Tuesday. Traficom said it had asked aviation authorities to alert aircraft pilots to the situation by issuing an official Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) notification. The disturbances were continuing, it said. "Flying is still safe. Airlines have operational procedures for such situations if the GPS signal is lost," Traficom's director Jari Pontinen said in a statement. Lithuanian airline Transaviabaltika told Reuters it had been forced to cancel 18 flights between Helsinki and Savonlinna in eastern Finland after the lack of GPS made it impossible to land because Savonlinna airport does not have alternative navigation equipment. "We have made three attempts to fly to Savonlinna. So far, we have not succeeded," Manager Rene Must from Transaviabaltika told Reuters. Electromagnetic radiation from the sun and signal jamming are the only two reasons that could explain such long-lasting disturbances that affect several planes, Director Jukka Savolainen from HybridCoE, a pan-European organisation that seeks to counter hybrid threats, told Reuters. "States can have systems to see where the jamming comes from if they happen to be turned on and in that direction," he said. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/finland-detects-gps-disturbance-near-162624962.html Around a dozen Russian aircraft stranded in Switzerland ZURICH (Reuters) - Around a dozen Russian aircraft are stranded at Swiss airports by the closure of airspace in many European countries to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Switzerland's civil aviation authority estimated on Wednesday. "I expect that it will be around a dozen aircraft in Switzerland," a spokesperson for the Federal Office of Civil Aviation said. This included EuroAirport near Basel, which straddles the Swiss-French border. There were two aircraft in Geneva, including an Aeroflot passenger jet, and none in Zurich, he said, adding that not all airports had responded to his survey. Swiss broadcaster SRF said its investigation had found private aircraft believed to belong to Russian oligarchs were on the ground at EuroAirport. It said one of the aircraft was believed to belong to Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, and had flown to Basel from London at the end of February. Another was thought to belong to billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, it said. Neither could be reached for immediate comment on the report. The airport declined comment. Switzerland adopted European Union sanctions against Russia and closed its airspace to Russian aircraft and airlines on Feb. 28. Abramovich and Vekselberg are not personally sanctioned in Switzerland but would still be affected by the airspace closure. Russia's super-rich oligarchs have been the focus of Western pressure following the invasion of Ukraine, due to their links to the Kremlin. Moscow says its actions are a "special operation" aimed at disarming Ukraine and removing leaders it casts as dangerous. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/around-dozen-russian-aircraft-stranded-162817445.html ISASI 2022 Brisbane Australia Current Challenges for Aviation Safety Call for Papers ISASI 2022 will b e a fully interactive "hybrid” conference for delegates to meet either face to face at the Pullman Hotel King George Square Brisbane Australia or to register and participate “ on line August 30 to September 1 , 2022 The committee welcome s the offer of presentations that will address the challenges for contemporary aviation safety in the new normal including: · Recent accident/incident investigations. · Novel and new investigations techniques. · Data investigation and analysis. · Future technological developments for aviation safety. · Investigator training and contemporary selection criteria. · Wreckage recovery and analysis. · Developments in analysis and understanding of human performance with specific reference to pandemics. Abstracts should include the author’s current short CV and be sent to ISASI2022@isasi.org or if you have any questions pmayes@isasi.org April 20th Closing date for receipt of abstracts May 30th Presenters informed of successful selection and instructions for final papers issued July 20th Completed paper and power point presentation required Curt Lewis