Flight Safety Information - March 17, 2022 No.054 In This Issue : Incident: Ryanair B738 at Malaga on Mar 6th 2022, descended below safe height on second approach : Incident: El Al B739 at Moscow on Mar 14th 2022, suspected tail strike : Incident: United B764 near Newark on Mar 13th 2022, bleed air issue : Russian Pilots Have No Choice But To Fly Straight Through Ukraine’s Man-Portable Missiles : British Airways Sued By its Own Pilots Over Injuries They Say Were Sustained By Looking at a Security Camera : Hawaiian Airlines takes over maintenance base at Long Beach Airport : Belarusian aircraft banned from Canadian airspace : Alaska Air unveils training program to address commercial pilot shortage : Airport in Japan may become landing site for Dream Chaser commercial space plane : Carole Hopson Wants To Help Other Black Women Become Pilots Through Jet Black Foundation : ISASI 2022 - Brisbane Australia - Call for Papers Incident: Ryanair B738 at Malaga on Mar 6th 2022, descended below safe height on second approach A Ryanair Boeing 737-800, registration EI-EVR performing flight FR-1928 from Brussels Charleroi (Belgium) to Malaga,SP (Spain) with 167 passengers and 6 crew, was on short final to Malaga's runway 12 when ATC instructed the crew to go around due to separation. The aircraft went around from about 300 feet AGL and positioned for another approach, however, descended below minimum safe altitude about 17nm out on approach to runway 12 and went around from about 3300 feet, climbed to 4300 feet and continued the approach requesting priority due to lack of fuel. The aircraft landed safely on runway 12 about 6 minutes after climbing out of below minimum safe altitude and about 30 minutes after the first go around on ATC instruction. Spain's CIAIAC reported the occurrence is being investigated by the CIAIAC. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4f611a73&opt=0 Incident: El Al B739 at Moscow on Mar 14th 2022, suspected tail strike An El Al Boeing 737-900, registration 4X-EHH performing flight LY-618 from Moscow Domodedovo (Russia) to Tel Aviv (Israel), departed Domodedovo's runway 32L and was climbing through about 1200 meters/4000 feet when the crew reported they suspected their tail had contacted the runway surface on departure. The crew stopped the climb at 10,000 feet, burned off fuel at 1200 meters/4000 feet and returned to Domodedovo for a safe landing on runway 32L about 110 minutes after departure. Rosaviatsia reported a post flight inspection revealed no damage. The aircraft is still on the ground in Moscow about 16 hours after landing back. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4f601771&opt=0 Incident: United B764 near Newark on Mar 13th 2022, bleed air issue A United Boeing 767-400, registration N66051 performing flight UA-363 from Newark,NJ to Honolulu,HI (USA), was climbing out of Newark when the crew stopped the climb at FL280 reporting they had a bleed air off indication for the left hand engine (CF6). The crew decided to dump fuel and return to Newark for a safe landing about 100 minutes after departure. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4f5ee4a5&opt=0 Russian Pilots Have No Choice But To Fly Straight Through Ukraine’s Man-Portable Missiles It’s not hard to explain the startling losses of aircraft and pilots the Russian air force has suffered as the Ukraine war enters its third week. Russian air-warfare doctrine, plus a shortage of precision-guided munitions, all but forces its fighter and attack pilots to fly low and slow underneath cloud cover within just a few miles of Ukrainian troops. It’s a recipe for disaster. A low, slow flight profile along the front line puts Russian fighters and attack planes in range of the one type of defensive missile that the Russians have no hope of suppressing: man-portable air-defense systems such as the Strela, Igla and Stinger. Those MANPADS, backed by bigger and longer-ranged air-defense systems such as the S-300, Tor, Osa and Tunguska, have badly bloodied the Russian air force, or Vozdushno-kosmicheskiye sily (VKS) as it’s called in their native language, since Russia widened its war in Ukraine starting on the night of Feb. 23. The Ukrainian defense ministry claims its forces have destroyed 77 Russian fixed-wing aircraft. Independent observers have confirmed at least 12 of those kills. Verified losses include five Su-25 attack planes, two Su-30 and four Su-34 fighters and an An-26 transport. Ground-based air-defenses including infrared-guided MANPADS probably have accounted for most of the attack jets and fighters Russia has lost. What’s remarkable is that MANPADS are very short-range weapons. A shoulder-fired Igla flies just three miles out and two up. But that limited range is no problem for Ukrainian air-defenders. Russian doctrine and technology compel fighter pilots to fly within an Igla’s envelope in order to deliver their weapons. That’s because the Russian air force isn’t an “air force” in the sense that many Western observers understand the term. Russian doctrine doesn’t require VKS warplanes to control huge swathes of air space in order to pursue campaign goals via that same air space. That is to say, the VKS isn’t like the U.S. Air Force, which in most contingencies aims totally to control the air over an entire war zone. Rather, the Russian air force is an extension of the Russian army. It’s airborne artillery. In Russian doctrine, air-to-air fighters exist briefly to control small swathes of the air in order to allow attack jets to fly in, drop their bombs, and fly out. Those attack jets, meanwhile, strictly bomb pre-planned target coordinates, usually employing “dumb” gravity bombs. The VKS never has purchased large quantities of guided weapons—and probably couldn’t do so, even if it wanted to, owing in part to the effect of foreign sanctions on Russia’s acquisition of high-quality electronics. In its air campaign over Syria, the VKS only ever armed its two-seat Su-34s with precision-guided munitions. “Even these specialist strike aircraft have regularly resorted to unguided bomb and rocket attacks,” Justin Bronk noted in a recent analysis for the Royal United Services Institute in London. “This not only indicates a very limited familiarity with PGMs among most Russian fighter crews, but also reinforces the widely accepted theory that the Russian air-delivered PGM stockpile is very limited,” Bronk continued. “Years of combat operations in Syria will have further depleted that stockpile, and may mean that the bulk of the 300 VKS fixed wing combat aircraft massed around Ukraine have only unguided bombs and rockets to draw on for ground-attack sorties.” You have to get low and slow, below the clouds, to have any chance at hitting your coordinates using dumb bombs or rockets. Put another way, you have to run the gauntlet of infrared MANPADS and other short-range air-defense systems. All you can do is pop flares, say a prayer and hope your god smiles on you. Tom Cooper, an author and expert on the Russian air force, blamed low flying and gravity bombs for the loss of a Russian fighter on Sunday or Monday. “It was once again the practice of descending below the cloud cover that proved fatal,” Cooper wrote. This “is a bad idea” as long as the enemy has short-range missiles. “However, it’s something the VKS’ crews have to do if it wants to bomb precisely, because its jets simply can’t ‘see’ through the clouds and lack PGMs,” Cooper added. It helps Ukrainian air-defenders, and further vexes the VKS, that MANPADS are the hardest surface-to-air missiles to suppress. They’re light, portable and cheap. They don’t emit active electronic signals you can track. They don’t require long-range radars to cue them. Friendly infantry in theory could flush out MANPADS crews, but Russia famously lacks adequate numbers of trained infantry. It gets worse for the Russians. To back-fill its preexisting arsenal, Ukraine has tapped several foreign sources for new MANPADS. The United States, Germany, Poland and Latvia are sending Stingers. Germany also is sending old Strelas that, admittedly, might be expired. The United Kingdom is sending Starstreaks. Ukraine isn’t about to run out of shoulder-fired missiles. That means that, three weeks into this war, the threat to low and slow Russian planes might only get worse. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/03/16/russian-pilots-have-no-choice-but-to-fly-straight-through-ukraines-man-portable-missiles/?sh=49aa806b3319 British Airways Sued By its Own Pilots Over Injuries They Say Were Sustained By Looking at a Security Camera A group of British Airways pilots are suing the airline because they claim they have sustained neck and spinal injuries by being forced to constantly twist around in the cockpit to look at a security camera monitor. The surveillance system was introduced to British Airways aircraft after 9/11 and it allows pilots to make sure only cabin crew are attempting to gain access to the flight deck. The door can only be unlocked from inside the flight deck. Pilots check the so-called Cockpit Door Surveillance System before unlocking the door but on some aircraft the monitor has been fitted behind their crew seats. The crew seat doesn’t swivel so pilots are forced to twist in their seats to look at the monitor. To make matters worse, the CDSS is made up of three cameras and the pilots must switch between each camera before eventually permitting entry to the flight deck. To switch between the cameras, the pilot must repetitively twist forwards and backwards between the monitor and the switch in front of them. A group of 16 pilots have filed a lawsuit against British Airways alleging that this constant twisting and turning has resulted in a variety of neck and spinal injuries. They are suing BA for compensation in varying amount of between £10,000 and £100,000. The total compensation sought is worth around £250,000. The lead claimant is Captain Jonathan Parry, an RAF veteran who claims to have suffered a slipped disc and spinal damage from twisting his neck as many as 5,000 times to view the CDSS. British Airways denies any liability and also questions the value of the compensation being sought by the pilots. Captain Parry’s lawyer fears a pilot could suffer an injury in the middle of a flight which could jeopardise the safety of passengers and crew. Some of the pilots involved in the claim say they have been forced to change to other aircraft types where the security camera monitor isn’t fitted on the back wall of the cockpit. No trial date has yet been fixed for the lawsuit. https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2022/03/16/british-airways-sued-by-its-own-pilots-over-injuries-they-say-were-sustained-by-looking-at-a-security-camera/ Hawaiian Airlines takes over maintenance base at Long Beach Airport Hawaiian Airlines will open a new maintenance base at the Long Beach Airport, bolstering its local presence and supporting the company’s two flights to the Hawaiian Islands. The airline, which offers nonstop flights to both Honolulu and Maui, has taken control of a 3,000 square-foot facility, making it the fourth Hawaiian Airlines maintenance and supply base in North America, a recent city statement said. “Hawaiian Airlines making this long-term investment in Long Beach is a real testament to the strength of our airport,” Mayor Robert Garcia said in a Tuesday, March 15, statement. “This new facility will help create local jobs and contribute to our economic recovery.” The new facility, a portion of which was previously leased by JetBlue Airways, will also include one of the airline’s largest supply stocking warehouses. It will all be located within hangar and office space northeast of LGB’s historic terminal on Donald Douglas Drive, the city statement said. Hawaiian has moved into the new maintenance base, but some electrical work and other upgrades are still needed, airport spokeswoman Kate Kuykendall said in a Wednesday phone interview. “We are so excited to see Hawaiian Airlines expand its footprint here at Long Beach Airport, where travelers already so enjoy the convenience of direct flights to the islands,” airport Director Cynthia Guidry said in a statement. “We are proud to grow our partnership with this major airline.” The new facility created 17 new jobs, the city statement said. Mechanics will work on both scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance on Hawaiian’s Airbus A321 fleet, including inspections, brake and tire services, and fluid checks. Hawaiian has two planes at LGB, Kuykendall said. Flights to Honolulu started in 2018 and flights to Maui in 2021. Hawaiian has two permanent flight slots at the airport, but could be in line to receive supplemental flight spots if any open. “We’re pleased to double down on our commitment to Southern California with the opening of our new maintenance facility,” Beau Tatsumara, vice president of maintenance and engineering for Hawaiian Airlines, said in a statement, “and we’re grateful to our partners at Long Beach Airport for their continued support. “This facility will allow us greater operational flexibility,” Tatsumara added, “which in turn provides our guests with a seamless and enjoyable travel experience.” https://www.presstelegram.com/2022/03/16/hawaiian-airlines-takes-over-maintenance-base-at-long-beach-airport/ Belarusian aircraft banned from Canadian airspace Canada announced on Wednesday it would be banning Belarusian aircraft from its airspace in response to their backing of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We are prohibiting Belarusian aircraft from entering Canadian airspace in response to their support for Russia's unprovoked aggression in Ukraine,” Canadian transport minister Omar Alghabra tweeted. The European Union banned Belarusian aircraft from its airspace last year after a plane that was carrying a dissident journalist was forced to land in Belarus, which was widely condemned by European leaders. Both the United States and European Union have banned Russian aircraft from their airspace in a rebuke to Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. "I am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American air space to all Russian flights — further isolating Russia and adding an additional squeeze on their economy," President Biden announced during his first State of the Union address. The European Union and the U.S. have also imposed sanctions toward Belarusian military members and personnel in addition to entities within financial institutions and the defense sector. Other sectors of the Belarusian economy like the steel, wood and potato industries, have also been hit by sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is considered an ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his country is seen as being complicit in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including when Belarus and Russia conducted military drills together prior to the start of the conflict. In late January, Lukashenko vowed that if either Russia or Belarus were attacked, there would be a war. https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/598476-belarusian-aircraft-banned-from-canadian-airspace Alaska Air unveils training program to address commercial pilot shortage Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - Alaska Airlines and its regional partner Horizon Air have announced that they are teaming up with the Pacific Northeast flight school Hillsboro Aero Academy to launch the Ascend Pilot Academy. The airline says that the new development program, designed for aspiring pilots, provides a simpler, more financially accessible path to becoming a commercial pilot at Horizon and eventually Alaska. The program is part of a larger effort to address a growing pilot shortage coupled with increased travel demand. In partnership with Hillsboro Aero, the two airlines will register and train up to 250 students a year. “Launching the Ascend Pilot Academy addresses a critical need to build a larger and more diverse talent pipeline and remove historical barriers to entry for aspiring pilots,” said Joe Sprague, Horizon Air president. “Our goal is to create a program that enables students to complete an intensive training and time-building program, with a clear and established path toward flying for Horizon as a first officer.” An industry-wide shortage of pilots has emerged during the pandemic. According to a release from Alaska Airlines, thousands of pilots at major airlines took early retirements over the past two years. The airline further said that in 2022 alone, mainline airlines are expected to hire more than 10,000 pilots, which is twice the amount hired in 2019. Combined, Alaska and Horizon estimate they will need to hire 500 pilots a year, or 2,000 by 2025. They say the Ascend Pilot Academy is one part of building that diverse talent pipeline. https://www.kinyradio.com/news/news-of-the-north/alaska-air-unveils-training-program-to-address-commerical-pilot-shortage/ Airport in Japan may become landing site for Dream Chaser commercial space plane A U.S. space plane operator with a NASA contract to resupply the International Space Station is considering an airport in southwestern Japan as an alternate landing site. The unmanned Dream Chaser, developed by Sierra Space Corp. of Broomfield, Colo., is designed to carry up to six tons of cargo and crew to destinations in low-Earth orbit, including the ISS. The plane, which rides a rocket into space, will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to a NASA blog posted in November 2019. Sierra Space, a privately held company, is partnering with Kanematsu Corp. of Tokyo and Oita prefecture to provide an alternate landing site for the space plane at Oita Airport, according to recent statements from Sierra Space and Kanematsu. Sierra Space chose the airport for its 1.9-mile-long runway and the prefecture’s position as a tourism and economic hub, The Mainchi newspaper reported March 1. Talks between the three about use of the airport started around May, according to the report. It said the plane could land there in 2026 if the site is officially chosen. “Through this project with Oita prefecture and Kanematsu we can envisage a future where the Oita Space Port is a hub for Dream Chaser landings, enabling returning space missions to land in Japan as part of our growing global network of landing sites,” Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice said in a press release Feb. 26. Sierra Space, privately held by billionaires Fatih and Eren Ozmen, Turkish immigrants now based in Sparks, Nev., is worth $4.5 billion, according to CNBC in April. In addition to the reusable Dream Chaser, the company is also developing Orbital Reef, a space station, with Blue Origin, the commercial space company founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, CNBC reported in November. Its developers describe Orbital Reef as a “mixed-use business park,”a commercially owned and operated space station in low-Earth orbit for research, industrial, international and commercial customers, according to OrbitalReef.com. It may be in operation by 2030, when NASA expects to retire the ISS. NASA contracted in 2016 with Sierra Space to resupply the ISS at a minimum of seven missions carrying critical supplies like food, water and science experiments, starting in 2023, according to the Sierra Corp. website. The contract also includes return and disposal service for the space station. “We are pleased that Oita prefecture and Kanematsu Corp. have joined forces through the Space Port Japan membership network to discuss the possibility of establishing a landing site in Asia for Sierra Space's Dream Chaser spaceplane,” Space Port Japan director Naoko Yamazaki said in a press release Feb. 26. Sierra Space is working on multiple international landing sites, including Spaceport Cornwall in the U.K., according to the company website. https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2022-03-16/dream-chaser-space-plane-nasa-landing-site-japan-5369380.html Carole Hopson Wants To Help Other Black Women Become Pilots Through Jet Black Foundation For as long as she could remember, Carole Hopson wanted to fly planes. Throughout her career in journalism and business, the Philadelphia native never gave up her goal of becoming a professional pilot for a major airline. Today, Hopson is a United Airlines captain on the Boeing 737, based in Newark, NJ. “I was 34 years old when I learned who pioneer aviatrix Bessie Coleman was,” said Hopson. “If she could do it 100 years ago, I knew I could do it.” Coleman is known for being the first African-American woman to earn an international pilot’s license, paving the way for Black women in aviation. Hopson has been so motivated by Coleman’s story that she wrote a fiction novel inspired by her. But despite the achievements of Black women in the field, they continue to comprise only a miniscule fraction of all pilots. “It doesn’t feel good at all knowing that Black women make up less than one percent of the U.S. professional pilot population. As our nation and the world is facing an unprecedented return to travel post-COVID, as goods are being shipped at record rates with the rise of online shopping and services, global travel will need to be supported with a robust pipeline of pilots.” “Add to this the fact that the military, which had been the constant supply of pilots, is no longer training the record number of aviators that it had, and we have a condition— short supply and vigorous demand. This is a classic business problem. We need a visionary business solution. That solution is to look for talent where we have never looked before.” Barriers preventing Black women from achieving a career in aviation include access, mentorship, and a lack of financial resources (it can cost upwards of $100,000 post college). The Jet Black Foundation was formed to address these barriers. Through the organization, Carole and the team intend to source and train 100 Black women aviators by the year 2035. They aim to help recruit, train, and assist in the cost of the flight training, and they are hoping to raise $7 million with which to achieve this goal. “The costs and barriers to entry are what they are. We may not be able to change those, but we can surely lead the way to help others through the maze. We want each woman to pay for her first step. It is the hardest. It is the Private Pilot License. After that first crucial step, the costs soar and so does the training commitment. Without guidance and vigorous support, it is easy to lose focus and direction.” The Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals created the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers Flight Academy to help provide support in this area. The not-for-profit flight school located in Olive Branch, MS, near Memphis, TN, offers airline training, taught by airline pilots, and because of its nonprofit status, the training costs just one-third of what other training options cost. “Black women need to be a part of that solution; part of a talent pool that has never been sourced. The ramp-up for a professional pilot is a process and can take five to ten years to get an aviator ready for the major airlines. We must begin NOW. When we improve the lives and fortunes of women, we improve the lives and fortunes of nations.” With securing the resources required to send candidates to flight school at the heart of its mission, the support of the Jet Black Foundation is a critical element of its success. Contributions can be made at www.jetblackfoundation.org. Though not easy, a successful career in aviation is possible, and Carole Hopson looks forward to helping the next generation of Black women pilots achieve their goals, offering this simple piece of advice: “Follow your dream. It’s yours. But put a date on each step. Make each step a goal. Then find a mentor. You will need a guide in order not to make costly missteps. Then get to work!” https://travelnoire.com/carole-hopson-wants-to-help-other-black-women-become-pilots-through-jet-black-foundation 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