Flight Safety Information - August 12, 2022 No.156 In This Issue : Incident: Volaris A320 at Leon on Aug 10th 2022, burst both left hand main tyres on landing : Incident: Transport International B763 enroute on Aug 10th 2022, dent in fuselage and hydraulic leak : FAA Issues Task Order for UTM Project at Griffiss International Airport : Yavapai College District Governing Board Approves Aviation Program Private Pilot Training Fees : Volga-Dnepr To Let Go Of Over 200 Boeing Pilots : Join our free Electronic Systems Investigation, 30-minute online mini course on August 15th, 2022. : Aviation Safety Community : GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - 1 : GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - 2 Incident: Volaris A320 at Leon on Aug 10th 2022, burst both left hand main tyres on landing A Volaris Airbus A320-200, registration XA-VLB performing flight Y4-993 from Oakland,CA (USA) to Leon (Mexico), landed on Leon's runway 13 but burst both left hand main tyres. The aircraft slowed safely and came to a stop on the runway. The airline reported the aircraft had a two tyre puncture in the landing gear upon landing. The aircraft braked safely, the passengers disembarked safely. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4fccdea1&opt=0 Incident: Transport International B763 enroute on Aug 10th 2022, dent in fuselage and hydraulic leak An Air Transport International Boeing 767-300 freighter, registration N491AZ performing flight 8C-3462 from San Bernardino,CA to Charlotte,NC (USA) with 2 crew, departed San Bernardino's runway 24, climbed to FL350 and FL370 enroute and landed on Charlotte's runway 18L about 4.5 hours after departure following a seemingly uneventful flight. The FAA however reported: "AIRCRAFT LANDED AND POST FLIGHT INSPECTION REVEALED A DENT ON LEFT SIDE OF FUSELAGE AND LEAKING HYDRAULIC FLUID, CHARLOTTE, NC." https://www.avherald.com/h?article=4fcc5024&opt=0 FAA Issues Task Order for UTM Project at Griffiss International Airport This week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a task order contract to the New York UAS Test Site for an unmanned aircraft system (UAS or drone) integration project. The project is designed to assist in the development of a UAS traffic management (UTM) system and to promote the safe operation of high-volume drone operations. This UTM Field Test project (Project) will be overseen by the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance, Inc. (NUAIR), a New York-based nonprofit that manages the operations of the FAA-designated New York UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York. NUAIR led the efforts for New York’s 50-mile UAS Corridor that runs between the cities of Rome and Syracuse. The Project will be conducted in this Corridor and will provide the FAA with information useful to policy development and standards for beyond visual line-of-sight drone operations. Such operations are critical to the advancement and widespread integration of commercial drone operations in the national airspace at low altitudes. The demand for the operation of drones in low altitude airspace (i.e., below 400 feet) continues to increase, especially after the pandemic, when the desire for at-home and instantaneous delivery grew. The FAA seeks to support these complex drone operations in a safe and efficient manner. Projects like the Field Test will assist in improving UTM and other necessary technologies and systems. The Project went live in July and is set for completion by Spring 2023. In addition to NUAIR’s management of the Project, ANRA Technologies, AX Enterprize, Cal Analytics, Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, Oneida Indian Nation, and OneSky will partner and collaborate as well. Through these industry partners and local government, the UTM infrastructure will be updated so the FAA and the drone community can help build a better ecosystem. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/faa-issues-task-order-utm-project-griffiss-international-airport Yavapai College District Governing Board Approves Aviation Program Private Pilot Training Fees Classes are set to begin this fall semester The Yavapai College District Governing Board approved the proposed fee structure for the College’s Private Pilot training, part of the Aviation Program. At a special meeting on Tuesday, the Board approved the College’s request for fees, differential tuition, and other program costs, allowing classes to be offered this fall. YC will partner with Leighnor Aircraft to lease the Private Pilot training aircraft. Total costs for students will be approximately $14,388, comparable to many other nationwide programs. YC already offers FAA-approved training in instrument pilot, commercial single-engine, commercial multi-engine, commercial flight instructor, and commercial instrument flight instructor with its partner, NorthAire. The aviation industry needs an influx of trained pilots, and Yavapai College is equipped to train students in private and commercial pilot training in just two years. Classes for the Aviation Program are taught at the Prescott Airport and the Yavapai College Career and Technical Education Center in Prescott. For more information on the Yavapai College Aviation Program, visit www.yc.edu/aviation or contact Matthew Mintzmyer at matthew.mintzmyer@yc.edu. https://prescottenews.com/index.php/2022/08/12/yavapai-college-district-governing-board-approves-aviation-program-private-pilot-training-fees/ Report: CareFlight pilot says he did not see power lines before Ohio crash All three Premier Health crew members had minor injuries, but the helicopter took "substantial" damage, the National Transportation Safety Board said Yesterday at 11:47 AM MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The pilot of a CareFlight medical helicopter that crashed in Milford Township last month said he did not see the power lines before the main rotor blades hit them, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. At just before 5 a.m. on July 26, CareFlight was requested to the scene of a fatal crash at U.S. 127 and Hamilton Eaton Road in Butler County. According to the report, the pilot said that about nine miles from the crash scene, he asked for information about the site, and the fire department on the scene said there were high voltage wires on the south side of the landing zone. The pilot told the NTSB he knew the winds were calm, so he flew around the scene to approach from the south. He said he was watching for power lines but didn't think they would be in and around the landing zone. As he approached, he said he couldn't find the wires, even while wearing night vision goggles, the report said. He could see the electrical tower but did not know which direction wires were running away from it, and even by moving the landing light up and down could not find them. Ultimately, the report said, the pilot decided the wires were further out from the landing zone and descended. At about 30 to 50 feet from the ground, the main rotor blades hit the wires, severing one, and the helicopter fell and landed hard, the report said. All three crew members sustained minor injuries, the report said, but the helicopter received "substantial" damage. According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector quoted in the report, all main rotor blades were snapped in half, and the main rotor gearbox and mounts were fractured. In addition, the left engine was hanging from the engine mounts, the stabilizer was bent and substantially damaged, the skids were damaged, and the helicopter was left lying on its left side, with all its weight on a single blade buried in the ground. On the day of the crash, Butler County Sheriff's Capt. Morgan Dallman said that two cruisers were damaged when the helicopter crashed — one by debris that shattered a window and another by the falling power lines that fell across it. No firefighters or officers were injured. https://www.ems1.com/helicopter-crash/articles/report-careflight-pilot-says-he-did-not-see-power-lines-before-ohio-crash-rQUCqtyBtosT4ADM/ Volga-Dnepr To Let Go Of Over 200 Boeing Pilots The cargo carrier is no longer able to maintain its Boeing fleet. Russian cargo group Volga-Dnepr has released over 200 Boeing pilots as it moves away from foreign-made aircraft. The pilots flew for two of Volga-Dnepr's subsidiaries - AirBridgeCargo and Atran. Volga-Dnepr fires 200+ Boeing pilots As international sanctions remain in place, Volga-Dnepr Group has laid off over 200 pilots responsible for operating the group's Boeing aircraft. The Russian-owned cargo operator can no longer maintain Western-made aircraft and has seen its international operations severely limited due to the ongoing sanctions. The pilots were employed at two of the cargo group's subsidiary airlines - AirBridgeCargo and Atran - which operated Boeing 737, Boeing 747, and Boeing 777 freighters. A Volga-Dnepr representative told RBC, "The company's resources are not unlimited. Optimization of the number [of staff] is a necessary measure. It is being carried out in stages in order to be able to mothball the fleet." According to RBC, the pilots received their employment termination notices in July. Volga-Dnepr will retain a small number of its Boeing crew in case the carrier gets the go-ahead from the Russian Ministry of Transport to return its remaining Boeing jets to lessors. Removing all foreign aircraft Volga-Dnepr Group is still eager to return its leased Boeing aircraft to their owners after suspending most of its operations in the wake of the Ukraine conflict. Russian airlines have asked to return planes to lessors as sanctions prevent them from obtaining spare parts or receiving technical support for foreign-made aircraft, essentially rendering the aircraft inoperable long-term. The airline submitted a request to Russia's Ministry of Transport around three months ago but has yet to receive a response. The cargo carrier will now operate with Antonov and Ilyushin aircraft. Photo: Anna Zvereva via Wikimedia Commons The majority of Volga-Dnepr's cargo operations were international, meaning that business was hit severely as countries shut their airspace to Russian-owned airlines. By mid-March, subsidiaries AirBridgeCargo and Atran had stopped flying and all their Boeing aircraft were grounded. AirBridgeCargo, which had four Boeing 747-400, 13 Boeing 747-8F, and one Boeing 777-200F to start the year, managed to return a Boeing 747-8F to BOC Aviation in March and wants to get rid of 14 of its remaining 16 747's currently parked at Moscow Sheremetyevo. Upcoming plans The Russian cargo group had hoped to work around Western sanctions by establishing a new enterprise in the Middle East in partnership with Etihad Airways. However, the legal ramifications of such as move dissuaded Etihad from pursuing it further. Volga-Dnepr will now rely on locally-made aircraft, such as the Antonov An-124 and Ilyushin Il-76. The carrier currently has three An-124 and four Il-76 aircraft, with a further nine An-124s grounded due to ongoing legal battles. https://simpleflying.com/volga-dnepr-200-boeing-pilots/ GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - 1 Hello! As part of an MIT survey, we are looking for experienced pilots to help evaluate past aviation convective weather interactions. Participants will be asked to evaluate flight segments which may (or may not) have deviated due to the tactical weather situation. Participation is entirely remote via email, and will take about 15-30 minutes, depending on the number of cases you wish to label. If you are interested in participating, please use the link at the bottom to read more about the study and let us know that you are interested! Link: https://forms.gle/kzQLLUi26JkR2sap9 Rachel Price MIT - Aeronautics and Astronautics GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY - 2 Greetings, My name is Nurettin Dinler, Research Scholar and PhD student at Department of Aviation Science, Saint Louis University working with Nithil Bollock Kumar, PhD Candidate, Gajapriya Tamilselvan, PhD, and Stephen Belt, PhD. We are working on a research project titled “Low-Cost Airline Pilots on Exercising Fuel-Loading Policies during Flight: A Phenomenological Exploration Study.” I am writing this e-mail to invite you to participate in a research study that we are conducting at Saint Louis University. Your participation in this study will involve taking a semi-structured interview that lasts for about 30 minutes. During the interview, you will be questioned about your experiences with Low-Cost Airlines’ fuel-loading policies developed to minimize pilot discretionary (extra) fuel. There is no compensation provided for your participation in the study. However, your participation will be a valuable addition to our research and your findings could lead to greater understanding of risk management for pilots and the sources of stressors in commercial aviation. Participation is completely voluntary, and your participation will remain confidential throughout the process of research. If you are interested in participating in this research, please take a moment to complete the survey at the following link: https://slu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0l9Awl5UkXDiKRo If you have any questions, please contact me at 321-245-8628 or nurettin.dinler@slu.edu. Thank you for your time and consideration. Regards, Nurettin Dinler, M.S. Research Scholar Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science School of Science and Engineering McDonnell Douglas Hall, Lab 1046 3450 Lindell Blvd., St Louis, MO 63103 nurettin.dinler@slu.edu (321) 245-8628 Curt Lewis