Flight Safety Information - November 23, 2022 No. 227 In This Issue : Incident: Westjet B737 near Winnipeg on Nov 16th 2022, one of the pilots briefly incapacitated : Incident: Envoy E175 at Chicago on Nov 19th 2022, captain incapacitated : Incident: France B773 over Hungary on Nov 22nd 2022, smoke on board : Incident: LATAM B763 near Guayaquil on Nov 22nd 2022, electrical failure : Incident: TUI B738 at Manchester on Nov 21st 2022, airspeed indication issue : Gulf Air A321 jet diverted to Iraq after crew member suffers heart attack : Cessna jet safely lands at Van Nuys airport with stuck nose gear : How Increasing Levels of Automation Impact Air Traffic Controllers : Laser strike incidents at Sea-Tac Airport catches attention of FAA : We Need To Change The System That Keeps Pilots From Seeking Mental Health Care : ESASI – ‘FocusOn...ICAO’ - 7 December 2022 : GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDY Incident: Westjet B737 near Winnipeg on Nov 16th 2022, one of the pilots briefly incapacitated A Westjet Boeing 737-700, registration C-GWBN performing flight WS-661 from Toronto,ON to Calgary,AB (Canada) with 117 passengers and 5 crew, was enroute at FL360 about 110nm east of Winnipeg,MB (Canada) when one of the pilots became briefly incapacitated. A pilot travelling as passenger was utilized as a precautionary measure while the aircraft diverted to Winnipeg for a safe landing on runway 18 about 25 minutes later. The Canadian TSB reported: "The flight landed without incident and was met at the gate by EMS. The pilot was assessed and cleared to deadhead as a passenger to CYYC." https://avherald.com/h?article=5016ba1e&opt=0 Incident: Envoy E175 at Chicago on Nov 19th 2022, captain incapacitated An Envoy Embraer ERJ-175 on behalf of American Airlines, registration N269NN performing flight AA-3556 from Chicago O'Hare,IL to Columbus,OH (USA), was in the initial climb out of Chicago's runway 28R, when the training captain in the right hand seat reported the captain in training was incapacitated and "knocked out" and they needed to return. The aircraft stopped the climb at about 5000 feet and positioned for an approach to runway 28C. The first officer advised they would able to vacate the runway and would then stop to move the captain off his seat. The first officer indicated paramedics should proceed to the gate, they didn't yet know how to get the captain out of the aircraft. The captain in training was later reported to have passed away despite ruscitation. https://avherald.com/h?article=5016ac33&opt=0 Incident: France B773 over Hungary on Nov 22nd 2022, smoke on board An Air France Boeing 777-300, registration F-GSQL performing flight AF-662 from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) with 306 people on board, was enroute at FL350 about 60nm south of Budapest (Hungary) when the crew requested to return to Paris due to a minor technical issue, no assistance was needed. The aircraft turned around and descended to FL340. On the way back, about 130nm east of Munich (Germany) the crew decided to divert to Munich now reported they had smoke in cockpit and cabin. The aircraft landed safely on Munich's runway 26L about 23 minutes later and taxied to the apron. https://avherald.com/h?article=5016a1fc&opt=0 Incident: LATAM B763 near Guayaquil on Nov 22nd 2022, electrical failure A LATAM Chile Boeing 767-300, registration CC-CXI performing flight LA-2477 (dep Nov 21st) from Los Angeles,CA (USA) to Lima (Peru), was enroute at FL330 about 270nm northwest of Guayaquil (Ecuador) when the crew decided to divert to Guayaquil reporting an electrical failure. The aircraft landed safely on Guayaquil's runway 21 about 45 minutes later. Ecuador's DGAC reported the aircraft made a preventive technical stop. The aircraft is still on the ground in Guayaquil about 5 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=50169e6f&opt=0 Incident: TUI B738 at Manchester on Nov 21st 2022, airspeed indication issue A TUI Airways Boeing 737-800, registration G-TAWB performing flight BY-2147 from Lanzarote,CI (Spain) to Manchester,EN (UK), was on final approach to runway 05L when the crew initiated a go around, climbed to about 13,000 feet before positioning for another approach to runway 05L. The aircraft landed safely on runway 05L at a slightly higher than normal speed about 25 minutes after the go around. The airline reported the aircraft went around due to a minor technical issue. All passengers and crew disembarked normally. According to information The Aviation Herald received there was an airspeed indication problem. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Manchester 23 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=5016b8b8&opt=0 Gulf Air A321 jet diverted to Iraq after crew member suffers heart attack A Gulf Air Airbus A321 passenger aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Erbil, Iraq after a crew member suffered a heart attack mid-flight. The incident occurred on November 22, 2022, when the Gulf Air Airbus A321 plane, registered A9C-NE, was performing scheduled daily passenger flight GF19 between Bahrain and France. According to the flight history found on Flightradar24.com, the aircraft took off from Bahrain International Airport (BAH) at 10:22 p.m. (UTC) and was expected to reach Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris around six hours after the departure. A Turkish Airline flight was forced to make an emergency landing after an off-duty pilot bit a cabin crew member’s finger. But when the plane was nearing the Iraq-Turkey border it suddenly made a sharp ‘V’ turn and diverted to Erbil International Airport (EBL) in the Kurdistan region at around 12:26 a.m. (UTC). This was due to a crew member suffering a heart attack while on the flight. According to Gulf Air, the A9C-NE continued its flight to Paris once the employee had been taken by local medical services. Unfortunately, the crew member was later declared dead in Erbil. "The national carrier expresses its deepest condolences to the crew member’s family and loved ones and confirms that the flight resumed to Paris as scheduled. [...] Gulf Air reassures that the safety of its passengers and crew comes at the top of its priorities, and thanks the affected flight’s passengers for their patience and understanding,” the airline said in a statement, which was seen by TradeArabia News Service. https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/32731-gulf-air-emergency-landing-iraq Cessna jet safely lands at Van Nuys airport with stuck nose gear A small jet landed at Van Nuys Airport with stuck landing gear, safely sliding to a halt on the runway with no major damage or injury. VAN NUYS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A small jet landed at Van Nuys Airport with stuck landing gear, safely sliding to a halt on the runway with no major damage or injury on Tuesday. The Cessna 550 Citation II, a corporate jet, circled the airport for at least 10 to 15 minutes as the pilot communicated with the tower about the gear problem, and apparently burned off fuel. It then descended steadily and touched down on the runway. The nose dipped down and skidded along the ground, throwing up sparks as the plane slowed. The aircraft otherwise remained steady and did not swerve or leave the runway. No fire was seen. Shortly after the plane came to a stop on the ground, two occupants walked out and there was no immediate indication of serious injury. Multiple emergency vehicles were prepared on the runway for the landing. https://abc7.com/emergency-landing-van-nuys-airport-cessna-stuck-nose-gear-aviation/12483389/ How Increasing Levels of Automation Impact Air Traffic Controllers Adaptable automation offers air traffic controllers the advantages of increased safety and efficiency while counteracting the unintended consequences that can follow static automation, such as skill decay and loss of perceived autonomy. Automation of tasks often helps companies and workers to get more done in less time. In the aviation industry, almost everyone—from pilots to aircraft maintenance technicians—relies on some kind of automation during the workday. Air traffic controllers, for instance, have relied on automated solutions for years to ensure that they receive accurate information quickly and to communicate with pilots effectively. However, some may not experience automation as having a positive impact on their work. They may feel as though they have less control over how to complete tasks or make decisions independently. During a recent webinar hosted by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL), Dr. Michèle Rieth shared some findings from her research on the effects of adaptable automation on air traffic controllers. Competence, autonomy, and relatedness were identified as the three most important components of work for air traffic controllers, Dr. Rieth shared. They need to feel that they are good at their job, that they have control over work-related decisions, and that they are connected to other people in their daily work. She noted that these aspects need to be preserved as levels of automation increase to ensure job satisfaction for air traffic controllers. To identify the effects of automation on air traffic controllers, the researchers conducted interviews with air traffic controllers and experts, held workshops, and conducted an online survey. “The results showed that automation is already changing a lot,” Dr. Rieth stated. The positive effects are the support that automation provides to human operators, which reduces coordination effort needed. Automation also improves safety and efficiency. “The use of automation can also come along with new problems for humans which can lead to serious consequences in safety critical contexts,” she explained. “The air traffic controller’s role is becoming more passive. They increasingly have to monitor the system, so they notice a shift from active air traffic control to more passive system control.” "Successful human-automation interaction can only be achieved if the human side is adequately considered." (Photo: Screenshot from presentation by Dr. Michèle Rieth) Air traffic controllers that participated in the research project commented that the meaningful elements of their work are lost as a result of increased automation. Things are balanced at the moment, and individuals reported still being satisfied with their work, but it is important to consider the downsides of increasing levels of automation in this industry. Dr. Rieth remarked that adaptable automation allows for flexible function allocation. This paradigm dictates that the human operator can dynamically adjust how tasks are divided between the air traffic controller and the automated system. “Most conventional automation approaches involve static allocation concepts, or fixed function allocation,” she added. “It cannot be changed afterwards once the system is designed and implemented.” Adaptable automation offers the advantages of increased safety and efficiency while counteracting the unintended consequences that can follow static automation, such as skill decay and loss of perceived autonomy. “When automation crosses a critical boundary from information automation to decision automation, loss of perceived autonomy and competence is more likely,” Dr. Rieth said. The researchers’ findings indicated that adaptable automation could contribute to a more human-centered design without negatively impacting performance or workload for air traffic controllers. The SESAR 2020 Scientific Committee Automation Taskforce drafted an extensive report on the topic of automation in air traffic management, or ATM. “Although it is generally agreed that the future of the ATM system will evolve towards higher levels of automation, a shared vision is needed in order to develop a research roadmap with a breakdown of specific research actions,” the report stated. The committee concluded, “The vision of the future ATM system remains resolutely human-centric but at the same time, the technical system gains a certain level of autonomy. Both the operator and the system work in close cooperation maintaining a multimodal conversation and making use of the most recent advances in AI/machine learning.” https://www.aviationtoday.com/2022/11/22/how-increasing-levels-of-automation-impact-air-traffic-controllers/ Laser strike incidents at Sea-Tac Airport catches attention of FAA The FAA has confirmed that there have been at least three separate incidents of people pointing lasers at airplanes heading into Sea-Tac Airport in the past week. (Photo by Anda Chu/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images) The Federal Aviation Administration announced they would be investigating reports from flight crews targeted by lasers going in and out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The FAA has confirmed that there have been at least three separate incidents of people pointing lasers in the past week. FBI offers reward after 100 incidents near Sea-Tac where lasers have been pointed at planes The FAA released the following statement. The FAA is committed to maintaining the safest air transportation system in the world. Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety hazard that puts everyone on the plane and on the ground below at risk. It is also a violation of federal law. To reduce laser attacks, the agency conducts outreach to educate the public about the hazards of lasers aimed at aircraft. The agency also works closely with other federal agencies and state and local governments to report and investigate incidents, help apprehend suspects, and advocate for the prosecution of offenders. Two reports of lasers happened Friday, Nov. 18 when pilots from Alaska and Delta airlines said they were hit by green lasers as they approached the airport. A third incident happened on Saturday, Nov. 19 when an Alaska Airlines crew said they were targeted with a laser southeast of Sea-Tac at an altitude of 4,800 feet. Pointing a laser at an airplane is a huge safety concern, the FAA highlights. With some “high-powered lasers” capable of incapacitating pilots flying their aircrafts. The penalty if caught pointing a laser at a plane could be as high as $11,000 per violation. According to data released by the FAA, 9,723 incidents of aviation laser strikes were reported in 2021. With data from this year, there have been 253 reported laser strikes in the Seattle area as of October 2022. Members of the public who have witnessed an individual shining a laser at aircraft can report the incident to the FBI, FAA, or local law enforcement. Tip lines include 206-622-0460 (FBI’s Seattle Field Office), 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), or tips.fbi.gov. The public may also e-mail the FAA at laserreports@faa.gov. https://mynorthwest.com/3725962/laser-strike-incidents-at-sea-tac-airport-catches-attention-of-faa/ We Need To Change The System That Keeps Pilots From Seeking Mental Health Care As travel ramps up again, our data show that many pilots refuse to seek health care out of fear they will be pulled from flying By 29 years old, Chris Daniel felt he had it all: a wife, two beautiful children and fulfillment of his lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. airline captain. But in the spring of 2022, after years of flying, Chris knew something was not right. Shadows from his past were reemerging, strained by post-COVID travel demand and long, taxing weeks on the road. Years earlier, Chris’s physician had suggested that his low mood and trouble sleeping might be symptoms of mild depression. But like many pilots, he balked at the idea. If a doctor diagnosed depression or if he sought help, Chris assumed he would never be able to fly again. Seeking help seemed unthinkable because losing flying was akin to losing everything; being a pilot was who he was. Chris’s story is not unusual. While mental health symptoms are common in airline pilots, getting help can affect their ability to work in a big way. Airline pilots are required to meet certain medical standards in order to maintain an active flying status, and disclosing a new symptom or condition to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) puts them at risk of losing, usually temporarily, their ability to work and fly. This is particularly true for mental health symptoms. The FAA bars pilots from the cockpit if they report seeking regular talk therapy for even mild anxiety or depression; this may last for months and sometimes even years based on the assumption they pose an unacceptable risk to safety. In fact, pilots find themselves among only a handful of professions that require disclosure of any encounter with the health care system, including mental health visits. While it makes sense to ground a pilot in distress, the current system often fails to recognize the dynamic and often situational nature of mental health symptoms and often drives pilots from seeking care. Time off the job can have negative repercussions such as loss of pay and need for recurrent training, and the expenses of additional medical evaluations required by the FAA often fall onto the pilot. All of these together result in a population of pilots working the fleet who are suffering in silence and fearful to get the help they need. We must rethink the system that drives pilots from attending to their mental health and change what seeking mental health care services means in aviation. Data my group and others have gathered are beginning to reveal the scope of this problem. Our findings demand attention. In our recent study of more than 3,500 US pilots, 56 percent reported behavior that we classify as avoiding health care (for example, getting health care outside the traditional system to avoid its documentation) specifically because they feared the loss of their clearance to fly. Interestingly, 26 percent of pilots reported that they had withheld information during their FAA health checkups for the same reason: the fear of losing their medical clearance. This is sometimes called “losing their wings.” In a sister study, more than half of pilots in our sample had something they felt needed to get checked out—maybe it was mental health related, perhaps a knee injury, or even just a rash—but waited or decided against it because they worried about their career. While our studies focused on overall health care, we suspect this finding also applies to mental health. Many pilots have reasonably good access to health care. This includes health insurance, paid time off and sometimes other union protections. Instead, these data suggest a barrier exists because pilots are asked to weigh the benefits of seeking help against the professional costs that they alone bear. How bad does mild anxiety need to become to warrant a prolonged absence from work? For most pilots, very bad. The growing demand for pilots in our travel-hungry, COVID-endemic world is likely to make this problem more complicated. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects 18,100 new pilot jobs each year for the next decade, precipitated by the continued growth of air travel. As compensation has soared in 2022, more is being asked of pilots, including longer and more frequent trips to keep pace with passenger demand. This is in the context of other airline professions—such as maintenance and administrative staff—facing major personnel shortages, placing further strain on a system already operating at its limits. Higher demand on pilots can lead to additional time away from family and friends, leading to an even greater need for mental health care services. Simply put, pilots’ need for mental health care is likely to only grow in the coming years. While on the surface it might seem that increasing the pool of pilots would ease the situation, more pilots won’t fix the existing challenges in the system. Flight training programs are expanding, and some airlines are taking the unprecedented step of establishing their own training programs. But, while class sizes are growing, they are being filled by a younger and more diverse generation of student pilots who may not be as willing as their predecessors to quietly suffer. In fact, emerging data suggest the willingness of current pilots (who are still largely in the 40-to-60 age range) to avoid health care for job security may not be as true for the next generation. “Younger pilots are different from past generations and are more willing to identify as needing help when it comes to their mental health,” John Dulski, 21, an aviation student at the University of North Dakota and advocate for aviation mental health reform, told me during a recent phone call. “Many are more willing to choose to get care at the risk of stepping away from flying.” The answers to why such a phenomenon is occurring remains an open question that our research group is trying to understand. Could it be related to social media lowering the stigma of mental health or the influences of growing up through the pandemic? We hope future research will reveal the answer. A new generation of Gen Z airline pilots more open to stepping away from flying to seek mental health care services may only further strain the shortage of pilots. But more importantly, it should call for industry to rethink what it means for an airline pilot to be mentally fit and what services they should be able to receive while still working the fleet. We can all agree that safety in aviation should be the foundation for meaningful change. Certainly, a pilot with a severe mental health condition shouldn’t be flying. But the opportunity lies for pilots with mild symptoms. These are high-performing professionals who are perhaps facing one of life’s usual stressors—a divorce, a family death or even just the chronic stress of the job. How might we rethink a system that enables this group to seek mental health care services in hopes of sidestepping a diagnosis that could go on to fully pull them from flying? One answer is clear. The FAA should change policy to permit pilots with mild symptoms to seek professional regular, and if needed prolonged, talk therapy without loss of their medical certification. Such a change would have major benefits for people on both sides of the flight deck door, including treatment to prevent symptom worsening, and regular pilot assessment by a professional mental health provider. Recognizing that mental health is on a dynamic spectrum and that many pilots could benefit from talking to a professional mental health provider at some point in their career has the potential to keep pilots flying healthy while also increasing safety in the system. Pilot unions and airlines should fuel this movement by raising awareness about the problem their pilots face and by lobbying for an alliance of stakeholder to determine how best to safely enact this change. While credit is due to the FAA for recently making several positive policy changes related to mental health, there is still work to do and time is of the essence. Chris Daniel never did get help for his mental health symptoms, and despite an excellent flying record, he died of suicide in June 2022. While we believe suicide is relatively rare among pilots, this extreme outcome is in part why we must create positive change. With the use of appropriate supervision and reevaluation, aviation’s safety culture should shift to thinking of mental health care services as a marker for wellness and prevention instead of risk and disease. This change would not only benefit pilots, but also the 2 million U.S. passengers who trust the aviation system every day. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-need-to-change-the-system-that-keeps-pilots-from-seeking-mental-health-care/ ESASI – ‘FocusOn...ICAO’ - 7 December 2022 ESASI FocusOn...ICAO will take place on 7 December 2022, which is the 78th anniversary of the signing of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The aim of this free session is to increase the understanding of aviation safety investigators on the breadth of ICAO’s activities relative to accident investigation. Speakers and Content The principal speakers are: Padhraic Keller, President of the Air Navigation Commission; Thor Thormodsson, Air Accident Investigator, ICAO Air Navigation Bureau; Arnaud Desjardin, Safety Officer ICAO EUR/NAT Regional Office Paris; Olivier Ferrante, Chair ICAO Accident Investigation Group Panel; and Simon Lie, Annex 13 Research Group. The session will be chaired by Dr David King, Visiting Professor at Cranfield University, Ex Chief Inspector of UK AAIB. FocusOn...ICAO will cover the ICAO organisation from the 1944 Chicago Convention, through its structure, guidance material, circulars, State Letters and Annexes. It will look at its implementation and explore the Annexes particularly relevant to the air accident investigation community, which includes Annex 13. The session will conclude with an open discussion on the topics covered. Format FocusOn...ICAO will be hosted on Zoom and start at 1400 UTC on Wednesday 7 December 2022. The formal session will be kept to a maximum of two hours and the virtual meeting room will be opened from 1300 UTC to allow you to meet and enjoy a coffee (also free!). We also intend to keep the virtual room open for a further 30 minutes at the end of the session to allow members, who so wish, the opportunity to continue informal discussions. Invitation If you are interested in joining FocusOn…ICAO, then please send an email to registrations@esasi.eu to obtain a link to the meeting and details of Zoom meeting good practices. GRADUATE RESEARCH STUDY Good day, I am a B777 Captain flying for one of the worlds major airlines studying for a degree in Aviation Management through a University based in the United Kingdom. I am studying levels of burnout and fatigue within the industry, please can I get a few minutes of your time to fill out this survey to find out how you are being or have been affected by this. Thank you. Captain William Oliver https://forms.gle/XBMyeniKaqQwwfQr9 Curt Lewis