Flight Safety Information - January 9, 2023 No. 006 In This Issue : Incident: Eastern Airways AT72 near Exeter on Jan 7th 2023, cracked windshield : Incident: Easyjet Europe A319 near Naples on Jan 5th 2023, flight management computer failure : Incident: Swiss A320 at Zurich on Jan 6th 2023, smoke in cockpit and cabin : NTSB Questions FAA’s Nacelle Certification Review Conclusions : Massive Boa Constrictor Found in Passenger's Carry-On Baggage at Tampa Airport : Hainan Airlines Flight Canceled After Worried Passenger Storms To The Front Door : Mexico Has Purchased An Airline, Will Turn It Over To The Military To Run : Southwest Airlines pilots to disastrous bosses: It's your education, stupid : Why Boeing stopped making the 747 jumbo jet : The UK attempt to make hypersonic flight a reality : 100 Years Of Gyroplane Flight: Is There A Future For The Aircraft? Incident: Eastern Airways AT72 near Exeter on Jan 7th 2023, cracked windshield An Eastern Airways Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-212A, registration G-CMFI performing flight T3-456 from London Gatwick,EN to Newquay,EN (UK), was enroute at FL160 about 10nm southeast of Exeter,EN (UK) when the right hand windshield cracked prompting the crew to divert to Exeter for a safe landing on runway 26 about 17 minutes later. The aircraft is still on the ground in Exeter about 27 hours after landing. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=50378483&opt=0 Incident: Easyjet Europe A319 near Naples on Jan 5th 2023, flight management computer failure An Easyjet Europe Airbus A319-100, registration OE-LQE performing flight U2-2825 from Milan Malpensa to Brindisi (Italy), was enroute at FL390 about 110nm northnortheast of Naples (Italy) when the crew decided to divert to Naples due to the failure of one flight management computer. The aircraft landed safely on Naples' runway 24 about 25 minutes later. Maintenance worked for about 80 minutes, then the aircraft was able to depart again and reached Brindisi with a delay of 1:45 hours. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=5036c205&opt=0 Incident: Swiss A320 at Zurich on Jan 6th 2023, smoke in cockpit and cabin A Swiss International Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration HB-IJM performing flight LX-2086 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Lisbon (Portugal), was climbing out of Zurich's runway 28 when the crew stopped the climb at FL100 reporting smoke in cockpit and cabin. The aircraft returned to Zurich for a safe landing on runway 14 about 20 minutes after departure and stopped on the apron next to the runway, the passengers disembarked via mobile stairs. The airline reported the aircraft returned due to an unknown odour on board. A replacement aircraft is going to take the passengers to Lisbon. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=5035bddf&opt=0 NTSB Questions FAA’s Nacelle Certification Review Conclusions The NTSB wants details to support the FAA’s conclusion that current certification rules adequately protect engine nacelles from posing unacceptable flight-safety risks when a fan blade fails, pointing to a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) decision to change its regulations following a similar review. FAA’s review, conducted in response to a 2019 NTSB recommendation, found that while airframe manufacturers would benefit from more specific guidance on how to comply with the regulations, the rules themselves—contained in Part 25—are sufficient. EASA’s review of similar provisions—also at NTSB’s urging—led the European regulator to propose updating both airframe and engine standards. The safety board wants the FAA to explain why the U.S. regulations are adequate while Europe’s are being updated. “Specifically, we would like to know if the specifications contained in Part 25 related to protecting the airplane against a fan-blade-off event explicitly address the structural integrity of secondary structure elements (including engine nacelle elements) and, if not, how you intend to address this concern,” the board wrote in an early December letter to FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen. “Additionally, please clarify any significant differences between your Part 25 regulations and EASA’s CS-25 provisions that support your decision to not modify Part 25 regulations.” The NTSB’s recommendations, which included redesigning 737 Next Generation nacelle parts, came from a probe into an April 2018 inflight engine failure onboard a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 that began with a cracked CFM56-7B fan blade. Pieces of the broken fan blade struck the fan case, instantly deforming it. The resulting loads started a chain of events that included pieces of engine inlet and fan cowl breaking away and striking the airframe. One piece of fan cowl debris struck a window, leading to one passenger fatality, investigators determined. Reviews of the 737-700 and CFM56-7B certification programs, both of which concluded in the mid-1990s, determined Boeing and CFM International could not have foreseen the chain of events using then-accepted methodology. But advancements in analytical modeling means manufacturers have a more complete picture of possible failure scenarios. Such developments combined with risks underscored by the April 2018 accident and several other occurrences prompted NTSB to recommend regulators revisit certification standards for airframes, which include nacelles, and engines. EASA’s review of airframe certification standards led to new special conditions that target damage during a sustained “engine imbalance” scenario, such as when a fan blade breaks but the fan continues to rotate, or windmill, even after it is powered off. Its engine approval review prompted regulatory changes, introduced in draft form in November 2021. “The potential release of uncontained debris in the engine forward and rearward directions is not sufficiently addressed,” EASA said in the draft rule. While its regulations call for engine and airframe manufacturers to collaborate on ensuring out-of-balance fan blades do not pose unacceptable risk, “it appears that the displacements and loads transmitted to the engine nacelle structure (certified at aircraft level) have not been sufficiently addressed during the certification of some engines and aircraft,” EASA added. Its draft rule targets several areas, including compressor and turbine blade failures and ice protection. The NTSB acknowledged that the FAA has not reported back on its Part 33 engine certification rule review. However, the board asked the FAA to “please explain how your current regulations address the issues outlined” in EASA’s proposed rule. https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/safety-ops-regulation/ntsb-questions-faas-nacelle-certification-review-conclusion Massive Boa Constrictor Found in Passenger's Carry-On Baggage at Tampa Airport The passenger told TSA that the snake was her "emotional support pet" A woman flying at Tampa International Airport attempted to bring a 4-foot boa constrictor on her flight last month, but was rejected by the airline, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA posted an x-ray to their social media sites Friday of the woman's carry-on bag, showing the massive snake packed in a corner of the bag along with other items like shoes and a laptop. According to the agency, the woman claimed that the snake was "her emotional support pet." The snake's name was Bartholomew, according to CBS News. Once the airline she was flying on was notified by the TSA about what they found, the agency said they "ruled" that the snake couldn't fly on the plane. https://people.com/pets/snake-boa-constrictor-found-in-airport-passenger-carry-on-baggage/ Hainan Airlines Flight Canceled After Worried Passenger Storms To The Front Door A Hainan Airlines male passenger who lost control after pushback was taken away by police for investigation at Beijing Airport. According to Hainan Airlines, an economy class passenger on HU7603 stormed to the front cabin door after the pushback of the flight on January 3rd. The security officer onboard responded quickly to control the passenger with the assistance of the passengers in business class and later handed him over to the police. The HU7603 was scheduled to fly from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). The flight taxied back to the terminal after the incident and was canceled afterward. According to another passenger onboard, Yi, the incident happened around 9:05 pm, and the HU7603 was already in line for takeoff. One male passenger suddenly ran from the rear of the plane, stormed to the front cabin door, and shouted, "The plane is going to crash. Death is coming." Also, it looked like he was trying to open the front cabin door before the security officer and the passengers from the business class controlled him. Yi also recalled that the cabin crew tried to calm the male passenger before he could reach the front door, but he remained agitated and even became physically violent with those who counseled him. After being controlled by the security officer, the male passenger still shouted, "everybody who wants to live, get off the plane now!" However, Yi said the male passenger never said what exactly would happen to the plane. According to Yi, most passengers were scared after the incident and asked the cabin crew if they could get off the plane. But still, a few passengers asked when the plane would fly. https://simpleflying.com/hainan-airlines-flight-cancelled-worried-passenger/ Mexico Has Purchased An Airline, Will Turn It Over To The Military To Run Mexicana was one of the oldest airlines in the world when it went out of business in August 2010. The carrier had been flying to the U.S. since 1920, when it began operating Mexico City to Tuxpan to Tampico to Brownsville, Texas with a Ford Trimotor. The carrier, partially-owned by the Mexican government, went into bankruptcy, and a great deal was revealed about how key executives used the business for tax fraud and money laundering. Today Mexico is served by airlines like Aeroméxico and Volaris. However the country’s President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has decided he wants a, new national airline to be run by the government itself And the government of Mexico has now acquired the assets of Mexicana, which has been defunct for 13 years for $42.6 million, including: $21 million for the airline’s brand $11 million for its training center $6 million for “a couple of buildings and offices that the company owns.” The airline will be run by retired members of the military. And by re-starting Mexicana, rather launching a new airline, they’re bringing back union leaders who haven’t had membership to lead in over a dozen years. Mexicana’s old unions will get a payout. And the airline is in talks with Boeing to acquire aircraft. New Mexicana Can’t Even Fly To The U.S. The FAA downgraded Mexico’s air safety oversight from category 1 to category 2. No Mexican airline can add a new flight or route. So Mexicana cannot fly to the U.S. at all. Mexico’s President says there’s nothing wrong with his country’s aviation safety and that the move is just protectionism, to let U.S. airlines expand into Mexico while preventing Mexican airlines from doing the reverse. However, plenty of incidents at least provide anecdotal support for a problem. https://viewfromthewing.com/mexico-has-purchased-an-airline-will-turn-it-over-to-the-military-to-run/ Southwest Airlines pilots to disastrous bosses: It's your education, stupid When too many executives have the same education and think alike, it may be a recipe for disaster. Or, at least, for a systemic catastrophe. Learn about the leading tech trends the world will lean into over the next 12 months and how they will affect your life and your job. Have you ever wondered why things always seem to stay the same? Why does Silicon Valley always seem to have the same way of doing things? Disruption by bro is the only way, right? Why do politicians always seem to think and do the way they've always done? You know, line their own pockets, believe their own lies, and care little for the populace. On this very subject, Southwest Airlines pilots would like to have a word. Well, quite a few words, actually. We write to inform you that it's your fault While you were celebrating the coming of a New Year -- or perhaps while you were still stuck at an airport waiting for a Southwest Airlines plane to take you home -- the airline's pilots were writing a scorching, scorning letter to their management. This wasn't a private letter. They wanted every single customer to know what they felt were the real reasons for Southwest's startling meltdown over the Christmas period. Penned by the pilot's union's second vice president, Captain Tom Nekouei, the letter specifically derided management and, in particular, former CEO and current chairman Gary Kelly. The pilots sneered that Kelly had authorized stock buybacks instead of investing in vital aspects of the operation -- technology, for example. "Subject matter experts, including our analysts at SWAPA [the pilots' union], pleaded with management to make the investments into our tech infrastructure before we suffered an existential meltdown," said Nekouei. Please don't worry, Nekouei had only just started to rev his engines. He described Kelly as "the airline darling of Wall Street who Gordon Gekko'd his own company from within through greed, ambition, and neglect for the operation itself." There's no accounting for incompetence But wait, here's where the pilots see the fundamental problem, and it may be a lesson for so many companies who hire according to very narrow parameters. Said Nekouei: "With the above changes instituted by Gary Kelly came the proliferation of single-points-of-failure within our Company's individual stovepipes, and at the top of that operational stovepipe as Chief Operations Officer, Gary Kelly installed another accountant and friend, Mike Van de Ven. And just like that, we were suddenly an operational flying and customer service company with the top three positions occupied by three holders of bachelor's degrees in accounting from the University of Texas." Well, isn't that grabbing the bull by the Longhorns? How many times, over the last few years, have you heard companies being described as "run by accountants"? How many times have you worked for such companies? And how many times have you considered those to be extremely well-run companies? Oh, accountants might know how to satisfy Wall Street every three months, but do they really know how to run a business with a longer-term perspective? I only ask because the pilots don't think so. Nekouei describes this accountant-centric mindset as "a recipe for operational ignorance and collective groupthink. A monetization of the once vaunted Southwest culture and instead turning it into a headquarters-centric cult. A good old boys and girls network indeed." What happens to a company that, in Nekouei's words, institutes "an obsessive focus on cost-control to increase shareholder return"? Does it become a happier place to work? Does it become a place that serves customers better? Or does it become a place where the few earn untold millions while the remainder have to deal with the consequences? A post-pandemic reset? Perhaps not Haven't we learned anything during the pandemic about what drives a company forward, beyond the numbers and data? For its part, Southwest responded to the pilots' views with down-home equanimity. An airline spokesperson told NBC News that the airline "has a more than 51-year history of allowing -- and encouraging -- its employees to express their opinions in a respectful manner." Here, though, is a fundamental issue. The pilots appear not to have any respect for the accountants who are running the show. In fact, they think they're running the airline into the ground. "I am fearful for the future of our company as the long knives come out from government regulators, lawmakers, the flying public, media, and lawyers and get pointed directly at the heart of our future careers," said Nekouei. "This meltdown was easily avoidable. It was predictable and it was predicted." Meanwhile, customers sit there wondering whether to fly Southwest again. Meanwhile, Southwest thinks it can placate them with (hopefully) a refund and 25,000 free frequent flyer points. (Hey, we know we treated you badly, so try us again!) Could it be that several accountants had to approve that? https://www.zdnet.com/education/business-management/southwest-airlines-pilots-to-disastrous-bosses-its-your-education-stupid/ Why Boeing stopped making the 747 jumbo jet Since its first commercial flight in 1970, Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet has flown more than 3.5 billion passengers. The double-decker plane made air travel way more affordable for millions of people around the globe. It is still one the most recognizable planes to take to the skies with its iconic hump, four engines, extensive landing gear and sheer size. But over the last few decades, airlines have pushed aircraft manufacturers for more fuel-efficient planes to reduce costs. Two-engine jets can now fly near the same capacity and fly farther than older, four-engine planes like Boeing’s 747 and the Airbus A380. CNBC visited Boeing’s Everett, Washington, factory to see the last 747 roll off the production line. It will go to Atlas Air for cargo flights. CNBC looks back at how the 747 changed air travel and what’s next for Boeing. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/07/why-boeing-stopped-making-the-747-jumbo-jet.html The UK attempt to make hypersonic flight a reality Reaction Engines is part of a consortium developing an engine for military aircraft that could fly five times the speed of sound Two workers at aerospace start-up Reaction Engines are meticulously threading hundreds of ultra-thin metal tubes beneath a set of small bars. Once each module is complete, sheets of these tubes are arranged in overlapping spirals to form a system that can cool air from 1,000C to below zero faster than the blink of an eye. The Oxfordshire-based group is part of a UK-led military project aiming to make hypersonic flight a reality with the development of an unmanned air vehicle capable of flying at Mach 5 — five times the speed of sound, or 3,800mph. The consortium, which includes aero-engine group Rolls-Royce, the Royal Air Force and the defence research agency DSTL, hopes to fly a demonstrator vehicle as early as the middle of this decade. “The UK needs to accelerate out of the blocks on this,” said Mark Thomas, chief executive of Reaction Engines. The emphasis of the UK project was to build a “low-cost” and “reusable” hypersonic vehicle that came back ready to fly another mission, he added. The search for ever-higher speeds has fascinated engineers, scientists and the general public for decades. In 1967 the US’s X-15 hit a speed of 4,520mph — 6.7 times the speed of sound — when Major William Knight piloted the rocket-powered experimental aircraft. One of the stars alongside Tom Cruise in this year’s box office hit Top Gun: Maverick is the hypersonic fighter jet SR-72 Darkstar. Although fictional, the plane evokes Lockheed Martin’s SR-71, which in the 1960s set a speed record for a piloted jet aircraft of Mach 3.2, or 2,455mph. The US, Russia and China are developing missiles that can fly at hypersonic speeds, making them harder to track and intercept than conventional ballistic missiles. Separately, a clutch of start-ups are working on designs for supersonic (above 767mph, or Mach 1 — the speed of sound) as well as hypersonic flight. In the case of the British effort, the aim is to develop a hypersonic engine that could potentially form the basis for a reconnaissance or combat aircraft. A potential model of the single-engine hypersonic concept vehicle, Concept V, which might be as large as a Hawk trainer jet, was unveiled by the partners at the Farnborough air show in July. Key to the system will be Reaction Engines’ innovative pre-cooler heat-exchanger, originally developed by the company for a space plane. At hypersonic speeds, the temperature generated inside a conventional gas turbine would start to melt components unless they were cooled in some way. The collaboration “picks up on [our] thermal management capability”, said Robert Bond, head of future projects at Reaction Engines. The company’s heat exchanger can reduce the temperature of compressed air rushing into an engine from 1,000C to room temperature in a 20th of a second. This technology will be integrated into a Rolls-Royce gas turbine engine. While it was still too early to discuss what the exact applications might be for the UK venture, said Bond, the question was whether it could enhance the UK’s defence capability. The company is also testing its pre-cooling technology on the other side of the Atlantic through a programme supported by the US Air Force Research Laboratory. “There is a lot of focus on the finished system in the industry and among the public,” said Phil Smith of US-based consultants BryceTech. While a commercial product akin to a passenger aircraft today was “decades away from now . . . there are incremental steps that need to be followed to get there”. Reaction Engines, he added, had the right funding and skills, and had “managed to conduct important tests of their technology”. For the Oxfordshire company, the alliance with the Ministry of Defence was “strategically important” but its focus was firmly on “commercialisation and other routes to market”, said Thomas. It hopes its pre-cooling technology will draw interest from other sectors, such as power generation and automotive, under the umbrella of its applied technologies division. The division’s order book has risen to more than £10mn this year, with a target to double it in 2023. The company is in the process of concluding a funding round focused on the commercial applications of its technology. It recently signed an agreement with US industrial group Honeywell to collaborate on the development of thermal management technologies to help reduce aircraft emissions. Its cooling technology has also helped Formula One team Mercedes. Thomas also sees a role for Reaction Engines’ technology in the recovery of waste heat, “taking waste from a factory or an industrial process, running it through the heat exchanger and extracting more energy”. The company has the backing of a mix of long-term strategic and financial investors, including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Boeing, as well as asset management firm Baillie Gifford. Luke Ward, investment manager at Baillie Gifford, said the “performance and efficiency of almost all engineering systems is limited by successful heat management”. “By pioneering and proving their technology in one of the most demanding applications out there — hypersonic flight — Reaction Engines has produced an extremely lightweight and high-performance group of heat exchange technologies.” Thomas is also happy to remain based in the UK, despite the allure of the US market. He insisted: “We are doing very well here so there is no incentive or need for us to jump over to the US. We are very well regarded as a British company that can play in the US market.” https://www.ft.com/content/032a44ed-356c-441f-8e63-a17204b2908f 100 Years Of Gyroplane Flight: Is There A Future For The Aircraft? Gyroplanes may soon be seen in the skies above major cities, operating as air taxis. At first glance, a gyroplane looks like a small helicopter, achieving lift by means of rotor blades. However, in contrast to a helicopter, which has a powered rotor, the rotor of a gyroplane continues to spin during flight thanks solely to the air moving across the rotor blades as the aircraft moves forward. The world’s first gyroplane, known as the Cierva C4, was developed in the 1920s by Juan de la Cierva, an engineer from the Spanish coastal city of Murcia. The Cierva C4 took flight for the first time 100 years ago today, on January 9th, 1923, traveling a distance of 180m. De la Cierva continued to test and modify the gyroplane, and in 1925, demonstrated its latest incarnation, the C6, to the UK’s Air Ministry at Farnborough Airport. Following the success of the demonstration, he was invited to work in the UK, where together with Scottish aviator James George Weir, he founded the Cierva Autogiro Company. In conjunction with aircraft manufacturing companies such as Avro, they began to produce gyroplanes on a larger scale. De la Cierva’s ongoing legacy In a tragic twist of fate, De la Cierva later perished in an air crash. On December 9th, 1936, he was a passenger on an ill-fated Douglas DC-2 belonging to Dutch flag carrier KLM, which crashed shortly after take-off from Croydon Air Port, bound for Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS). The accident killed 15 of the 17 people onboard. However, despite his untimely death, in subsequent years, his work continued to pave the way for future innovators to develop gyroplane and helicopter technology. The UK, Germany, and Japan all made use of gyroplanes at various points throughout World War Two. Since then, more than 1,000 gyroplanes have been flown by both military and civil operators around the world, with common uses including police operations, border control, and for agricultural purposes. Today, a number of organizations continue to offer gyroplane maintenance and training, including Highland Aviation, based at Inverness Airport (INV) in Scotland. What does the future hold for the gyroplane? While some may have previously condemned the gyroplane to the aviation history books, it could be about to make a comeback. There is huge potential for gyroplanes to be used for short-range commercial flights. Like drones, they are being considered as part of urban air mobility projects worldwide, which look at safe, quick, and sustainable ways to transport people and goods short distances. The use of air taxis in this way would contribute towards reduced road congestion in major urban areas, and would help to better connect previously underserved destinations. One such gyroplane that has been developed is the PAL-V Liberty, a combination of a gyroplane and a three-wheeled car, which features a fold-out rotor for flying. After having been approved for road use last year, the Dutch-built vehicle is currently in the final stage of compliance demonstration before it can be certified for air use by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). https://simpleflying.com/100-years-of-gyroplane-flight/ Curt Lewis