Flight Safety Information - March 1, 2023 No. 041 In This Issue : Incident: Swoop B738 near Varadero on Feb 28th 2023, fuel leak : Incident: Sun Country B738 at St. Petersburg on Feb 27th 2023, flaps damage : Incident: Delta B738 at Atlanta on Feb 27th 2023, smoke indication : Incident: ICE B752 enroute on Feb 27th 2023, engine issue : JetBlue plane and Learjet involved in near miss at Boston Logan Airport : The 5 airplane near crashes under investigation : Man Steals American Airlines Bus at JFK Airport, Doesn't Get Caught Until He Hits Manhattan : Airbus: Pacific-Based Airlines To Take On More Than 900 Aircraft Over Next 20 Years : DGCA plans to hire 400 tech staff in 1-2 years; increase offices to 19 (India) : US military seeks to brew jet fuel from the air : Graduate Research Survey Incident: Swoop B738 near Varadero on Feb 28th 2023, fuel leak A Swoop Boeing 737-800, registration C-GDMP performing flight WO-646 from Toronto,ON (Canada) to Kingston (Jamaica), was enroute at FL370 about 150nm south of Varadero (Cuba) when the crew began to suspect a fuel leak at the left hand engine (CFM56). The crew decided to divert to Varadero (Cuba), shut the engine down, drifted the aircraft down to FL230 and landed safely on Varadero's runway 06 about 35 minutes after leaving FL370. The aircraft is still on the ground in Varadero about 14 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=505cb1a2&opt=0 Incident: Sun Country B738 at St. Petersburg on Feb 27th 2023, flaps damage A Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N813SY performing flight SY-301 from Minneapolis,MN to St. Petersburg,FL (USA), performed a seemingly uneventful flight departing Minneapolis' runway 12R and landing on St. Petersburg's runway 18 about 2.5 hours after departure. The FAA reported: "AIRCRAFT FLAPS WERE DAMAGED AND IT WAS DISCOVERED DURING A POST-FLIGHT INSPECTION, ST PETERSBURG, FL." and rated the damage minor. The aircraft remained on the ground in St. Petersburg for about 22 hours before returning to service. https://avherald.com/h?article=505c5aba&opt=0 Incident: Delta B738 at Atlanta on Feb 27th 2023, smoke indication A Delta Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N3735D performing flight DL-2465 from Atlanta,GA to Newark,NJ (USA) with 164 people on board, was climbing out of Atlanta's runway 27R when the crew advised they had the sound of smoke (alarm) in the cabin and needed to return, Atlanta departure declared emergency for the aircraft. The aircraft stopped the climb at about 6400 feet, positioned for an approach to runway 27R and landed safely about 16 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration N372DA reached Newark with a delay of about 14 hours. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Atlanta about 18 hours after landing back. https://avherald.com/h?article=505c55ff&opt=0 Incident: ICE B752 enroute on Feb 27th 2023, engine issue An Icelandair Boeing 757-200, registration TF-FIK performing flight FI-454 from Keflavik (Iceland) to London Heathrow,EN (UK), was enroute at FL370 about 330nm southeast of Keflavik when the crew decided to return to Keflavik due to an indication suggesting a problem arising with an engine's (RB211) gearbox. The aircraft maintained FL370 for the return and was later descending towards Keflavik when the crew needed to shut the engine down. The aircraft landed safely on Keflavik's runway 19 about 1:55 hours after departure. A replacement Boeing 757-200 registration TF-ISR reached London with a delay of about 2:45 hours. The airline reported the crew received an indication of a technical issue that needed to be looked at. According to preliminary information The Aviation Herald received there was an indication suggesting a developing problem on the engine's gearbox, the engine subsequently needed to be shut down. https://avherald.com/h?article=505c53c6&opt=0 JetBlue plane and Learjet involved in near miss at Boston Logan Airport Two planes nearly collided at Boston's Logan Airport on Monday night after one flight took off without permission, air safety officials say. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said a JetBlue flight from Nashville took evasive action, narrowly avoiding a departing Learjet plane. The agency said it will investigate the "close call" to determine the proximity that the two planes came to each other. It comes amid an alarming rise in safety incidents involving US planes. "According to a preliminary review, the pilot of a Learjet 60 took off without clearance while JetBlue Flight 206 was preparing to land on an intersecting runway," the FAA said in a statement provided to BBC News on Tuesday. The near miss occurred around 19:00 local time (00:00GMT). An air traffic controller instructed the pilot of the Learjet "to line up and wait" on a runway that intersects another runway that the JetBlue flight was approaching for landing, the FAA says. "The Learjet pilot read back the instructions clearly but began a take-off roll instead," said the FAA statement. "The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the intersection." "The FAA will determine the closest proximity between the two aircraft as part of the investigation." The Learjear plane was being operated by private charter company Hop-a-Jet. A JetBlue spokesperson told US media the pilot performed a "go-around", a common manoeuvre triggered when a normal landing cannot proceed. "Safety is JetBlue's first priority and our crews are trained to react to situations like this. We will assist authorities as they investigate this incident." The JetBlue flight landed 14 minutes late, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Several startling incidents led US senators on 15 February to hold a hearing to call on the FAA to review safety measures, and examine the glitch in their computer system that delayed thousands of flights across the country last month. In January, a similar near collision occurred at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport. In December, a United Airlines plane leaving Hawaii nose dived to just 800ft (245m) above the Pacific Ocean before recovering and continuing safely to San Francisco. One day before the Senate hearing, the FAA said it would conduct a "safety call to action" and compile a team to investigate the recent incidents. "We are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, but we cannot take this for granted," said acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen. "Recent events remind us that we must not become complacent." Aviation industry have told BBC News that a wave of recent retirements, that sped-up during the Covid pandemic shutdown, have created staffing shortages across the industry. Those shortages are felt from airport baggage departments to pilots, all the way to the FAA, the federal agency in charge of air traffic control and air safety. The FAA, which is led by an administrator appointed by the president, has had three administrators over the span of just five years, and has been without a permanent administrator since last April. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64805935 The 5 airplane near crashes under investigation Phil Washington, the White House’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, is going to face tough questions in his confirmation hearing about his ability to lead an agency facing the challenges the agency faces. Among those challenges: a series of close-call plane accidents in the United States. Washington is expected to get grilled by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Wednesday on a slew of aviation issues that have emerged since he was nominated last summer. It’s been a year since the FAA operated without a permanent administrator and in that time, the agency has contended with several problems that have plagued travelers and the airline industry, such as recent near-collisions involving airliners, crucial staffing shortages and malfunctions of aging technology that have cause major air travel disruption. Five recent near-collisions on US runways, including one more this week in Boston, have prompted federal safety investigators to open multiple inquiries and a sweeping review. Boston Air traffic controllers stopped JetBlue flight from running into a departing private jet as it was coming in to land on the evening of February 27 night in Boston. The FAA is investigating the incident. The two planes involved in the apparent close call at Boston Logan International Airport came within 565 feet (172 meters) of colliding, according to Flightradar24’s preliminary review of its data. According to a preliminary review, the pilot of a Learjet 60 took off without clearance while JetBlue Flight 206 was preparing to land on an intersecting runway,” the FAA said in a statement. “JetBlue 206, go around,” said the controller in Boston Logan’s tower, according to recordings archived by LiveATC.net. The FAA says its air traffic controller told the crew of the Learjet to “line up and wait” on Runway 9 as the JetBlue Embraer 190 approached the intersecting Runway 4 Right. “The Learjet pilot read back the instructions clearly but began a takeoff roll instead,” the FAA said in a statement. “The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the intersection.” Burbank Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board said that a crew of a landing Mesa Airlines CRJ900 “executed a pilot-initiated go-around” as a SkyWest Embraer E175 was taking off from the same runway. A go-around is a routine measure to abort a landing on the approach. The NTSB says neither airplane was damaged and nobody on board was hurt. LiveATC.net recordings from the time of the incident chronicle confusion over whether the SkyWest flight was off the runway at Bob Hope Burbank Airport in California. It’s unclear how close the two planes came to a collision. “Is he off the runway yet?” asked one unidentified voice. “We’re going around,” responded the crew of the Mesa flight. “The Mesa pilot discontinued the landing and initiated a climb out,” said a FAA statement, which is also investigating the incident. “Meanwhile, the SkyWest aircraft continued with its departure, which prompted an automated alert to sound on the flight deck of the Mesa aircraft,” the FAA said. The controller instructed the Mesa crew to turn to a course that took it away from the other aircraft.” Austin A Southwest passenger jet and a FedEx cargo plane came as close as 100 feet from colliding on February 5 at the main airport in Texas’ capital, and it was a pilot – not air traffic controllers – who averted disaster, a top federal investigator says. Controllers at Austin’s airport had cleared the arriving FedEx Boeing 767 and a departing Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 jet to use the same runway, and the FedEx crew “realized that they were overflying the Southwest plane,” Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told CNN. The FedEx pilot told the Southwest crew to abort taking off, she said. The FedEx plane, meanwhile, climbed as its crew aborted their landing to help avoid a collision, the FAA said. Honolulu On January 23, there was an incident at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport involving a United Airlines 777 jet and a smaller, single-engine cargo plane at the Hawaii airport. The United jet improperly crossed a runway, while the cargo aircraft was landing, the FAA said. At the closest point, the aircraft were separated by 1,170 feet. The cargo aircraft involved in the incident is a smaller Cessna 206 turboprop operated by Kamaka Air, which ferries goods between the Hawaiian islands. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NTSB announced the investigation the day after Billy Nolen, the acting FAA administrator, directed his agency in a memo to “mine the data to see whether there are other incidents that resemble ones we have seen in recent weeks.” New York - JFK On January 13, a close call between an American Airlines and Delta Air Lines flights sparked alarm. The crew of a Delta Boeing 737 aborted its takeoff, ultimately stopping within 1,000 feet of the taxiing AA’s Boeing 777, the FAA said. No one was hurt in the incident, which took place around on a Friday evening. Air traffic controllers had “noticed another aircraft crossing the runway in front of the departing jetliner,” the FAA said in a statement. “According to a preliminary analysis, Delta Air Lines Flight 1943 stopped its takeoff roll approximately 1,000 feet before reaching the point where American Airlines Flight 106, a Boeing 777, had crossed from an adjacent taxiway.” According to Delta, its flight – a 737-900 bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – had 145 customers and six crew members on board. Audio recordings detail swift action by an air traffic controller kept the airplanes from colliding as they drew closer. “S–t!” exclaimed the controller from the tower of John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday night. “Delta 1943 cancel takeoff clearance!” The NTSB is investigating the incident. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/business/faa-plane-close-call-investigations/index.html Man Steals American Airlines Bus at JFK Airport, Doesn't Get Caught Until He Hits Manhattan He drove the thing all the way to Manhattan before he was caught A man allegedly stole an idling American Airlines bus from a parking lot at JFK Airport early Wednesday, authorities say. A man allegedly stole an idling American Airlines bus from a parking lot at JFK Airport early Wednesday, authorities say. No one was in the bus, which was jacked from Lot 12 at the Queens hub shortly before 2 a.m. The NYPD says they think the vehicle was left running and the suspect, a 43-year-old known to them, jumped in and drove off. He made it all the way down the Grand Central Parkway into Manhattan, then drove southbound on the FDR before he was eventually caught at Cadman Plaza West and Middaugh Street, officials said. No injuries were reported. Charges were pending against the man Wednesday morning. His name wasn't immediately released. Police say he has nine prior arrests, but the bus theft didn't mirror any of those. Most of the criminal history is believed to be domestic nature and the most recent arrest dates back to 2015. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/american-airlines-bus-stolen-from-jfk-airport/4128992/ Airbus: Pacific-Based Airlines To Take On More Than 900 Aircraft Over Next 20 Years Airbus anticipates delivering 920 aircraft to Airlines in the South Pacific by 2043. Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has recently announced that it anticipates delivering over 900 aircraft to Pacific-based airlines, primarily in Australia, New Zealand, and the surrounding areas, throughout the next 20 years. The manufacturer expects this based on the Airbus Global Market Forecast. According to the forecast, demand for passenger air travel will increase by 3.2% year-over-year through 2043. This projection comes as demand for air travel has proliferated following the pandemic. While the rapid demand growth has slowed, there are no signs that it will stop any time soon. Predicted business Airbus predicts that airlines in the South Pacific region will continue purchasing Airbus planes as the demand for air travel continues to grow based on data collected from past sales and projected sales. While it anticipates a steady growth in demand, Airbus is not the only aircraft manufacturer attempting to sell airplanes to these airlines. However, it has sold many airplanes to these airlines in the past and is currently producing many for them today. With statistics collected from past orders and anticipated future orders, Airbus has concluded that it will deliver 920 new aircraft to airlines in the region over the next 20 years. The manufacturer has shared that 45% of these deliveries will replace older aircraft being retired by the airlines. The other 55% will consist of new planes meant to expand the airline's fleets and, subsequently, its operations. 750 of the 920 aircraft will likely be narrowbody airliners such as those from the Airbus A220 and Airbus A320 families. The remaining 170 airplanes will be widebody jets such as the Airbus A350 and Airbus A330. According to JETLINE MARVEL, roughly 170 Airbus aircraft are in service with airlines throughout the region. These airlines have a collective 166 Airbus airliners on backorder, making up 75% of the back-ordered aircraft in the region. Airbus's Chief Representative for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, Stephen Forshaw, shared that the manufacturer is seeing strong growth in the region and has made these estimations based on realistic projections. Forshaw stated, "We are already seeing steady recovery in global air traffic and a renewed confidence in the growth of the industry. This is particularly evident in the Pacific region, where we are seeing a surge in travel demand and an increase in flights to and from key destinations," Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today. Sustainable growth With the rapid growth, Airbus is taking several measures to ensure that the production and operation of these aircraft are as sustainable as possible. The manufacturer has partnered with airlines such as Air New Zealand and Qantas to study ways to improve sustainability. It has also ensured that its newest aircraft models are as efficient as possible, offering a 25% reduction in fuel burn, reducing operating costs and carbon emissions. Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today. Forshaw stated the following concerning the airline's sustainability efforts, "A priority for airlines in this region is ensuring that the air transport sector can grow in a sustainable way. This has become an increasingly important factor when airlines make fleet decisions and Airbus is well-placed with the modern and comprehensive product line available today, offering a reduction in fuel consumption and emissions of up to 25%." https://simpleflying.com/airbus-pacific-based-airlines-900-aircraft/ DGCA plans to hire 400 tech staff in 1-2 years; increase offices to 19 (India) Currently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has around 1,300 employees, including about 700 technical staff. Indian civil aviation system should aim for 'Under-20' rankings in ICAO ratings: DGCA Chief Arun Kumar The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans to ramp up its technical staff to 1,100 by hiring another 400 people in the next one to two years as well as increase the number of offices to 19 as the watchdog strengthens the safety oversight capabilities, according to its chief Arun Kumar. Kumar, who will be superannuating on February 28 after being at the helm for nearly four years, described his tenure as a "roller coaster ride" during which various steps were taken to improve aviation safety and the regulator also dealt with multiple headwinds, including engine issues and safety concerns over SpiceJet. India's aviation safety oversight ranking jumping to the 55th position from 112th place earlier under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) coordinated validation mission, rollout of eGCA for processes at the regulator, introduction of regulations for transgenders who want to be pilots as well as compulsory breath analyser tests for air traffic controllers are among the key developments during the tenure. "The country's aviation safety oversight capability has improved substantially and DGCA in its annual surveillance programme conducts more than 4,000 spot checks/audits/night surveillance," Kumar told PTI in an interview. Currently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has around 1,300 employees, including about 700 technical staff. "The number of technical staff is expected to increase by 400 in the next one to two years... also, the number of offices of the DGCA in different parts of the country will increase to 19 from the current 14 in the near term," he said. When asked about his tenure, Kumar, an IAS officer of the 1989 Haryana cadre, said it has been a "roller coaster ride". "It was fulfilling as we took various steps to improve aviation safety. eGCA was a game changer and made life easier for all stakeholders," he asserted. "Among the biggest achievements are India's position going up in the ICAO safety rankings and the full rollout of the eGCA. With the high ICAO ranking, the world knows that India is a better country when it comes to aviation safety," Kumar said. During the pandemic, the DGCA chief said that India did what other countries were doing and flight services were suspended for a considerable time. "What is significant is that our resumption was glitch free while others (countries) had air crash and accidents. DGCA is an expert agency and we have always taken pride in our professionalism. Aviation safety is a serious business and DGCA inspectors have always risen to the occasion," Kumar said. India is the world's third largest as well as the fastest growing civil aviation market in the world. "On an average, there are 4.5 lakh domestic air passengers and 1 lakh international air passengers in the country," Kumar said. In recent times, the regulator has also taken strict action in relation of unruly passenger behaviour onboard flights. Last month, in a span of less than a week, the DGCA had penalised Tata Group-owned Air India twice related to incidents of unruly passenger behaviour. On January 24, the regulator imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on the airline for not reporting two incidents of unruly passenger behaviour onboard a Paris-New Delhi flight on December 6, 2022. On January 20, the watchdog slapped a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Air India as well as suspended the licence of the pilot-in-command of the New York-Delhi flight in which a person allegedly urinated on a female co-passenger on November 26, 2022. In connection with the incident, a fine of Rs 3 lakh was also imposed on Air India's Director of in-flight services for failing to discharge her duties. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/dgca-plans-to-hire-400-tech-staff-in-1-2-years-increase-offices-to-19-arun-kumar/articleshow/98248111.cms?from=mdr US military seeks to brew jet fuel from the air The U.S. Air Force is testing new technology that could let it brew jet fuel from the air. That’s part of an attempt to create a decentralized supply chain for jet fuel — allowing future American military outposts to produce their own. The Department of Defense on Tuesday announced a $65 million contract with startup Air Company, which brews fuel out of carbon dioxide pulled from the atmosphere. The company won its spot in the program by winning a 2021 competition by fueling a drone with ready-made jet fuel as part of the Air Force’s Project FIERCE. Air Company hopes the shipping-container-sized fuel factories will supplement — or even replace — the long, tenuous and explosive supply chains that currently route the fuel from wells through refineries, ports and ultimately to bases. “You don’t want to have to ship jet fuel around,” Air Company Chief Technology Officer Stafford Sheehan told The Hill. Sheehan noted that fuel-related incidents — such as explosive accidents or attacks on convoys — were a principal cause of injury and death during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Future military bases, by contrast, “could produce it when they need it — and use it pretty quick,” Sheehan said. Major air carriers like Jet Blue (an investor in Air Company) and United see such “sustainable aviation fuels” as a primary means of decarbonizing long-haul flights — a source of about 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. As CNBC reported, the new-model fuels represent a controversial solution — sometimes compared to the marginal health benefits of “low tar cigarettes” that the tobacco industry offers. That’s because switching airlines to sustainable fuels — unlike, say, batteries — doesn’t remove any carbon from the atmosphere or even replace any existing emissions. Rather, it proposes to turn the global jet fuel industry into a circular closed-loop, in which carbon is captured and released into the atmosphere as the fuel is produced and used. Even in the best case, jet fuel of any type also leads to more than its share of planetary heating because high-altitude jet emissions change the atmosphere’s composition — allowing more solar energy to break through and warm the planet. Sustainable fuels also bring new supply chain and climate concerns. While Air Company hopes to ultimately produce its fuels from “direct air capture” — by harvested atmospheric carbon dioxide — it currently depends on waste emissions from producing biodiesel. As Scientific American reported in December, the biodiesel industry itself and the EPA Renewable Fuel Standard that has supercharged it have probably increased global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s because biodiesel comes from crops like corn and soy, which depend on fossil-fuel fertilizers and diesel-powered tractors and shipping to move them. Increased production of these commodities also leads to raised emissions of nitrous oxide — a greenhouse gas 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide — and more carbon released from soil. Nonetheless, for major air carriers under pressure from investors about their climate plans, the current options are sustainable aviation fuel or grounding their airliners until battery-electric or hydrogen fuel cell breakthroughs make truly zero-carbon air travel possible. The military last year rolled out its own climate commitments, which included cutting greenhouse gases by 50 percent by 2030, making each base electrically self-sufficient by 2035, and making every base carbon neutral by 2050. But for now, Air Company’s fuels generators — which can be plugged into any electric source — are more beneficial to strategic resilience than effective climate solutions. Sheehan added that the company’s trademark Air Made fuel would fill an essential niche in the military’s energetic toolkit. While the military has a wide range of means to generate electricity — like the Army’s tactical generator program or its research into small nuclear reactors and self-charging military vehicles — they currently “don’t have any method of turning carbon dioxide, water and that electricity into jet fuel,” Sheehan said. Air Company hopes the Department of Defense pilot project will help it scale its operations to the point that it can offer fuels to air carriers. Their Brooklyn-based pilot plant “produces on the order of 10s of gallons per year,” Sheehan said. “We want to produce millions of gallons to fuel entire bases.” In its journey to this partnership, Air Company helped pay the bills by selling non-fuel products — like its Air Made vodka, distilled (like its ethanol-based fuels) from carbon dioxide and water. The company also introduced a hand sanitizer made from captured carbon dioxide during the height of the 2020 shortages of that product. Sheehan said these products did double-duty for the company: they helped serve as marketing, but they also helped defray costs by providing a higher-margin product Air Company could sell. They could realize meaningful profits “with a relatively small volume when making things like [vodka or hand sanitizer], whereas when you’re making jet fuel — to get economical, you have to be an extremely large scale,” he said. China, Belarus call for cease-fire, negotiations in Ukraine Brennan sees ‘hung jury’ among intelligence community on COVID origins That scale is now more in reach thanks to the Democrats’ climate stimulus spending, he added. Last summer’s Inflation Reduction Act, which provides incentives for the production of alternative fuels, will help to make them cost-competitive with fossil fuels at lower production volumes, he said. He also highlighted the importance of innovations in renewable electricity, such as small-scale solar and wind and nuclear small modular reactors, to significantly impact the cost of sustainable aviation fuel production. https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/3877239-us-military-seeks-to-brew-jet-fuel-from-the-air/ Graduate Research Survey Greetings, Aviation Professionals! If you are seeing this message, you are being asked to participate in an anonymous questionnaire about safety culture. This is for my Master’s thesis, and your participation would be greatly appreciated. Participation is voluntary, and you can opt out at any time. It should take less than 15 minutes of your time. Please complete the survey in one sitting, as there is a limited period to have your responses recorded. Click the link https://fit.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eEU2rcyJN3MzxH0 ,which will take you to an online survey platform. Please share this announcement with other aviation professionals you know; every response helps! Sincerely, Brandon Judy Master’s Student College of Aeronautics Florida Institute of Technology Curt Lewis