Flight Safety Information - March 15, 2023 No. 051 In This Issue : Incident: Delta B712 at Charlotte on Mar 14th 2023, fuel leak : Incident: Delta B763 near London on Mar 14th 2023, engine problem : Airbus A220-100 - Taxiway Excursion (New York) : On eve of air safety summit, FAA administrator says there have been more near-collisions than expected in U.S. skies : FAA to investigate runway wrong turn at DC-area airport : FAA holding safety summit after spate of near-collisions at airports : From mechanics to pilots, women work in a wide range of jobs in aviation : Flair aircraft seizures came after months of missed payments and defaults, lessor says : LATAM Brasil Launches All-Female Pilot Hiring Process. The airline expects to fill at least 50 vacancies by December 2023. Incident: Delta B712 at Charlotte on Mar 14th 2023, fuel leak A Delta Airlines Boeing 717-200, registration N925AT performing flight DL-2481 from Charlotte,NC to Detroit,MI (USA), was departing runway 36C when tower observed a fuel loss from the aircraft. The aircraft climbed out, a massive fuel leak was observed from the right hand wing, stopped the climb at 4000 feet and returned to Charlotte for a safe landing on runway 36L while ATC cancelled approach clearances to runway 36L for all other approaches. The aircraft landed safely about 10 minutes after departure. Runways 36C and 34L were closed following the occurrence, the FAA reported the airport was down to one runway only causing delays of up to 2 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=506704ce&opt=0 Incident: Delta B763 near London on Mar 14th 2023, engine problem A Delta Airlines Boeing 767-300, registration N180DN performing flight DL-183 from Rome Fiumicino (Italy) to New York JFK,NY (USA), was step climbing from FL320 to FL340 about 180nm southwest of London,EN (UK) when the crew advised they had just lost an engine (PW4000) and were descending back to FL320 initially. The crew reduced the engine to about idle thrust, drifted down to FL200 and decided to divert to London Heathrow,EN (UK). The aircraft dumped fuel and landed safely on Heathrow's runway 27R about 65 minutes after the onset of trouble. The airline reported the aircraft diverted due to an engine issue. https://avherald.com/h?article=5066ff64&opt=0 Airbus A220-100 - Taxiway Excursion (New York) Date: 14-MAR-2023 Time: 07:33 Type: Airbus A220-100 Owner/operator: Delta Airlines Registration: N135DQ MSN: 50054 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 61 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Unknown Location: Syracuse-Hancock International Airport, NY (SYR/KSYR) - United States of America Phase: Taxi Nature: Passenger - Scheduled Departure airport: Syracuse-Hancock International Airport, NY (SYR/KSYR) Destination airport: New York-La Guardia Airport, NY (LGA/KLGA) Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources Narrative: A Delta Airlines plane went off the runway during taxi and came nose down in the grass. http://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/309209 On eve of air safety summit, FAA administrator says there have been more near-collisions than expected in U.S. skies Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen told NBC News that while it remains safe to fly, officials will not "take that safety for granted." In the wake of a series of high-profile near-collisions at U.S. airports — and one terrifying plunge from the sky — the Federal Aviation Administration is hosting an impromptu safety summit Wednesday to assess whether changes need to be made to how American flights are regulated. This comes as the FAA is investigating yet another close call in their backyard. On March 7 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Republic Airways Flight 4736 crossed a runway without clearance, putting it in the path of another flight — United Airlines Flight 2003 — that had just been cleared for takeoff, the FAA told NBC News on Tuesday. After clearing the United flight for takeoff, an air traffic controller saw what happened and canceled the clearance. "United 2003 cancel takeoff clearance," the air traffic controller said. "Aborting takeoff, aborting takeoff United 2003." The Republic pilot had initially been cleared to cross a different runway but turned onto the wrong taxiway, according to the FAA. In an interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said that while it remains safe to fly, officials have grown concerned as they have begun "to see things that we don’t expect to see." “We expect every flight to operate as it should,” Nolen said. “And so we’ve had these events over the past few weeks. That gives us a moment to say, Let’s stop. Let’s reflect. Let’s ask ourselves the question: Are we missing anything?” FAA chief addresses flight safety concerns on Capitol Hill Near-collisions rattle flyers Among the most high-profile of the recent incidents: An American Airlines flight crossed an active taxiway at JFK Airport in New York City as a Delta Airlines flight was about to take off, prompting the FAA to issue subpoenas to the American pilots; a Learjet 60 took off from Boston's Logan International Airport without clearance and nearly collided with a landing JetBlue flight; and a FedEx cargo airplane trying to land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas narrowly avoided hitting a Southwest Airlines flight preparing to take off. In fact, FAA data show there have been fewer overall near-miss incidents over the past six months than in the same periods prior. Still, compared with an average of four to 10 “serious runway events” or near misses a year over the past decade, Nolen said, recent months have produced more incidents “than you’d expect to see.” That also includes a United Airlines flight taking off from Maui unexpectedly plunging to within 800 feet of the Pacific Ocean, causing terror aboard. "It's a good opportunity for us to just make sure, let’s go pressure test our assumptions," Nolen said of the summit. 'Pressures in the system' Aviation experts have questioned whether one factor leading to the uptick in incidents is the swift rebound in flying in the wake of the pandemic. While the numbers remain just short of February 2020 levels, Nolen acknowledged a resurgence in air travel has affected the flying landscape. "We’re coming out of the backside of this pandemic," he said. "And ... truly we’re seeing pent up demand for flying. Flying has come back with a vengeance, so to speak." That demand for air travel is coming at the same time as the aviation industry grapples with a wave of retirements that occurred as the pandemic bore down. Nolen said that while hiring is occurring "aggressively" to refill the positions, the combined weight of increased flying and ongoing hiring has produced "some pressures in the system." Amid record profitability for airlines, Nolen called on carriers to continue to create schedules that "match their capability and demands of the market." "We want to make sure as we look not only today but into into the summer and into the future that we’ve got that happening," Nolen said. Nationwide ground stop in January was the 'right decision' The FAA is also continuing to address concerns about the temporary nationwide ground stop imposed in January after its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMS) system went offline. Nolen said that the stoppage "was the right move to make in that moment." "What the flying public expect is that they’re safe, and that there’s a level of predictability there and we want to give them as much as we can," he said. "I couldn’t guarantee that in that moment there. And so we made the right decision in the interest of safety to take a timeout, make sure the system was safe." But he acknowledged that the FAA must ameliorate a system where there can be "a single point of failure." He praised Congress for recently pledging to provide funding so that the FAA can continue to upgrade its systems. "What I’ve heard time and again: 'We’re prepared to help you, we’re prepared to give you the the resources that you need,'" Nolen said of Hill officials. "And so we’re very grateful for that. Our mission is to make sure we get it right." 'Flying is very safe' Despite the recent crop of troubling incidents, Nolen emphasized that flying in the U.S. remains "very safe," noting there has not been a major fatality event since 2009, when Colgan Air Flight 3407, a subsidiary of Continental Airlines — now part of United Airlines — went down en route to Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 passengers and crew aboard. "We have the safest most complex Airspace System in the world and it is very safe," he said. "It is very resilient. And with that, we will continue always to never take that safety for granted. We will not become complacent." But the recent episodes nevertheless have the attention of safety officials, Nolen said. "When we see a few events that pop up, we’re going to take a moment to say 'Hey, is there something we’re missing here?' Because this is this is an incredible record, and we want to keep it going." https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/faa-administrator-seeing-collisions-expected-us-skies-rcna74853 FAA to investigate runway wrong turn at DC-area airport Federal officials announced Tuesday that they’re investigating after a taxiing airplane took a wrong turn at a Washington-area airport and crossed a runway where another plane was preparing to take off. The Federal Aviation Administration said it happened on the morning of March 7 after air traffic control cleared a Republic Airways Embraer 175 to taxi across a runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and a United Airbus A319 was cleared to take off from another runway, The Washington Post reported. The Republic pilots took the aircraft in a different direction and crossed the runway that the United flight was about to use, but a controller intervened, officials said. The United flight returned to the beginning of the runway at the airport in Arlington, Virginia, before taking off for Chicago, and the Republic flight continued to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The investigation will determine how close the planes were, the FAA said. United referred questions to the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board, which said it hadn’t launched an investigation but was monitoring the incident. Republic officials didn’t respond to a request for comment from the newspaper. The announcement comes as the FAA convenes a safety summit Wednesday to address a series of near-misses. https://wtop.com/local/2023/03/faa-to-investigate-runway-wrong-turn-at-dc-area-airport/ FAA holding safety summit after spate of near-collisions at airports The Federal Aviation Administration is hosting a safety summit Wednesday to address a recent string of close calls on airport runways. The panel brings together participants from various segments of the country's aviation system to gain a deeper understanding of the root causes of the near-collisions. "I look at them like a fever in a human body and that it is signaling that something is not right," said Robert Sumwalt, former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and a CBS News transportation safety analyst. "I think these are very much precursor events that could be signaling that there's something more serious in the system," said Sumwalt, who will be a moderator at the summit. At Reagan National Airport in Virginia last week, a United Airlines flight heading to Chicago and an American Airlines regional jet bound for Raleigh nearly collided. The incident was caused by conflicting instructions from separate air traffic controllers. It is the seventh close call the National Transportation Safety Board is looking into this year. According to airline captain Laura Einsetler, the incidents may be linked to post-pandemic effects, including a surge in hiring by airlines and the FAA, as well as a sharp rise in travel demand. "We're now quickly hiring a lot of new people into the industry: air traffic control, maintenance pilots, everything. So it's taking time to get everyone up to speed and that's some of what we're seeing right now," Einsetler said. The NTSB is searching for commonalities that may have contributed to the incidents, such as communication breakdowns, situational awareness lapses and inadequate training. The board has suggested implementing safety technology to prevent such incidents, but as of now, it has only been installed in approximately 40 airports nationwide. The airlines involved in the recent incident at Reagan have declined to comment, deferring the matter to investigators. While safety experts, pilots and the FAA maintain that flying is safe, they stress the need to make it even safer. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faa-safety-summit-airplane-near-collisions-airports/ From mechanics to pilots, women work in a wide range of jobs in aviation GREENVILLE, Wis. — The pace moves quickly on the ramp outside the terminal at Appleton International Airport. Dee Eubanks and her team are busy loading baggage, boxes and preparing a Las Vegas bound Airbus A320 for a mid-morning departure. What You Need To Know Women fill aviation jobs ranging from mechanics and station managers to pilots and fuelers Women fill roughly 30% of non-flying jobs and 8% of pilot positions in the United States About 40% of the county staff at Appleton International Airport are women The goal: “To get this aircraft out early, which is what we accomplished, and as safely as possible,” Eubanks said. “We just had more hands on deck because we had to have a little extra hands-on for the boxes and everything we had going out today.” Eubanks is the station manager for Allegiant Air in Appleton. She’s also one of about 220,000 women working in aviation in the United States. It’s a job she said she loves. “Oh my goodness, who wouldn’t love to be outside around beautiful aircraft all day?” Eubanks said. “I cannot describe how fortunate I am to be in this position and to be around aircraft and around amazing people. I think once you get into the aviation industry you never leave it. It always pulls you back in.” According to Women in Aviation Worldwide, females make up about 30% of the non-flying positions in aviation. That includes jobs like mechanics, dispatchers and flight attendants. About 8 percent of pilot jobs are filled by women. The number of women filling those jobs increased by more thand 15,000 nationwide from 2018 to 2020. Hollie Foley is a marketing specialist with the airport. She said about 40% of the county jobs at the facility are filled by women. “For Allegiant, that’s ground handlers, gate agents and at the counter,” Foley said. “At our FBO where our private planes fly in, fuelers, customer service e agents and all sorts of positions.” Working at the airport is not something she envisioned just a few years ago, “Aviation is just a fun, fast-paced industry. Every day is so much different and it’s about getting people to where they need to go,” Foley said. “It’s fun seeing all of our travelers coming because they’re just so excited to get on vacation or wherever they need to go.” The station manager position is a second career for Eubanks. She encourages other women to pursue aviation careers regardless of where they are in life. “I always loved flying, looking up, watching planes land, it was always kind of the think we did growing up,” she said. “Now, being here, you get more of an appreciation for what it does take to get an aircraft up in the air and get people to their destination. https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2023/03/09/women-in-aviation Flair aircraft seizures came after months of missed payments and defaults, lessor says Low-cost carrier Flair Airlines CEO believes a major Canadian airline was involved behind-the-scenes in a recent decision by Airborne Capital to seize four of Flair’s planes. Sarah Ryan explains. The New York-based company that seized four leased aircraft from Flair Airlines last weekend says the move was a “last resort” following months of missed payments, denying accusations it was working with another carrier to push the low-cost airline out of business. In its first public comments on the matter Tuesday, Airborne Capital Ltd. said in a statement to Global News that Flair was “regularly in default” and failed to make payments when due over a five-month period, despite numerous notices and “direct and regular contact” with the airline. Those missed payments added up to millions of dollars, the lessor said — disputing statements from Flair’s chief executive this week that it owed about $1 million total. “Terminating an aircraft lease is always a last resort, and such a decision is never taken lightly,” Airborne said. “In this case, following numerous notices to Flair, it again failed to make payments when due and Airborne took steps to terminate the leasing of the aircraft.” Flair Airlines aircraft seizure leaves travellers scrambling Tuesday’s statement came a day after Flair CEO Stephen Jones suggested Saturday’s seizures may have been instigated by another carrier attempting to disrupt Flair’s operations. “We’ve come in and upset the cozy duopoly, and as a consequence people want us out of business,” he said at a news conference on Monday. “And we do believe that there were negotiations going on behind the scenes between one of the majors and the lessor to hurt Flair by them offering probably above-market rates for the aircraft we’ve been leasing.” Jones did not offer any specifics to back up the claim. “While I’m not going to name names or cite evidence, I believe that there is much more to this picture than the surface that you see,” he said. WestJet Airlines, Canada’s second-largest airline, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for top carrier Air Canada said the company had not spoken to any of Flair’s lessors, “nor have they come to us offering their aircraft.” Jones also claimed the four Boeing 737 Maxes were “only a few days in arrears” with about $1 million owing, “which is about half of one day’s sales for us.” Airborne said Tuesday it “strongly rejects the accusations that have been made by Flair Airlines in recent days” about the dispute. Aviation experts say Flair Airlines jets seizure is unusual It added despite efforts to mitigate losses resulting from Flair’s default, “material losses are expected in relation to the repossession and remarketing of the aircraft” — suggesting it will be shopping the planes to other carriers. Flair Airlines disruptions shake public’s confidence in Canadian low-cost airlines The sudden seizure of more than one-fifth of Flair’s operating fleet saw the budget carrier scramble to roll out other planes over the weekend, as passengers in Toronto, Edmonton and Waterloo, Ont., dealt with last-minute flight cancellations. About 1,900 travellers saw their flights cancelled Saturday, with some 420 of them rebooked within three days, Jones said Monday. Others opted for reimbursement. No flights were cancelled Sunday or Monday as the company brought out three planes that had been waiting in the wings ahead of summer travel season, on top of a fourth freshly leased plane, he said. https://globalnews.ca/news/9551446/flair-aircraft-seizures-airborne-statement/ LATAM Brasil Launches All-Female Pilot Hiring Process. The airline expects to fill at least 50 vacancies by December 2023. LATAM Brasil Airbus A320neoPhoto: Matheus Obst/Shutterstock. LATAM Airlines Brasil has launched an exclusive selection process for hiring female pilots. The company is looking to promote gender equity, focusing on diversity and inclusion, and expects to fill at least 50 vacancies by December 2023/ Attracting more female pilots It is no secret that becoming a pilot has historically been a profession more linked to men globally, a remnant of the Second World War in most countries. According to a study, as of July 2020, women accounted for just 5.25% of all airline pilots and 1.42% of airline captains. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, experts expected this number to drop even lower after furloughs and bankruptcies. However, are looking to shift this trend, inviting more women to join their ranks. On Monday, LATAM Brasil announced it had opened an exclusive selection process for women to fill the Airbus A320 family first officer position. Candidates may apply for the selection process until March 17 on the company’s website. LATAM intends to fill at least 50 vacancies by December 2023. Harley Meneses, LATAM Brasl's Operations Director, said, “We are committed to the growth of aviation in Brazil. In this agenda, hiring and promoting women is a priority in our company. We will invest about 200,000 reais ($38,000) in technical training for each pilot we promote. In 2022 alone, we invested 110 million reais ($21 million) in initial and periodic training for our entire technical crew in Brazil to ensure the safety and efficiency of our flights.” What do you need to become a LATAM co-pilot? The Brazilian airline has a fleet composed of 136 aircraft. It is the largest carrier of the LATAM Airlines Group. According to ch-aviation, it operates 20 Airbus A319-100s, 60 A320-200s, ten A320neos, and 31 A321-200s in its narrowbody segment, which would be where the new female pilots will begin as first officers. Additionally, LATAM Brasil has four Boeing 767-300s, ten B777-300s, and one B787 Dreamliner 9. To become a LATAM co-pilot, one must have at least 500 flight hours; a college degree; a valid Aeronautical Medical Certificate; be fluent in English with a minimum ICAO level 4; a Certificate of Theoretical Knowledge for Airline Pilots; qualifications as a commercial pilot, multi-engine, and Instrument Flight Rules; a valid passport; and availability to work at all LATAM crew bases. LATAM said that after applying for a job, the candidates will undergo screening processes, tests, examinations, and interviews. The final approval is expected by December 2023. How to attract more female professionals to the industry? Attracting more women to become pilots is a must for airlines globally. If not enough women are hired, the sector could face struggles in the future (we know the pilot shortage is a reality in many places globally). One way to attract more women to join the cockpits would be to increase female pilot visibility. “Having inspiring role models is an essential part of life because it can be hard to imagine ‘doing something’ or ‘being someone when you have never seen what it looks like,” said the International Society of Women Airline Pilots on its website. In Latin America, many airlines are addressing this issue. Last week, JetSMART held a series of conferences. The objective was to make female talent visible and promote women's career development within the company. Volaris, the Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier, has implemented various policies which have allowed it to have, on average, a female captain for every two aircraft. https://simpleflying.com/latam-brasil-launches-all-female-pilot-hiring-process/?newsletter_popup=1 Curt Lewis