Flight Safety Information - June 2, 2023 No. 106 In This Issue : Incident: Westjet Encore DH8D at Calgary on May 31st 2023, engine fire : Incident: Canada A333 at Toronto on May 18th 2023, electrical odour in cabin : Who reads those? Why the airplane safety card is more complicated than you think. : Ketchikan Air Tour Safety Still Lacking, NTSB Finds : Boeing Has Received More Than 1,000 Aircraft Orders Since Farnborough Airshow 2022 : American Airlines Pilots Association Rejects Possible Merger With Much Larger Union : Airbus seen delivering at least 60 jets in May Incident: Westjet Encore DH8D at Calgary on May 31st 2023, engine fire A Westjet Encore de Havilland Dash 8-400, registration C-GWEN performing flight WS-9820 from Calgary,AB to Chipewyan,AB (Canada) with 4 crew, was in the initial climb out of Calgary when the flight crew heard a bang and noticed the aircraft yawed to the right, both crew noticed the ITT temperature rose to 1100 degrees C. The captain, pilot flying, disengaged the autopilot, both flight crew assessed the situation when the engine fire aural warning sounded, smoke and fumes were also detected in cabin and flight deck. The engine fire quick reference checklist was actioned, the captain declared Mayday and stopped the climb at 8200 feet. The right hand engine was shutdown, the smoke and fumes began to dissipate. The #1 fire bottle was discharged, however, the fire indication remained active. The #2 fire bottle was discharged, again, the fire warning remained active. While the aircraft was positioning back to Calgary a few minutes later the fire indication ceased. The aircraft performed a single engine landing on runway 35R about 20 minutes after departure. The Canadian TSB reported 2 investigators have been deployed to Calgary, the occurrence class is being assessed. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=509ece55&opt=0 Incident: Canada A333 at Toronto on May 18th 2023, electrical odour in cabin An Air Canada Airbus A330-300, registration C-GFAH performing flight AC-490 from Toronto,ON to Montreal,QC (Canada) with 297 passengers and 12 crew, was climbing out of Toronto cleared to climb to FL230 when the crew stopped the climb at 11,000 feet declaring emergency and reporting an electrical odour in the cabin. The crew advised they were to stop on the runway. The aircraft returned to Toronto's runway 23 for a safe landing about 27 minutes after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 6 hours, then departed again for flight AC-490 and reached Montreal with a delay of about 7 hours. On Jun 1st 2023 the Canadian TSB reported maintenance identified the In Seat Power Supply located under row 38D as source of the odour, it was subsequently confirmed the unit had failed. https://www.avherald.com/h?article=50973f23&opt=0 Who reads those? Why the airplane safety card is more complicated than you think. The seatback safety cards on airplanes are probably not something you think twice about when you fly, but believe it or not, those little pamphlets are actually the product of decades of research, all aimed at making your travel as safe as possible, even if something goes wrong. USA TODAY spoke with Trisha Ferguson, CEO of The Interaction Group, one of the largest designers and manufacturers of seatback safety cards in the world. Here’s what travelers should know about the document that’s mandated to be in front of them on every flight. What is an airplane safety card? At its most basic level, the briefing card is a document that regulators require to explain the safety features on every aircraft. There are lots of ways to save on your auto insurance, like bundling it with homeowners. USAA Insurance is made for families on a budget. Get Quote “There are regulatory requirements about what information needs to be presented: the donning of the lifejacket, finding the lifejacket, taking it out of its packaging, putting it on,” Ferguson said. Other requirements include explaining the location and operation of emergency exits, as well as instructions for seatbelt and oxygen mask use. “Those things are pretty specific about what information needs to be on the cards,” Ferguson said. Different regulators like the Federal Aviation Administration set their own requirements for exactly what information must be included, but globally, the basic key points are the same pretty much everywhere. “We want passengers to be prepared for emergencies. To accomplish this, the FAA requires airlines to give an oral briefing and provide safety cards. This provides passengers the basics on what to do for emergencies that may happen,” the FAA said in a statement to USA TODAY. What goes into designing an airplane safety card? According to Ferguson, airline safety cards have had a long evolution since the dawn of the jet age in the 1960s. The founders of The Interaction Group, then known as the Interaction Research Corporation, “realized back in that era that safety cards were almost all text … usually only in the language of the origin of the particular flight or the company,” Ferguson said, adding that it was “extremely inefficient for educating the passenger.” So her predecessors got to work trying to make the briefing material more comprehensible to more travelers, beginning by partnering with individual airlines to create illustrated briefing materials. “Eventually, after some significant accidents and loss of life, they went before Congress and said the airline needs to provide greater safety and security information to their passengers,” Ferguson said. “It should be in the form of a safety card that every passenger has access to at all times.” But the illustrations aren’t just created by accident. The Interaction Group does a significant amount of research before making any changes or new cards to make sure they’ll be as effective as possible. “We are very, very stringent on the content of the cards’ comprehension. … We have a standard here at the interaction group that every single sequence and every card as a whole is tested for understandability,” Ferguson said. “If it’s not understood by 90% or more of the people tested, we start making adjustments until it is understood.” Over time, the cards need to be updated to reflect new aircraft types, and even changes in clothing style. “Equipment has evolved significantly,” Ferguson said. The cards must be designed so that “it matches visually what the passenger is seeing inside the aircraft.” Why does diversity matter in safety card illustration? Beyond matching the aircraft layout, Ferguson said it’s important that passengers can easily identify with the characters they see in the illustrations. “Studies show you are more apt to spend time looking at something where you see yourself in it,” she said. “We are intentional about the dress or skin tone or hair textures,” making sure to showcase diversity and also regionally-appropriate dress and other cultural markers. It’s easy to feel like a big deal when you save on your auto insurance for driving safe. And it’s easy to do with the USAA SafePilot app. See More Fashion counts for relatability, too. “It also has really followed stylistically, the eras,” Ferguson said, pointing to changes between how characters in the illustrations were dressed in the 1970s and ’80s versus today. Why don’t more people look at the safety card? According to Ferguson, the reasons have changed over the years. “In the original study back in the 70s, the comments were ‘an incident or an accident isn’t survivable anyway, so I don’t really need this information,’” Ferguson said, but added that in a more recent update to the company’s research, people’s thinking has shifted. “It was interesting to see the data shift upside down to where people say ‘flying is so safe, I don’t need to look at the safety card.’” It’s true that flying is statistically safer than ever, but it’s still a good idea to be armed with knowledge in case something goes wrong. “We really see it as our job to care for the people that are in the airlines’ care,” Ferguson said. “Pull the card out, take a look at it, consume information, and then sit back, relax and enjoy the experience of the carrier you’re with.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/06/01/how-are-airplane-safety-cards-designed/70222926007/ Ketchikan Air Tour Safety Still Lacking, NTSB Finds The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently added three more recommendations to those already issued surrounding air tour safety in Ketchikan, Alaska. The latest recommendations, included in a short report, call for a special federal aviation regulation (SFAR) to be developed for Ketchikan air tour flights, the imposition of weather minimums more conservative than Part 135, and a pilot training requirement focused on reducing continued VFR into IMC. In that report, the Safety Board highlighted five fatal accidents in the region between 2007 and 2021 and found that despite FAA efforts over the past 15 years to motivate voluntary adoption of safety procedures, tour flights were still “vulnerable to the hazards unique to the area’s terrain and weather conditions.” Unfortunately, the report ignores information from comparable accidents involving non-air tour operations and fails to consider the impact of funding limitations on FAA oversight and critical weather--reporting infrastructure. Ketchikan is a Southeast Alaska community with about 14,000 year-round residents. As a primary destination on the cruise ship circuit, and gateway to Misty Fjords National Monument, the town welcomes an estimated 1.1 million annual visitors. From May through September, scenic air tours are a significant part of the local aviation industry. While these flights are operated by both helicopters and airplanes, the NTSB focused on fixed-wing operations in its recent report. The report also did not address the area’s commuter and charter activities, which are generally flown by the same companies at the same time. The NTSB previously issued 13 safety recommendations to the FAA directed toward Ketchikan air tour operations. The first four, in 2008, were directed broadly to all of Southeast Alaska and in response to five specific regional accidents that occurred between 1999 and 2007. They called for the installation of weather cameras in the Southeast, formalization of FAA tour flight surveillance, and mandated specialized training requirements concerning flight operations and weather-related decision-making. In the latest report, three of those accidents, which involved helicopter companies, are included only as a footnote. (A fourth, involving L.A.B. Flying Service in the town of Haines, is largely ignored. That company was shut down by the FAA via an emergency revocation of its operating certificate in 2008.) Two years after the 2015 Promech Air crash, the NTSB issued nine more recommendations to the FAA, four of which specifically addressed Ketchikan operators. One encouraged use by all companies of more modern terrain databases and instrument system software. Three others focused on air tour operators and called for improved training programs to reduce the risk of weather--related accidents, ongoing analysis of ADS-B route data (and meeting with companies to discuss hazards in a nonpunitive manner), and the development and implementation of special operating rules to establish VFR minimums more conservative than Part 135. As noted in the current report, some of those recommendations languished, particularly the development and implementation of more conservative VFR minimums. Initially, the FAA responded that it was “evaluating policy and rulemaking options,” which was deemed an acceptable response. But after three years without specifics, the Safety Board reopened the recommendation in 2020. By then, the FAA was building a working group to investigate overall Part 135 air safety in Alaska, an initiative that was formed in response to yet another NTSB safety recommendation, which was issued after the board’s 2019 Anchorage roundtable on the subject. The FAA informed the NTSB in 2022 that the group’s report, the FAA Alaskan Aviation Safety Initiative (FAASI), discussed a need statewide for “improved weather reporting facilities.” As it did not mention Ketchikan nor the recommendation’s requirement for more conservative weather minimums, the NTSB was unimpressed. And so, returning to the issue again, the most recent NTSB report declared that as air tour accidents continue to occur, recommendations for the FAA to develop an SFAR, increase training, and establish more conservative VFR minimums are necessary. Essentially, the NTSB wants the FAA to finally fix whatever is wrong with Ketchikan. The problem is that the NTSB has not addressed the fact that the FAA cannot satisfy this demand with its typical Juneau FSDO staffing levels. The evidence of this longstanding problem can be found in the NTSB’s Ketchikan-area Part 135 accident dockets, starting with the investigation into the 2007 crash involving Seawind Aviation. (The 2007 Taquan Air accident docket includes no interviews with FAA personnel.) The principal operations inspector (POI) for Seawind told investigators that he had responsibility for about 33 Part 135 operators at the time of the crash. One of only two POIs at the FSDO, he was based in Juneau and traveled to Ketchikan once a month. At this time, the Juneau FSDO was responsible for oversight of 51 operations. According to the manager, it had curtailed services due to decreased staffing. There are no interviews of FAA personnel in the docket for the 2010, 2012, and 2013 Pacific Airways, Southeast Aviation, and Promech Air accidents. Following the 2015 Promech crash that killed nine, the POI told investigators he was responsible for 21 certificates and also one of only two inspectors at the FSDO able to conduct checkrides, which took up a lot of his time. In commenting on the events over the year, he admitted, “2015 had been a challenge.” He tried to visit Ketchikan twice a month during the summer season but prior to the accident had been there only once. At this time, the Juneau FSDO was responsible for oversight of 71 operators. In 2018 and 2019, Taquan Air Service was involved in three serious accidents that brought the company national attention. In the investigations that followed, it was discovered that Taquan had five different POIs between January 2018 and March 2019. These included three from the Juneau FSDO, one of whom told investigators he was responsible for 20-30 certificates then later said: “over 25, less than 50.” He described the number as difficult to pin down because it was “changing weekly.” Another said he was responsible for about 40 separate operators and the third, who served as POI from March 2019 to September 2020, said his workload varied widely from 30 certificates as a low and 67 as a high. The other two POIs for Taquan were assigned from Columbia, South Carolina. According to one of them, South Carolina inspectors were assigned about a dozen Part 135 operators from Ketchikan for a period of several months beginning in August 2018 as “Juneau had only one ops inspector for the district.” He made one trip to Ketchikan, and the POI who took Taquan after him did not go to Alaska at all. According to the FSDO manager, during this period, the Juneau FSDO was responsible for oversight of about 160 operators. According to the front-line manager, the inspectors were responsible for oversight of about 80 certificates. Neither man was certain of the actual number or type of operations. After the 2021 Southeast Aviation accident, its POI described his workload as heavy, telling investigators, “a lot.” He managed 21 Part 135s including all of the Part 135 operators in Ketchikan but lived in Juneau. There were four POIs assigned out of the FSDO at that point but since then the number has reduced; there are now three listed on the employee directory (and an aviation safety inspector). Also, one of the current POIs is remotely based in Ketchikan. It is unclear how many certificates the FSDO was responsible for in 2021 as management was not interviewed. Overall, the NTSB’s “Implement Special Federal Aviation Regulation for Air Tours near Ketchikan, Alaska” report joins a litany of previous studies, initiatives, reports, and analyses on Alaska that have each concluded a lack of weather information is a crucial factor in the state’s flight safety concerns. The FAASI report, cited by the board, includes 85 mentions of the word “weather,” and increased weather reporting, both via cameras and certified weather sources, is a dominant theme in its appendix of stakeholder comments. By demanding the establishment of more conservative VFR minimums for Ketchikan scenic air tour flights without addressing the dearth of weather resources and continued FAA staffing issues, the NTSB may be asking for solutions that are impossible to provide. In the process, it contributes to the seemingly endless discussions of the problems in Alaska, while the FAA lacks the funding to fix them. In December the FAA held a webinar providing an overview of its weather camera program and plans for expansion; participants were directed to a form where prospective sites could be submitted. In Alaska, the last FAA weather camera was installed in 2016. When asked by AIN about expansion in the state, the agency responded that it “is evaluating whether it can install additional weather cameras in Alaska and the Continental United States. Approvals for installation will be decided later this year. No immediate plans for new sites exist.” https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2023-06-01/ketchikan-air-tour-safety-still-lacking-ntsb-finds Boeing Has Received More Than 1,000 Aircraft Orders Since Farnborough Airshow 2022 The US plane manufacturer saw several airlines place orders in 2022 and 2023 so far. Boeing 737-10Photo: Boeing As we approach the Paris Air Show this month, there’s huge anticipation and speculation about potential announcements of aircraft orders. While there’s plenty to look forward to, one of Boeing's top executives recently looked back at the orders received since last year’s Farnborough Airshow. And the numbers are encouraging! More than 1,000 aircraft ordered since last year Boeing seems to be doing reasonably well after the challenges it faced with the grounding of the MAX series and the production delays of the Dreamliners and 777X. At a recent presentation, the plane manufacturer’s Vice President Of Commercial Marketing, Darren Hulst, looked back at the year gone by since Farnborough Airshow 2022 and the orders that have arrived at Boeing’s door. He said, “We've seen commitments and orders for over 1000 aircraft since Farnborough and I think it's taken in its shape in a number of different places a number of different ways.” Hulst added that the 737 family has seen the most demand, but as the year progressed and even early this year, Boeing saw commitments for 787 as airlines focused on their medium and long-haul needs. This was done not only from a replacement standpoint but also in terms of growth requirements in the future. And orders came in all shapes and sizes, whether they were huge deals for hundreds of aircraft, follow-on orders for handfuls of aircraft, or even new business for two to three to five aircraft. They were also not limited to one region or one type but across families of aircraft and across the world in terms of different business models, different customers, and different requirements for their future. Significant orders United Airlines One of the biggest highlights for Boeing last year was the mammoth order placed by United Airlines. The carrier placed the biggest widebody order in US history for up to 200 aircraft, including a firm order for 100 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 100 more options for additional Boeing 787s. The order could include all three aircraft models, the -8, -9, and -10. The airline also increased its firm commitment to the Boeing 737 MAX. With 44 options for the MAX already being converted to firm orders, United Airlines topped it up with another 56 new orders. Air India The newly privatized Air India also became a 777X customer when it placed a massive order of 470 aircraft, of which 220 went to Boeing. This included 190 Boeing 737 MAX, 20 Boeing 787s, and 10 of the new 777X airplanes. Air India Boeing 787 Photo: Soos Jozsef | Shutterstock The significant MAX order certainly adds to Boeing's increasing presence in India's narrowbody segment, with SpiceJet and now Akasa Air also relying on the type. But the MAXs will most likely fly short to medium-haul international routes operated by Air India Express. Ryanair Last month, Ryanair announced a substantial new order with Boeing for up to 300 737 MAX 10 aircraft worth $40 billion, of which 150 are firm orders. This boosted the total number of MAXs ordered by the Irish LCC to 360. Hulst also highlighted in his presentation that for the 737 MAX, the entire family of the type is where the demand is. He said that while the -8 and the -9 are doing great in the market currently, the -7 and -10 are the remaining pieces of the family that really provide, from the customers’ standpoint, competitive advantage to either reach new markets or add capacity and grow revenues. Saudia and Riyadh Air In March, Boeing confirmed a significant order from Saudi Arabia, worth almost $37 billion, for the purchase of 78 Boeing 787s, including the option of a further 43 aircraft. The aircraft order was split between flag carrier Saudia and the new national airline, Riyadh Air. It comprised 39 Boeing 787-9s and 787-10s for Saudia (with the option for 10 more) and 39 Boeing 787-9s for Riyadh Air (with the option for 33 more). It has also been reported that Riyadh Air is set for its second major purchase from the US plane maker for up to 150+ 737 MAX planes. Of course, these orders were on top of several smaller orders, such as Azerbaijan Airlines upping its initial order of four 787s to eight, EVA Air finalizing its order for five Dreamliners, and UPS also placing an order for eight more Boeing 767 freighters. https://simpleflying.com/boeing-1000-orders-since-farnborough-airshow-2022/ American Airlines Pilots Association Rejects Possible Merger With Much Larger Union Apossible merger between the union that represents pilots at American Airlines and a much larger union which acts for 67,000 pilots at a raft of U.S. and Canadian carriers, including Delta, United and JetBlue, has been dealt a deathblow after the board of directors of the Allied Pilots Association voted against proceeding with merger negotiations. The Allied Pilots Association (APA) represents around 15,000 pilots at American Airlines and is the largest independent pilots union in the world. Since last November, a small union committee has been exploring whether a merger with the Air Lines Pilots Association (ALPA) would benefit its members. The committee was set up after a poll of members concluded that the majority wanted to explore a possible merger with ALPA. Just over half of the union’s membership took part in the poll and 67% of those said they wanted to explore a merger. In April, the merger committee said it couldn’t find any obvious roadblocks to a merger and put the matter to APA’s board of directors for a decision as to whether to proceed to Phase 2 of merger talks. During a June 1 meeting of the board of directors, however, the 20-member board voted to reject moving merger talks forward. Ten members of the board voted in favor, while ten voted against the merger, leading to a tiebreak automatic no vote. Due to its sheer size, ALPA has been lauded for its political clout in Washington DC, although the union has, on occasion, taken a different view than APA on hot buttons topics. During the pandemic, for example, ALPA came out in support of widespread COVID vaccination, and the United branch did not oppose the airline’s vaccination mandate. In contrast, APA vocally opposed vaccine mandates and supported the right of pilots to choose whether they have the Covid vaccine. Some APA members, however, believe ALPA have performed better in contract negotiations and have lauded the union’s ability to win an industry-leading contract at Delta. The APA recently reached an agreement in principle on its own contract talks, although negotiations on contract language is still ongoing and members are yet to vote on the deal. https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2023/06/02/american-airlines-pilots-association-rejects-possible-merger-with-much-larger-union/ Airbus seen delivering at least 60 jets in May PARIS, June 1 (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) deliveries for May appear on course to reach at least 60 aircraft, subject to the final tally of a busy close to the month and a routine audit, industry sources said. That represents an increase of some 30% from the same month last year and would bring deliveries so far this year to more than 220 aircraft. Airbus, which is targeting 720 deliveries for the full year, implying a sharp acceleration in deliveries after the summer, declined comment ahead of a monthly data release on June 7. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/airbus-seen-delivering-least-60-jets-may-sources-2023-06-01/ Curt Lewis