Flight Safety Information - June 8, 2023 No. 110 In This Issue : Incident: Shree DH8D at Kathmandu on Jun 6th 2023, cabin pressure problem : Dassault Falcon 10 - Runway Excursion - Florida : NBAA Calls for Pilot Rest Rule Changes : How The 1,500 Hour Rule To Become A Commercial Pilot Compromises Safety : Non-Profit Announces Online Educational Courses on Aircraft Records Best Practices for Aircraft Maintenance Personnel : Qantas wants to recruit 300 foreign pilots and engineers for domestic fleet : Did German Pilots Just Pass NATO’s Tactics to China? : Air Force Reconsidering Whether Some Staff Jobs Need Pilots Amid Shortage : Biden nominates former Florida governor Crist to international aviation post : Cargo Airline Gets FAA Go-ahead for Delivery Drones : FAA remote pilot exam workshop set for June 20, 22 at MSU-West Plains : NTSB Releases Fiery HondaJet Runway Excursion Details Incident: Shree DH8D at Kathmandu on Jun 6th 2023, cabin pressure problem A Shree Airlines de Havilland Dash 8-400, registration 9N-ANF performing flight N9-221 from Kathmandu to Dhangari (Nepal), was climbing out of Kathmandu when the crew stopped the climb at 16000 feet due to cabin pressure problems, performed the procedure to keep clear of the mountaineous terrain and returned to Kathmandu for a safe landing about 20 minutes after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 8 hours before returning to service. Kathmandu Airport reported the aircraft returned due to a pressurization fault. https://avherald.com/h?article=50a21f4b&opt=0 Dassault Falcon 10 - Runway Excursion - Florida Date: 06-JUN-2023 Time: c. 20:18 Type: Dassault Falcon 10 Owner/operator: Premier LJ40 Inc Registration: N87RT MSN: 106 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Category: Accident Location: Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP/KECP), FL - United States of America Phase: Landing Nature: Private Departure airport: Atlanta-Cobb County-Mc Collum Field, GA (KRYY) Destination airport: Panama City-Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, FL (ECP/KECP) Investigating agency: NTSB Confidence Rating: Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities Narrative: A Dassault Falcon 10 private jet, N87RT, sustained substantial damage when it suffered a runway excursion during a landing attempt on runway 16 at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP/KECP), Panama City, Florida. The two pilots and three passengers were not injured. The FAA reported that the airplane experienced a brake failure on landing, causing it to veer off the runway and strike multiple runway lights. http://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/314927 NBAA Calls for Pilot Rest Rule Changes The business aviation organization is urging changes to Part 135 rest and duty requirements ahead of FAA reauthorization. In a letter to House lawmakers, NBAA President and CEo Ed Bolen said that “preventing and mitigating [pilot] fatigue remains a universal area of concern.” The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is calling for changes to Part 135 pilot rest rules and duty requirements ahead of a new FAA reauthorization bill. In a June 1 letter to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and aviation subcommittee, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen noted “preventing and mitigating fatigue remains a universal area of concern.” He urged for changes to Part 135 rest and duty requirements—namely to eliminate tail-end ferries and to require recordkeeping regarding the scheduling of both duties and prospective rest. Tail-end ferries refer to flights flown at the end of a duty day that are filed as Part 91—meaning they wouldn’t be subject to Part 135 rest requirements. A pilot could log a maximum duty day under Part 135 and still be able to accept a ferry flight (such as a repositioning flight) under Part 91 that would otherwise exceed allowable duty limits, posing a significant safety risk. These tail-end ferries have been around since Part 135 rest and duty regulations were introduced in 1978, though talk of eliminating tail-end ferries has been resurfacing for years. In 2021, a Part 135 Pilot Rest and Duty Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) composed of certificate holders, legal experts, industry associations, and other stakeholders, laid out recommendations to improve safety through revised rest and duty rules which include the aforementioned actions. “The FAA and [National Transportation Safety Board] NTSB recognize that engaging in Part 91 flying after completing a Part 135 duty period of maximum duration poses a substantial safety risk that is deemed unacceptable,” wrote Bolen. “NBAA does not believe that the cost of ending ‘tail-end ferry flights’ will be significant, as many Part 135 operators already recognize the risks posed by such operations and voluntarily disallow ‘tail-end ferries.’” In April 2018, a case involving an air ambulance helicopter operating a tail-end ferry flight ended in tragedy. The accident occurred at night under visual conditions. Prior to the flight, the helicopter pilot had flown three other flights for a total of 94 minutes of flight time over 2.5 hours. During the last portion of the flight, the helicopter entered a steep right bank while the pilot was unresponsive when medical crewmembers shouted his name. The helicopter then descended, became inverted and crashed, killing the pilot and two crewmembers onboard. In this instance, the NTSB report mentioned the pilot’s return to work from a week-long vacation during which his circadian rhythm would have had him sleeping. The report stated “the environment created by the helicopter vibration, darkness of night, and few operational demands during the cruise phase of flight would have increased the pilot’s fatigue and the body’s biological desire to sleep.” Experts agree current regulations do not take the effects of circadian rhythm and duty time into account. Revisions to Part 135 pilot rest and duty would lean toward more progressive science-based rules. In its recommendations, the ARC also urged the FAA to require certificate holders to record rest, duty, and flight times in sufficient detail to determine compliance with the rest, duty and flight time limitations of Part 135. “While monitoring flight time is an important component of preventing fatigue, it is not the only component. Hence, the regulations stipulate flight and duty limits along with rest minimums. However, the regulation only requires recording the flight time, which is insufficient to ensure flight crews receive adequate, prospectively scheduled rest,” Bolen’s letter stated. Lawmakers have until September 30 to agree on a new FAA Reauthorization bill. A markup of the House bill is expected this month with plans to bring it to the floor in July. https://www.flyingmag.com/nbaa-calls-for-pilot-rest-rule-changes/ How The 1,500 Hour Rule To Become A Commercial Pilot Compromises Safety After the Colgan Air crash in 2009, Congress was looking to take action on aviation safety. ALPA, the largest pilot union, was ready with items from its legislative agenda that it had been pushing for years. They won the ‘1,500 hour’ rule, flight time required before a pilot could be hired as a first officer at a commercial airline. This was adopted even though both Colgan Air pilots had.. more than 1,500 hours. The rule wasn’t meant to prevent future Colgan Air disasters. It was meant to make it harder to become a pilot. Restricting the supply of pilots increases the bargaining power of pilots. A pilot shortage drives up pilot wages. When United Airlines faced a pilot strike in 1985 they started hiring replacement pilots. That’s simply not possible today, a huge victory for unions. However the 1,500 hour rule reduces safety it doesn’t increase it. These are unstructured hours. Pilots go through training on commercial procedures and on non-normal operations Then they spend perhaps a year and a half flying single engine planes in good weather building up hours. They aren’t dealing with stalls, sotrms, de-icing, or numerous other problems that you want a pilot to be experienced in. The 1,500 hour rule leads to less well-trained, less-experienced pilots not more experienced pilots. They get hired by commercial airlines and go through remedial training to fix the bad habits they get into building up hours for hours’ sake. According to the FAA the 1,500 hour rule does not promote safety. The FAA was unable to find a quantifiable relationship between the 1,500-hour requirement and airplane accidents and hence no benefit from the requirement. For most accidents reviewed by the FAA, both pilots had more than 1,500 hours of flight time and for those SICs that did not, there were other causal factors identified by the NTSB. The NTSB doesn’t think pilot hour requirements prevent accidents, either. We’ve investigated accidents where we’ve seen very high-time pilots, and we’ve also investigated accidents where we’ve seen low-time pilots. We don’t have any recommendations about the appropriate number of hours…. If you want to ‘improve pilot training’ mere hours aren’t the answer. It should be structured training. Of course they already get that, and airlines provide it too. ALPA wants higher pay for regional pilots – cynically putting regionals out of business. It’s one thing to spread higher pilot wages across 150 or more passengers on a mainline jet. Spreading those same costs across 30 to 76 passengers means a much higher cost per passenger. And they push back against air carriers benefiting from rules that allow first officers with fewer hours, and recently-retired senior captains in the left seat, when operating planes with no more than 30 seats. Combined this makes air travel to smaller cities scarce. Hundreds of regional jets are simply parked in the United States while smaller cities lose air service. This means more people drive instead of flying, and driving isn’t nearly as safe. This is another way the 1,500 hour rule for pilots, by limiting access to pilots, reduces safety. https://viewfromthewing.com/how-the-1500-hour-rule-to-become-a-commercial-pilot-compromises-safety/ Non-Profit Announces Online Educational Courses on Aircraft Records Best Practices for Aircraft Maintenance Personnel Ocean Shores, WA – The Foundation for Business Aircraft Records Excellence (BAR), an industry-specific non-profit corporation, is pleased to announce the launch of a series of online educational courses designed specifically for aircraft maintenance personnel. BAR’s online courses cover a wide range of topics, including the importance of aircraft records, maintenance records and documentation, logbook entries, certificates of airworthiness, data approval, and much more. The courses draw on information from the Aircraft Maintenance Technician Handbook, the Airman Certification Standards, and the real-world experience of BAR’s team of maintenance professionals with over 200 years of combined experience in business aircraft maintenance and operations. “An update to the education materials available for aircraft documentation and recordkeeping is long overdue," said Larry Hinebaugh, Executive Director of BAR. “We believe that our courses can help increase professionalism and best practices in the aviation industry, which is vital to improved safety, increased compliance, and reduced errors.” BAR’s online courses are self-paced, so students can complete them at their own convenience. BAR also offers group discounts and special pricing for schools and training centers. Students that pass all ten courses may apply for Certified Aircraft Documents Specialist designation that will alert employers and other industry professionals of their achievements. The purpose of these courses (and all of BAR's educational outreach activities) is to raise the professional standards, prestige, and payscale of aircraft technicians by recognizing their vital role in the aviation industry and in maintaining the exemplary safety record in the industry. Anyone who has worked with aircraft records as a technican, broker, appraiser or owner can attest to how important it is to have the aircraft records in order. And how frustrating it can be if the recordkeeping has been neglected. And yet, in typical aircraft technician education programs, very little time is devoted the importance of recordkeeping, and best practices to ensure this is done properly. These courses are designed to rectify that situation. Courses available include: The Importance of Aircraft Records Maintenance Records and Documentation Title 14 CFR, Parts 43.9 and 43.11 Logbook Entries and Return to Service Requirements Certificates of Airworthiness and 8130-3 Airworthiness Certificates 8110-3 and 8900-1 Data Approval TCs, STCs, Form 337s, and ICAs Excessive or Unnecessary InformationTask Cards, EOs, and SRM References AD Notes, SBs, ASCs, and Modifications Electronic Aircraft Records To learn more about BAR’s online educational courses and how they can benefit one's team, please visit https://businessaircraftrecords.org/education/ https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/press-advantage/non-profit-announces-online-educational-courses-on-aircraft-records-best-practices-for-aircraft-maintenance-personnel Qantas wants to recruit 300 foreign pilots and engineers for domestic fleet Qantas wants to hire 300 pilots and engineers from overseas over the next five years to bolster its domestic fleet, sparking union claims the national carrier is trying to suppress wages amid a war over looming industrial relations reforms. The airline, which was targeted by unions this week over its labour-hire practices, says a local skills shortage means it needs to look abroad for staff – including 10 officers and training captains for its new A220 fleet – to cope with increasing demand for travel post-COVID. The Australian and International Pilots Association says the 10 A220 staff could be recruited from existing ranks, while the airline argues that no Australians are qualified to fly the new jet. “It’s important to keep this in perspective. We’re creating thousands of new Australian jobs over the next five years, which is in contrast to the roughly 60 a year we’re looking to recruit overseas under this agreement,” a Qantas spokesperson said. The federal government is considering the airline’s special application as the Australian Council of Trade Unions slams Qantas’s industrial practices to support looming labour-hire reforms that have become an ideological battleground between business groups and workers. Various sectors from health and aged care to construction are looking abroad to plug labour and skills gaps as the government overhauls the migration system in a global competition for talent. Despite the airline’s commitment to create 8500 local skilled jobs, including 1600 for pilots, over the next decade, it has sought the labour agreement with the government to fill the short-term void in pilots and engineers. Qantas wants 75 pilots and simulator instructors from overseas for its Eastern Australia Airlines and Sunstate Airlines regional subsidiaries and is asking the government to raise the maximum age for applicants from 45 to 55. As well as the A220 pilots, it also needs engineers for QantasLink and Jetstar. “Most of these roles take years of training to become qualified, which is why we’re building a long-term talent pipeline through a new Engineering Academy, in addition to our Pilot Academy,” the spokesperson said. But AIPA president Captain Tony Lucas described it as a cynical attempt by the airline to suppress wages. “There is no shortage of Australian pilots, with more than 300 highly qualified pilots on the waiting list for jobs at the Spirit of Australia,” Lucas said. “All Qantas would have to do to attract them to the new A220s is lift salaries to a competitive level, rather than offering pay as low as half the major US airlines.” He added the airline had not needed to recruit foreign pilots when previously introducing new aircraft to Australia, and accused Qantas of dangling Australian passports in front of foreign pilots to circumvent offering better conditions to local pilots. Qantas eyes $400m profit bump from direct flights to London, New York The airline said it had been advertising locally for the roles since January last year. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, who is considering the application, said he was not able to pre-empt the outcome of any negotiations. The ACTU has targeted Qantas among other major Australian companies as the government prepares to introduce laws aiming to give labour-hire workers the same pay and conditions as directly employed workers doing the same job. ACTU head Sally McManus accused Qantas of “gaming the system” by using various labour-hire companies, including some it owns, to contract staff who work alongside its directly employed workers but often earn less. But Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke, who plans to introduce the Same Job, Same Pay reforms later this year, refused to criticise the airline. “I’m not going to say, “how dare they” – they are acting legally. But it’s a loophole that the government doesn’t believe should be there,” Burke said. The Business Council of Australia has urged the government to exclude internal labour-hire companies from its reforms. Qantas said in a statement that other companies, including airlines, had arrangements with similar outcomes but did not seem to generate the same criticism. “That includes the public sector, which has many employees on grandfathered conditions working next to people on more modern arrangements,” it said. “There appears to be a concerted effort to paint Qantas as doing something nefarious despite the high wages we pay, the training we invest in and the highly competitive sector in which we operate.” Under questioning by Senate employment committee chair Tony Sheldon at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations deputy secretary Martin Hehir said the proposed reforms aimed to address some of Qantas’ hiring practices. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/qantas-wants-to-recruit-300-foreign-pilots-and-engineers-for-domestic-fleet-20230530-p5dchm.html Did German Pilots Just Pass NATO’s Tactics to China? A Luftwaffe scandal underlines Europe’s lack of seriousness about military threats. There is a long history of German military pilots helping the Chinese air force. In the 1930s, Nazi Germany dispatched military advisors to help build and train the air force of the Republic of China, which was simultaneously fighting communist insurgents under Mao Zedong and the invading Imperial Japanese Army. Chinese-German relations soured a few years later, when Berlin allied with Tokyo in the Tripartite Pact. By then, however, Chinese pilots had not only been trained by the formidable German air force—the Luftwaffe—but were also flying German-made bombers and fighter aircraft to attack the communists and Japanese. German fighter pilots are helping train China’s air force once again. According to a report published last week in Der Spiegel, several former Luftwaffe pilots have been training Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilots over the past decade. The report quotes unnamed German security officials warning it is “very possible that the pilots have passed on military expertise and confidential operational tactics, and even practiced attack scenarios, such as an offensive against Taiwan.” For example, Luftwaffe pilots, even retired ones who haven’t flown recently, could teach Chinese pilots about planning and executing effective suppression and destruction of enemy air defense (critical operations known by their military acronyms, SEAD and DEAD), which was a Luftwaffe forte during and immediately after the Cold War. It is also a critical skillset for the Chinese air force to acquire in order to gain air superiority in any fight over Taiwan. Indeed, the Luftwaffe’s only combat mission since World War II was in 1999, when four German Tornado fighter aircraft—outfitted with electronic warfare capabilities and anti-radiation missiles capable of following incoming radar signals to their source—took part in a NATO SEAD campaign against Serbian air defenses. German pilots could have taught their Chinese counterparts other crucial details about planning air operations. For example, they could have shared information about NATO military doctrine on composite air operations, which is essentially how the alliance groups various types of aircraft together for specific operations. Any Chinese SEAD campaign against Taiwanese air defenses, for example, would require a mix of different aircraft working together—all integrated into a wider Chinese strike campaign that would include ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones of various types. Planning, let alone executing, such an operation is challenging and full of complexities. Chinese officers would certainly be grateful for any practical insight into how potential adversaries are going about it. The German episode follows revelations last year that “at least 30” former pilots of the British Royal Air Force had similarly been advising the PLAAF, teaching Chinese aviators about NATO tactics and Western military doctrine. That these German and British pilots were able to serve the Chinese military in such a sensitive area for so long once again underlines European naivete about dealing with Beijing—especially in the military realm. While it’s not just European pilots teaching their Chinese adversaries advanced skills—a former U.S. Marine Corps pilot has been accused of training Chinese pilots to land on aircraft carriers—the sheer number of cases in Europe is a symptom of a larger, more systemic problem. Europe needs to stop underestimating the threat to its security posed by China’s burgeoning military power, particularly when combined with Beijing’s revisionist view of the existing global order, on which Europe’s security and prosperity depends. Europe’s lax approach needs to change rapidly if it is to remain at peace and secure. Europe should bury its naivete regarding Chinese military power, even if no Chinese missiles will likely rain down on Paris, London, or Berlin. Europe’s nonchalance towards Chinese military ambitions is easily explained. First, the most likely military confrontation—a conflict over Taiwan, possibly culminating in a high-intensity war in East Asia—is primarily seen as a fight between the United States and China. Second, Europeans’ perceptions of China as outside their military remit is reinforced by what U.S. defense policymakers have been telling them: Europe should commit more military resources to its own defense, rather than making minor military contributions to a potential fight against China over Taiwan. In other words, U.S. military planners see a division of labor in which Europeans are finally able to defend themselves against a resurgent Russia with minor U.S. support, while the United States focuses on Asia to stem the tide of Chinese aggression. This is not only the division of labor that Washington wants, but also likely the one Europe wants—even if Europe could certainly dispatch combat troops to Asia in the event of a Taiwan conflict. German and British military pilots training Chinese aviators undermines that division of labor. But perhaps the biggest reason for Europe’s lack of sufficient concern about its citizens spreading military secrets to Beijing is many European governments’ general lack of seriousness about military threats. This should not be surprising. European industry has directly or indirectly helped Russia’s military buildup over the years by supplying military equipment, dual-use technology—including the precision manufacturing technologies used to make sophisticated weapons—and other support to Russia until at least 2020. The war in Ukraine finally forced Western Europe to get more serious about Russia, but it remains naive about the threat from China. Europeans passing on military secrets to the Chinese will not only make any war in Asia harder to fight and win for the United States and its allies; strengthening adversaries and letting them know one’s own tactics also makes the job of deterring future wars in any region harder. That’s why Europeans are wrong to worry about Russia but not China. The military hardware the United States needs to fight a potential war against China in East Asia is precisely the military hardware Europe needs to maintain adequate deterrence against Russia. This includes precision-guided munitions; long-range air defense systems; unscrewed aerial vehicles; aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), electronic warfare, early warning, and air-to-air refueling; cyber reconnaissance capabilities; and space-based ISR platforms. Washington simply does not have enough of these high-end platforms and capabilities to go around, and anything the Europeans do to help the Chinese means the United States needs to shift more equipment to Asia. Notwithstanding their wake-up call in Ukraine, European countries, especially Germany, have been slow to reinvest in such high-end capabilities. And it will take many years for most European militaries to become proficient again in high-intensity warfighting, including, for example, complex SEAD and DEAD campaigns. This is exactly what the Russian air force has been struggling with in Ukraine, and no doubt what the PLAAF is struggling with at the moment. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, asked Beijing to stop hiring former Luftwaffe pilots to train Chinese fighter pilots. Obviously, a polite plea to an adversary is not enough. As an immediate first step, European governments should pass legislation to ban their citizens and companies from aiding the People’s Liberation Army in any way. Changing the broader mindset in Europe about China’s military threat, however, will be much harder. Still, Europe would do well to bury its naivete regarding Chinese military power, even if no Chinese missiles will likely rain down on Paris, London, or Berlin. Given the likely scale and level of destruction of an Asian conflict between the superpowers, even a victorious United States would need many years to rebuild its armed forces, leaving little to spare for Europe. Europe should avoid such a military interregnum at all costs—by taking military deterrence, including by the United States against China, much more seriously than in the past. It’s time to end European naivete: The direct and indirect consequences of Chinese military aggression in Asia would be disastrous for European security. https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/06/07/germany-china-luftwaffe-bundeswehr-pilots-pistorius-nato-secrets-tactics-military-defense/ Air Force Reconsidering Whether Some Staff Jobs Need Pilots Amid Shortage As the Air Force struggles to ease its pilot shortage, it can still fill all its cockpits, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7. But that has come at the expense of staff jobs normally assigned to pilots, leading the service to reconsider whether those staff jobs actually need to be filled by rated officers, he said. Speaking at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event, Brown said the Air Force is looking “across the entire ecosystem” of recruiting, training, and retaining pilots to find ways to close the gap in flyers, which has hovered around 1,800-2,000 for the past eight years. “What I’ll tell you is that we are 100 percent manned in the cockpit,” Brown said. “Where we take our cuts are on the staff. So, we’re probably 70 percent manned on the staff.” Brown said deputy chief of staff for operations Lt. Gen. James C. Slife is leading a review of staff positions, looking at those that have become designated as pilot billets to see if they actually have to be filled by rated officers. In some cases, the position may simply require “someone who has operational experience,” Brown said. This scrub “won’t knock this shortage to zero,” but in the Air Force, “we probably always have more requirement than we have capacity to field,” and fixing the requirement can help fix the pilot shortage, he added. Tied to that approach, Brown said he has tried over the last two years to “ensure that all of our Airmen, to the best of our ability, have a little operational acumen.” That will make it easier to fill staff jobs with non-rated officers, he said. In the same vein, Brown said when a staff job does require a pilot, the service is reassessing whether that pilot needs to consume flying hours while working a desk job. Normally, “you still get to fly” to retain proficiency, but “some of those you need to do, and some of those have been nice to do,” Brown noted. More broadly, the Air Force is taking a “diverse” approach to addressing the pilot shortfall, Brown said, and is emphasizing data-driven efforts. One such effort is the aviation bonus, which just recently was increased to $50,000 per year. Another element is streamlining and quickening the pilot training process and ensuring those accepted for pilot training don’t have to wait years to report for duty. Other approaches focus on offering more stability and support for pilots’ families, Brown said. As an example, he cited several first-tour instructor pilots at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. By the usual career playbook, they would progress to another base and a major weapons platform, but they asked to stay at Laughlin because their spouses had local jobs. Brown said making those kinds of accommodations should help. In recent years, the Air Force has also pushed to attract a more diverse swath of pilots—broadening the population from which it can draw. “We’ve got to look at how we break some of these paradigms that we’ve had in the past, and don’t don’t do a ‘one-size-fits-all’” approach anymore, Brown said. “Each one of those helps. You’re not going to get it to zero, but it will help.” Brown also pointed out the whole of the military is struggling with a pilot shortage, as is the commercial airline and cargo industry, and noted he has been in talks with other flying organizations to best address what he called “a national problem.” Recruiting overall is also a struggle, as Brown acknowledged the service is likely to not achieve its goals this year. And while retention rates are high, that can lead to an unbalanced force down the road. Brown said he has urged his commanders to open up their bases, get people out in their communities, and increase the exposure of Airmen to the general public, because the people USAF wants to attract may not know there are careers available to them in the Air Force. They cannot aspire “to something they’ve never seen,” he said. The competition for eligible youth is “keen,” Brown noted. “They get bombarded with information.” To stand out, the Air Force has to make personal connections, he said—digital and social media contacts are fine, but there “has to be a person on the other end” ready to answer questions and talk to recruits. Brown also said the Air Force will experiment with different career paths, particularly in the cyber area, wherein people could be recruited to do a job and not compelled to take a leadership path after a certain period of time. As with pilots, he also said USAF has to accelerate the timeline between getting someone to agree to serve and actually getting them into uniform. A prolonged wait increases the chances of that recruit taking up another opportunity, he said. “We have to eliminate those ‘barriers to entry,’” Brown said. “People get tired of waiting.” https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-staff-jobs-pilots-shortage/ Biden nominates former Florida governor Crist to international aviation post WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden is nominating former Florida Governor Charlie Crist to serve as U.S ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the White House said on Wednesday. Crist, a former House lawmaker who lost an election in November to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a bid to return to his old job, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate would replace C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger, the commercial pilot who safely landed an Airbus A320 on New York's Hudson River in 2009 after hitting a flock of geese and stepped down in July 2022. The United Nations civil aviation body in October agreed to a long-term aspirational goal for net-zero aviation emissions by 2050, despite challenges from China and other countries aligned largely with airlines amid pressure to curb air pollution. The 193-nation ICAO holds an assembly held every three years. ICAO cannot impose rules but countries that approve decisions usually abide by them. An ICAO preparatory meeting in July had laid the goal's groundwork after years of talks. Airlines last year adopted a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 in a de facto dress-rehearsal that drew reservations from Chinese carriers, reflecting Beijing's more cautious stance on multilateral action. Airlines want global action to avoid countries imposing different rules and fees to curb emissions. The United States has set a goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. aviation sector by 2050. The White House said in 2021 it was targeting 20% lower aviation emissions by 2030, as airlines facing pressure from environmental groups to lower their carbon footprint pledged to use more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Aviation generates approximately 2% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and U.S. aviation consumes approximately 10% of U.S. transportation energy. https://news.yahoo.com/biden-nominates-former-florida-governor-204134453.html Cargo Airline Gets FAA Go-ahead for Delivery Drones Ameriflight, a cargo airline that handles and delivers 75,000 packages daily, has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate drone aircraft. With the approval, Ameriflight marks the largest existing “Part 135” cargo airline to receive such an exemption. The air charter and cargo service carrier operates 14 bases, oversees 1,500 weekly departures and flies to 200 destinations, providing feeder services for overnight express carriers, as well as on-demand cargo charter services for customers. Part 135 carriers operate on-demand, unscheduled air service that can offer passenger and cargo service to remote areas. The newly granted exemption allows Ameriflight to conduct unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations under its current Part 119 Air Carrier Certificate for Part 135 operations. Through a partnership with drone delivery systems developer Matternet, Ameriflight will operate the company’s Matternet M2 drone for commercial delivery, focusing on health care and e-commerce deliveries to customers located in dense urban and suburban environments across the country. Ameriflight will deploy the M2 fleet of drones using Matternet’s software platform from a central remote network operations center. This can enable the company to expand its network, while also maintaining a higher level of pilot operator supervision and flexibility, the firm says. “Adding this state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly aircraft and launching our UAS division allows us to expand our service offerings to off-airport alternative sites for time-sensitive small package needs,” said Alan Rusinowitz, president and CEO at Ameriflight. “Matternet’s technology is at the forefront of autonomous innovation and provides a revolutionary solution for customers. We’re looking forward to launching our first M2 flights very soon, and, as we move forward into future flight, developing additional areas of drone delivery.” Ameriflight, which already has more than 100 aircraft flown by 150 pilots, plans to supplement its crewed operations by operating unmanned aircraft. The company says it has no plans to replace its current flying operation, aircraft or pilots. “This partnership enables us to offer our customers turnkey access to fast and reliable on-demand delivery capabilities today,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, co-founder and CEO of Matternet in a statement. “This is not a test program or a future deployment concept—this is the real, scalable and safe drone-based solution that customers are looking for.” The approval comes as the drone delivery space faces continued FAA regulatory hurdles, which has led to low adoption beyond trials. In order to license each new drone model, the FAA creates individual exemptions for every new craft, as well as a list of conditions for the company attached to the new drone. Amazon is one company that’s run into drone challenges. The company initially targeted 10,000 deliveries between its two sites in California and Texas this year, but just last month, the e-commerce giant told CNBC that it had only completed 100 deliveries altogether. Amazon has also reportedly cut some drone safety team employees during this year’s mass layoffs. Walmart has had more drone success, saying it made more than 6,000 drone deliveries across seven states last year with three partners DroneUp, Zipline and Flytrex. In January, Walmart said that drone deliveries are available from at least 36 U.S. stores. Despite other players in the space like Wing, UPS and FedEx popping up, most delivery drones are still required to avoid active roadways and people, which poses a significant problem to scaling as it largely confines drone tests to remote areas. The FAA also limits drone operations beyond the visual line of sight of an observer. Beyond visual line of sight, or BVLOS, is meant to ensure a human can steer a drone away from other aircraft that could cause a crash, but requires paying more personnel. The restriction typically requires drones to fly only one or two miles from the takeoff spot and requires extra people to watch each flight. Ameriflight is in exclusive company with the Part 135 air carrier certification. Only five drone other operators have been granted such certification: Wing and UPS in 2019, Amazon in 2020, Zipline in 2022 and Causey Aviation Unmanned in 2023. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/cargo-airline-gets-faa-ahead-121716526.html FAA remote pilot exam workshop set for June 20, 22 at MSU-West Plains WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Area residents interested in flying drones commercially can attend a workshop at Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) on June 20 and 22 to help them prepare for the FAA certification exam. The workshop is set for 5 to 9 p.m. each day at the Pace Industrial Science Center, 218 W. Broadway, in West Plains. Residents must pass the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam to fly drones commercially, university officials said. The workshop will cover the FAA’s Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 107 exam requirements to become a certified pilot of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), more commonly known as drones. Topics will include airspace, aeronautical charts, weather, METARS, aircraft loading, airport operations, judgment and decision-making, radio communications, and more, all of which are included in the remote pilot certification exam. The cost of the workshop is $149. University officials pointed out that drones have many applications in agriculture, engineering, technology, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and real estate, among others. For more information about the workshop and how to register, contact the MSU-WP workforce development office at 417-255-7784. https://www.ozarkradionews.com/local-news/faa-remote-pilot-exam-workshop-set-for-june-20-22-at-msu-west-plains NTSB Releases Fiery HondaJet Runway Excursion Details The pilot told NTSB investigators that despite applying full brake pressure, 'very little braking effort was being done to slow the plane.' The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released the preliminary report into last month’s runway overrun of a HondaJet at Summerville, South Carolina. There were no injuries, but the jet was destroyed by fire. According to the NTSB, on May 17 HondaJet N255HJ departed Wilkes County Airport (KUKF) North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, just before midnight with the intent of landing at Summerville Airport (KDYB) in South Carolina, a distance of approximately 193 nm. The pilot, who held a commercial certificate, filed an IFR flight plan with the intent of flying the RNAV 24 approach to land at KDYB. The pilot told investigators he noted there were rainstorms in the vicinity, so he opted to delay the departure until 23:29 local time to let the storms pass. The pilot stated he realized the runway at KDYB would be wet because of the rain but was not concerned since he had landed at the airport “hundreds” of times on both a wet and dry runway, and had never experienced an issue with runway length before. According to AirNav.com, runway 6/24 at KDYB measures 5,000 feet by 75 feet. The approach to Runway 24 has a 79-foot-tall tree located approximately 1,560 feet from the runway and 221 feet right of centerline. The notes advise a 17:1 slope is necessary to clear it. In addition, the approach information for the RNAV (GPS) 24 indicates a glideslope of 3.04 degrees is necessary to clear obstacles. The standard glideslope for instrument approaches is 3.00 degrees. According to Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Flightplanner, Runway 6 at KDYB has a 0.3 percent downslope and non-precision markings. The pilot told investigators the winds were calm as he flew the RNAV (GPS) RWY 24 approach into KDYB coupled with the autopilot, until the aircraft was approximately 600 feet msl. At that altitude the pilot opted to hand fly the approach at 120 knots with full flaps. He intended to bring the aircraft to a stop in order to exit the runway at the second taxiway. Upon touchdown he applied full brake pressure and noticed the brakes “immediately began to pulsate in anti-skid mode and because of that, very little braking effort was being done to slow the plane despite full pedal pressure.” The pilot noted the response of the anti-skid system exhibited a slower on/off cycle than he had experienced before during wet runway landings. The jet was about halfway down the runway when the pilot noted it was apparent he would not be able to exit at the second taxiway as planned, but he was not concerned as he felt there was sufficient runway to bring the aircraft to a stop, saying it had always stopped with reserve length remaining even when the runway was wet. The pilot was considering aborting the landing, then the left brake “grabbed” and the nose of the aircraft suddenly yawed to the left. The airplane began to skid to the left and right. The pilot attempted to use the rudder pedals to keep the jet on the runway, saying he was able to straighten the nose out right before the aircraft went off the departure end of the runway and into the grass. The airplane slid down a series of embankments before coming to a stop and catching fire. The pilot and all five passengers were able to exit through the main cabin door. The fire consumed the aircraft cockpit, center fuselage, and the right wing. NTSB Investigation The on-scene investigation was conducted on May 19. Investigators noted all major components of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site. There were skid marks on the runway from the airplane’s tires that, according to investigators, “were chalky in appearance and appeared similar to other normal airplane tire marks on the runway.” The tire marks from the accident aircraft were S-shaped and traced backward 1,550 feet from the departure end of the runway to the area near taxiway C intersection. It was noted that approximately 275 feet before the departure end of the runway, the tire tracks indicated the aircraft drifted into the grass on the left side of the runway then back to the paved surface. At one point, the nose landing gear and right main landing gear tracks converged. During the off-runway excursion the airplane struck a departure end runway light, traveling another 273 feet before it went down a 10-foot embankment and struck a rocky berm. The aircraft then slid down another 6-foot embankment before coming to rest approximately 360 feet from the departure end of the runway. Damage to the Aircraft According to the NTSB the right wing of the aircraft exhibited “extensive impact and fire damage,” so much so that the flap setting at the time of the accident could not be confirmed. The left wing was largely undamaged, except for impact marks along the leading edge from the collision with the rocky berm. The left flap was found fully extended. The rudder, elevator, vertical and horizontal stabilizer were undamaged. Investigators noted the aft empennage-mounted speed brake was in the fully retracted position. NTSB said the investigation remains ongoing, and the final report is expected in about 18 to 24 months. https://www.flyingmag.com/ntsb-releases-fiery-hondajet-runway-excursion-details/ Curt Lewis