Flight Safety Information - June 27, 2023 No. 124 In This Issue : Flights resume at DC-area airports after equipment issue grounded all planes : THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR. : Ground Crew Member Sucked Into Delta Engine (Update: NTSB WILL NOT OPEN AN INVESTIGATION) : A Diamond DA20-C1 Eclipse made a forced landing on a road following inflight fuel exhaustion : ATR 72-600, suffered a bird strike : Airbus A320-214, lost its left inner main gear tire while lining up on the departure runway : Safer Skies Initiative Integral to Prevent Shooting Down of Civilian Aircraft Flights resume at DC-area airports after equipment fire causes FAA issues ground stop. Flights have resumed at D.C.-area airports Sunday afternoon shortly after an equipment fire caused the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a ground stop. WASHINGTON - Flights resumed at D.C.-area airports Sunday afternoon shortly after a communications equipment issue caused the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a ground stop. The ground stop impacted Reagan National Airport (DCA), Dulles International Airport (IAD), Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) and Richmond International Airport (RIC). This prevented takeoffs and landings, so inbound flights were being diverted, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said. Departing flights are now back on track, according to the FAA, and flights from New York bound for D.C. continue. Flights from the West Coast, Midwest and Florida bound for D.C.-area airports have also resumed. "The FAA has paused departures to D.C.-area airports while repairs to a communications system are made at Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control facility. The facility has switched to a backup system," the agency said in a tweet. According to the FAA, air traffic was impacted due to a fire at Potomac Consolidated Terminal RADAR Approach Control (TRACON). In a statement, the FAA said: • Due to EQUIPMENT / OCL: EQUIPMENT, departure traffic destined to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Baltimore, MD (BWI) will not be allowed to depart until at or after 7:00 pm EDT. • Due to EQUIPMENT / OCL: EQUIPMENT, departure traffic destined to Washington Dulles International Airport, Washington, DC (IAD) will not be allowed to depart until at or after 6:00 pm EDT. • Due to EQUIPMENT / OCL: EQUIPMENT, departure traffic destined to Richmond International Airport, Richmond, VA (RIC) will not be allowed to depart until at or after 7:00 pm EDT. • Due to EQUIPMENT / OCL: EQUIPMENT, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, DC (DCA). To see if you may be affected, select your departure airport and check "Delays by Destination". Earlier reports claimed a fire at Potomac Consolidated Terminal RADAR Approach Control (TRACON) impacted air traffic, but an FAA representative told FOX 5 there was no fire. A WOMAN was flying from Melbourne to Brisbane ...Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sydney. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.. Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. A man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her Seeing Eye Dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight. He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, 'Kathy, we are in Sydney for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?' The blind lady replied, 'No thanks, but maybe Max would Like to stretch his legs.' Picture this: All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines! True story... THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR. Incident Update Ground Crew Member Sucked Into Delta Engine On Flight From LA The plane from Los Angeles to San Antonio had just landed and was taxiing when the ground crew worker got "ingested" by the engine. Paige Austin, Patch Staff Posted Mon, Jun 26, 2023 at 4:13 pm PT Just after Delta Flight 1111 landed in San Antonio and was taxiing to its gate, a ground crew worker was sucked into the engine. LOS ANGELES, CA — A flight from Los Angeles to Texas ended in tragedy Friday when a ground crew member at San Antonio International Airport was sucked into the plane's engine and killed. It's the second time this year that has happened at an American airport. However, federal authorities did not find any airport or airplane safety issues at fault for the accident, and the National Transportation Safety Board will not be investigating the matter, a spokesperson told Patch. It happened Friday night just after Delta Flight 1111 landed in San Antonio and was taxiing to its gate. "Delta Flight 1111 had arrived at San Antonio International Airport from Los Angeles and was taxiing to the gate on one engine when a worker was ingested into that engine at about 10:25 p.m.," the National Transportation Safety Board said in an email. "Based on information the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office provided to the National Transportation Safety Board today, the NTSB will not be opening an investigation into this event. There were no operational safety issues with either the airplane or the airport." Delta issued a statement mourning the loss of the unnamed ground crew member. “We are heartbroken and grieving the loss of an aviation family member’s life in San Antonio. Our hearts and full support are with their family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time," Delta Airlines said in a written statement. Earlier this year, an airport worker was killed in Alabama when she was "ingested" by a Envoy Air engine at the gate at Montgomery Regional Airport. Date:26-JUN-2023 Time:c. 03:00 Type: Diamond DA20-C1 Eclipse Owner/operator:Angelo State University (owner: Skyline Aviation Inc) Registration:MSN: Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1Other fatalities:0 Aircraft damage:NoneLocation:near San Angelo Regional Airport/Mathis Field (SJT/KSJT),San Angelo, - United States of America Phase:Landing Nature:Training Departure airport:Oklahoma City Destination airport:San Angelo Regional Airport, TX (SJT/KSJT) Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources Narrative: A Diamond DA20-C1 Eclipse made a forced landing on a road following inflight fuel exhaustion northeast of San Angelo Regional Airport/Mathis Field (SJT/KSJT), San Angelo, Texas. The sole sole student pilot was not injured during the incident and the aircraft was not damaged. Sources: https://sanangelolive.com/news/crashes/2023-06-26/san-angelo-police-plane-makes-emergency-landing-knickerbocker-rd https://sanangelolive.com/news/crashes/2023-06-26/pilot-who-landed-knickerbocker-rd-was-angelo-state-student-pilot A Diamond DA20-C1 Eclipse made a forced landing on a road following inflight fuel exhaustion Date:24-JUN-2023 Time:10:40 UTC Type: ATR 72-600 Owner/operator:Caribbean Airlines Registration:9Y-TTIMSN:1318 Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Other fatalities:0Aircraft damage:MinorLocation:near Tobago? - Trinidad and Tobago Phase:Unknown Nature:Passenger - Scheduled Departure airport:Port of Spain-Piarco Airport (POS/TTPP) Destination airport:Tobago-A.N.R Robinson International Airport (TAB/TTCP) Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources Narrative: Caribbean Airlines flight BW1502, an ATR 72-600, suffered a bird strike on a flight from Port of Spain (POS) to Tobago (TAB). Sources: https://www.facebook.com/groups/triniaviationenthusiasts/permalink/10159688283724607/ https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/9y-tti#30da5b77 ATR 72-600, suffered a bird strike Date:21-JUN-2023 Time:16:20 Type: Airbus A320-214 Owner/operator:Brussels Airlines Registration:OO-SNIMSN:1983Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 181 Other fatalities:0 Aircraft damage:Minor Location: Vilnius Airport (VNO/EYVI) - Lithuania Phase:Taxi Nature:Passenger - Scheduled Departure airport:Vilnius Airport (VNO/EYVI) Destination airport:Brussel-Zaventem Airport (BRU/EBBR) Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources Narrative: Brussels Airlines flight SN2372, an Airbus A320-214, lost its left inner main gear tire while lining up on the departure runway at Vilnius Airport (VNO). Airbus A320-214, lost its left inner main gear tire while lining up on the departure runway Safer Skies Initiative Integral to Prevent Shooting Down of Civilian Aircraft Investigation of the crash site of MH-17 by Dutch and Australian police officers in August 2014. (Dutch Ministry of Defense) Canada’s Safer Skies initiative is crucial to avoiding repeats of the shooting down of civilian aircraft, ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano advised delegates at a recent forum on the topic, but States must ramp up the political momentum around implementation and exchange of expertise. The Third Safer Skies Forum was convened by the Governments of Canada and the Netherlands in support of progress “towards preventative conflict zone risk management practices,” and took place in Rotterdam and the Hague on 5 and 6 June. It was attended by ministers, diplomats, and other delegates, who represented Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. Operators and labour were also represented through the attendance of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), and the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA). Expressing ICAO’s gratitude to Canada and the Netherlands for the organization and hosting of the event, Mr. Sciacchitano remarked that “at this event we have an exceptional and crucially important opportunity to ramp up the political momentum and enhance exchanges of technical expertise fostering the global cooperation that will underpin the implementation of the Safer Skies initiative.” He highlighted that “the downing of an aircraft with innocent passengers and crew on board is absolutely unacceptable, the result of ineffective civil-military coordination, limited exchange of information, including a lack of intelligence information, and ultimately human error.” The President also focussed on the high importance ICAO places on addressing the risks that conflict zones pose to civil aviation, which must be assessed by both States and operators, and expressed the organization’s “full and unwavering” support for their activities in this area. Canada’s Safer Skies initiative was launched as a direct response to the shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS 752, bound for Kyiv on 8 January 2020 shortly after take-off from Tehran, which resulted in the loss of 176 lives. The initiative has been welcomed and appreciated by the ICAO Council and subsequently endorsed by the ICAO Assembly. “Commitment is of course key to the prevention of a similar event from ever happening again,” Mr. Sciacchitano declared, noting that “the shooting down of flight PS 752 was very regrettably not the first or only instance of its kind.” The President recalled that Korean Airlines flight 007, with 269 passengers and crew on board, was shot down on 31 August 1983 by a military aircraft of the former Soviet Union. He noted that in the aftermath of this event, the ICAO Assembly amended the 1944 Chicago Convention to provide that every State must refrain from the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight, but that “notwithstanding this almost forty-year-old commitment by States, we continue to see instances involving the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight.” ICAO’s guidance to States and operators has evolved continuously following the recommendations of States following their investigations into the series of events that have occurred. The Dutch Safety Board’s Final Report into the shooting down of MH 17 contained a number of safety recommendations. One of the most tangible outcomes of these is the production of the Risk Assessment Manual for Civil Aircraft Operations Over or Near Conflict Zones (Doc 10084), which was developed by ICAO with the pivotal support and contribution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Similarly, several safety recommendations addressed to ICAO were contained in the Final Report prepared by the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran into the loss of flight PS 752, which was published in March 2021. Those related to risk assessment and issuance of NOTAMs for flights in conflict zones, prioritization of States having potentially hazardous military activities for safety and security audit activities, and enhancement of the available guidance material, and were all addressed by ICAO. In addition to these recommendations, other States affected by these tragedies have made proposals for enhancing international civil aviation safety and security. Following these proposals, the ICAO Accident Investigation Panel has been working on concerns expressed about investigations on the downing of aircraft, particularly when the independence of the Accident Investigation Authority and credibility of the investigation could be challenged. Most recently, the 41st Session of the ICAO Assembly, which took place in September and October 2022, also resulted in States requesting a prioritized review of the Risk Assessment Manual. To this end, ICAO solicited feedback from Member States, and several substantive inputs from States and Industry Organizations have been received. These are under review and analysis, in close coordination with the Safer Skies Committee. ICAO plans to issue a third edition of the Risk Assessment Manual taking into account these contributions by the end of this year, along with a programme to develop and roll-out a dedicated workshop. “Flight safety has reached outstanding levels in recent decades. However, one single accident is one too many,” Mr Sciacchitano noted. Curt Lewis