Flight Safety Information - August 25, 2023 No. 165   In This Issue : Incident: American B738 near Raleigh/Durham on Aug 23rd 2023, suspected fuel leak : Accident: Antilles DHC6 at Saint Barthelemy on Aug 24th 2023, runway excursion and collision with stationary helicopter : Incident: Southwest B737 at Atlanta on Aug 21st 2023, rejected takeoff due to blown tyre : Incident: Srilankan A320 at Delhi on Aug 23rd 2023, hydraulic failure : US FAA hires 1,500 air traffic controllers but staffing challenges remain : Pennsylvania woman charged after allegedly ditching dog at Pittsburgh airport before going on Mexican vacation : The Disaster Some See Coming to America’s Skies : Lawsuit over deadly seaplane crash in Washington state targets aircraft operator and manufacturer : A Case For Maintaining Two Pilots In Commercial Aircraft Cockpits : Karol Bobko, First to Pilot the Challenger Into Space, Dies at 85 : First-ever independently developed supersonic jet on its way : FAA Clears Boom Supersonic For XB-1 Flight Tests : US FAA considering stricter rules for high-volume charter flight operators : NTSB: Rushed Flight Contributed to Gulfstream G150 Runway Overrun : Three Ryanair passengers removed from flight after brawl erupts Incident: American B738 near Raleigh/Durham on Aug 23rd 2023, suspected fuel leak An American Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N979AN performing flight AA-1787 from Washington National,DC to Orlando,FL (USA), was enroute at FL300 about 60nm east of Raleigh/Durham,NC (USA) when the crew suspected a fuel leak and decided to divert to Raleigh where the aircraft landed safely on runway 05L about 25 minutes later. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration N943NN reached Orlando with a delay of about 9 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service after about 9 hours on the ground in Raleigh. https://avherald.com/h?article=50d73fd5&opt=0 Accident: Antilles DHC6 at Saint Barthelemy on Aug 24th 2023, runway excursion and collision with stationary helicopter An Air Antilles Express de Havilland DHC-6-400, registration F-OMYS performing flight 3S-722 from Pointe-a-Pitre (Guadeloupe) to Saint Barthelemy (Saint Barthelemy) with 7 people on board, landed on St. Barth's runway 26 (approaching from the sea, not over the hill and road) at 11:42L (15:42Z), touched down in the touch down zone of the runway but began to veer left off the runway, went over grass towards the apron and impacted a helicopter parked at the apron, which brought the aircraft to a stop. One occupant received minor injuries, both aircraft received substantial damage. https://avherald.com/h?article=50d73ab3&opt=0 Incident: Southwest B737 at Atlanta on Aug 21st 2023, rejected takeoff due to blown tyre A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700, registration N298WN performing flight WN-1918 from Atlanta,GA to New Orleans,LA (USA), was accelerating for takeoff from Atlanta's runway 26L when about one minute after takeoff clearance tower transmitted "if you want to stop the aircraft on the runway, that's fine". The aircraft was rejecting takeoff and stopped on the runway. Tower subsequently advised that tower could see the blown tyre on the right hand main gear, the inboard main tyre. The crew of the aircraft about to line up runway 26L confirmed it was the right inboard tyre. The aircraft was towed to the apron. A passenger reported the crew announced they rejected takeoff due to a blown tyre, the aircraft was subsequently towed to the apron, they were taken to New Orleans by a different aircraft. A replacement Boeing 737-700 registration N7746C reached New Orleans with a delay of about 2 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=50d725ea&opt=0 Incident: Srilankan A320 at Delhi on Aug 23rd 2023, hydraulic failure A SriLankan Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration 4R-MRE performing flight UL-195 from Colombo (Sri Lanka) to Delhi (India), was descending towards Delhi when the crew reported the failure of one of their three hydraulic systems. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on Delhi's runway 28 and taxied to the apron. The airline reported the aircraft suffered a minor issue, one of the hydraulic systems of three failed, no emergency was declared. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 6.5 hours, then departed for the return flight and reached Colombo with a delay of about 4:40 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=50d715a6&opt=0 US FAA hires 1,500 air traffic controllers but staffing challenges remain WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it had met its goal of hiring 1,500 air traffic controllers (ATC) for the year even as staffing challenges continue to impact travel and aviation near misses prompt safety concerns. The FAA has about 2,600 controllers at various levels of training. The Transportation Department said in March it is seeking $117 million to hire another 1,800 next year, in addition to the 1,500 it planned to hire through Sept 30. More than 12,000 people applied earlier this year for the roles. The FAA is also holding runway safety meetings at 90 airports after troubling close-call incidents and said on Wednesday it awarded $121 million to airports to reduce runway incursion risks including reconfiguring taxiways and installing new lighting systems. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA are investigating an Aug. 11 near collision between a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a Cessna business jet in San Diego. The NTSB is investigating seven runway incursion events since January, including the San Diego incident. Citing ATC staffing issues, the FAA this month agreed to extend temporary cuts to minimum flight requirements at congested New York City-area airports and Washington National Airport through Oct. 28. The Transportation Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in June critical ATC facilities face significant staffing challenges, warning of the risks posed to the continuity of air traffic operations. The FAA said on Thursday it currently has 10,700 certified controllers, up slightly from 10,578 in 2022, according to the OIG report, which was virtually the same as in 2021 and down 10% from 2012. The FAA closed its academy for six months in 2020 due to COVID-19 and paused on-the-job training at facilities for almost two years, the agency said. Managers told auditors that ATC facilities are not adequately staffed and many do not have enough supervisors. At several facilities, controllers are working mandatory overtime and six-day work weeks to cover staff shortages, the report found. Of the FAA's total 13,300 controllers, 26% are trainees, the report said. Last summer, there were 41,498 flights from New York airports where ATC staffing was a contributing factor in delays. The report found New York Terminal Radar Approach Control staffing was at 54% compared with optimal levels. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-faa-hires-1500-air-traffic-controllers-staffing-challenges-remain-2023-08-24/ Pennsylvania woman charged after allegedly ditching dog at Pittsburgh airport before going on Mexican vacation Police say the dog was abandoned near a parking area at Pittsburgh International Airport Magda Mazri and Donato Frattaroli share their dog's naughty behavior ahead of their trip on 'America Reports.' A Pennsylvania woman was charged after she allegedly ditched her dog at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIA) before going on a vacation to Mexico. The Allegheny County Police Department said in a Facebook post that 44-year-old Allison Gaiser of Kittanning allegedly abandoned her French bulldog at PIA Aug. 4 after learning that she couldn't board her flight to a resort destination in Mexico without a crate. Officials said the dog was found unattended in a stroller at around 5:30 a.m. Gaiser is being charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, along with summary violations of animal cruelty, animal neglect and abandonment of animals by owner. DOG ABANDONED AT PITTSBURGH AIRPORT AFTER OWNER LEARNS IT NEEDS CRATE TO FLY A Pennsylvania woman was charged after she allegedly ditched her dog at Pittsburgh International Airport before going on a vacation to Mexico. (Allegheny County Police Department) Police said in their update the dog is doing well, and is in a foster home. In an earlier update, officials said multiple attempts were made to reach the owner by phone after locating a microchip on the dog. The Allegheny County Police Department said in a Facebook post that 44-year-old Allison Gaiser of Kittanning, Penn., allegedly abandoned her French bulldog at Pittsburgh International Airport on Aug. 4, after learning that she couldn't board her flight to a resort destination in Mexico without a crate. (Allegheny County Police Department) At that point, officials say that the woman ditched the dog near the airport's short-term parking and proceeded to board the flight. The Allegheny County Police Department wrote in a Facebook post that the unattended dog was discovered by officers at the airport Aug. 4 at around 5:30 a.m. (Allegheny County Police Department) "There are many pets still looking for a home, and we would encourage anyone interested in adoption to reach out to Animal Friends at 412-847-7000," the police department said in the Facebook post. https://www.foxnews.com/us/pennsylvania-woman-charged-after-allegedly-ditching-dog-pittsburgh-airport-before-going-mexican-vacation The Disaster Some See Coming to America’s Skies “Every captain has stories,” one commercial airline pilot said. “It’s not a matter of if something happens, but when.” Air travel in the United States is overwhelmingly safe. Compared with recent decades, air travel is shockingly safe. Think back to the 1990s, a decade studded with disasters: • 1994: A USAir flight crashes while trying to land in Charlotte, killing 37. (Culprit: wind shear.) 1994: A USAir flight crashes while trying to land in Pittsburgh, killing 132. (Culprit: mechanical failure.) • 1996: A ValuJet flight crashes into the Everglades, killing 110. (Culprit: cargo fire.) • 1996: A TWA flight explodes after takeoff from JFK, killing 230. (Culprit: fuel-tank explosion.) 1999: An EgyptAir flight crashes into the sea south of Nantucket, killing 217. (Culprit: the first officer, it seems.) Now, no one has died in a U.S. airline crash since 2009. But how long can the respite last? Monday’s New York Times featured a blockbuster story about the frighteningly commonplace near misses plaguing the airline industry.* After telling the story of three almost disasters in July alone—including one in which a Frontier plane parked so close to an active runway that it was buzzed by two accelerating jets in a manner described by the Federal Aviation Administration as “skin to skin”—the Times pointed out that near misses happen much more frequently than most people understand. “In the most recent 12-month period for which data was available,” the Times noted of a public database of independently reported incidents, “there were about 300 accounts of near collisions involving commercial airlines.” The Times story points out that only 43 of the more than 500 airports in the United States have surface-detection systems to alert the air traffic control tower to dangerous runway conditions. And those towers are underpopulated with hideously overworked controllers: Ninety-nine percent of the country’s air traffic control facilities are staffed under recommended levels, and controllers are regularly asked to work six days a week. (The Times found a number of controllers who had worked 400 hours of overtime already this year.) What does all this mean? After all, the nation’s commercial airlines have not suffered a fatal crash in more than 14 years, an unprecedented period of safety. But while no one wants to go on the record to the New York Times to say it, the story makes it very clear: The next big crash is coming. “It is only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens,” one unnamed controller wrote in a confidential FAA safety report last year. Everyone I’ve spoken to in commercial aviation recently about these “near misses” agreed. “There’s a pulse in the industry that says we’re close to something happening,” said a captain at a major airline. “We’re talking to controllers who are overwhelmed,” a first officer at a different airline told me. “Every captain has stories. We’re asking too much of the system. It’s not a matter of if something happens, but when.” “We’re overdue,” another pilot told me. “When it happens, the reaction is gonna be, ‘Why didn’t we see this coming?’ ” But we do see it coming. Chronic underfunding and lack of prioritization mean that problems like missing surface detection systems go unaddressed. (The National Transportation Safety Board called for more such systems in 2017; none have been installed since then.) Overworked air traffic controllers quit and retire faster than the FAA can hire new ones; the agency’s most recent budget requests funding to hire and train 1,800 new controllers, though it expects to lose more than 1,400 existing controllers next year alone. And during the pandemic, airlines offered buyouts and early retirement, only to find themselves unprepared for the wide resumption of travel. The result: a pilot shortage, and I’m told, major airlines putting less experienced pilots in charge of planes. “Every time they put pilots through the system, all that generates training and change,” a pilot told me. “At the end of that, you spit out a 737 with someone who’s only been here a year and a half as the captain, and a first officer who’s brand new.” Once upon a time, that was common at smaller, regional airlines; now even at major airlines, another veteran pilot told me, “We’re hiring pilots that only have, two, three thousand hours of experience”—as opposed to the 6,000 hours he had when he was hired. He hastened to point out that the new pilots are still talented, but they need more training: “You got a driver’s license when you were 16, but you weren’t Dale Earnhardt yet.” Since the 1990s, air safety has been transformed by improved pilot training, revolutionary technology (wind shear detection, for example), and evolving attitudes toward discipline and data. That database the Times used in its story, for example, chronicles alarming incidents but is part of a culture of self-reporting that permeates the industry, and which multiple pilots told me is crucial to air safety. Airlines allow their employees to report incidents and errors without fear of repercussion, and the information that’s collected reveals patterns and problems that can be fixed through training, redesign, or regulation. It might give you pause to hear that there’s a whole system to ensure that pilots won’t be punished for mistakes, but this collaboration between regulators, airlines, and pilot unions encourages people to report problems before they become catastrophes. “People hear that and think ‘Wait a minute all these guys are in bed with each other,’ ” one pilot told me. “But these self-reporting schemes have gone a long, long way toward making flying safer.” But it isn’t only these changes in policy and advances in technology that have kept American airlines crash-free since 2009. It’s good fortune. Any one of those near misses could have gone a different way. The Times report makes it clear that due to budget cuts, mismanagement, and complacency, the airlines and the FAA have been pushing their luck. If nothing changes, it won’t be long until that luck runs out. https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/08/safe-flying-us-air-travel-accident-near-miss.html Lawsuit over deadly seaplane crash in Washington state targets aircraft operator and manufacturer Representatives for all but one of the nine passengers killed in a seaplane crash near Washington state’s Whidbey Island are suing the flight’s charter operator and aircraft manufacturer SEATTLE -- Representatives for all but one of the nine passengers killed in a seaplane crash near Washington state's Whidbey Island are suing the aircraft's charter operator and its manufacturer. The three lawsuits, filed Tuesday in King County Superior Court, say the companies are responsible for the victims’ deaths, The Seattle Times reported. The lawsuits name Northwest Seaplanes and De Havilland Aircraft of Canada, along with other aviation entities, as defendants. The single-engine De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Turbine Otter that crashed was owned by Northwest Seaplanes. The pilot and nine passengers died Sept. 4, 2022, when the plane, traveling to the Seattle suburb of Renton from Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands, crashed into Mutiny Bay near Whidbey Island. The crash was “entirely preventable” and the aviation companies are liable for damages, one complaint alleges. All the lawsuits are similar in their allegations and in the descriptions of the pain and suffering they say the victims faced just before their deaths. Representatives for the estates of Lauren Hilty, 39, who was 8 months pregnant at the time; Joanne Mera, 60; Gabrielle Hanna, 29; and Sandra Williams, 60, filed one wrongful death lawsuit. Mera was a business owner from San Diego. Hanna was a Seattle lawyer on her way home from a friend’s wedding. Williams was a civil rights activist who founded a community center and Black newspaper in Spokane. Representatives for Hilty’s husband, Ross Mickel, 47, and Remy Mickel, their 22-month-old son, filed the second lawsuit. Hilty, Mickel and Remy were returning to their home in Medina, Washington, from a Labor Day weekend trip. Representatives for Rebecca and Luke Ludwig, a Minnesota couple who had two children, filed the third lawsuit. Longtime commercial pilot Jason Winters and passenger Patricia Hicks, a retired teacher and Williams’ partner, also died in the crash. A preliminary investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board found a component that moved the plane’s horizontal tail stabilizer had come apart. This left the pilot without the ability to control the aircraft's pitch, causing it to plummet in a near-vertical descent into the water. Nate Bingham, an attorney representing the Ludwigs’ families, said Thursday the plane crashed because of “an antiquated design with a single point of failure.” The lawsuits allege the defendants and their subsidiaries should have maintained and inspected the aircraft and had a duty to ensure a safe flight. Northwest Seaplanes and De Havilland Aircraft of Canada did not respond Thursday to requests by the newspaper for comment, and attempts to reach the companies by The Associated Press were not immediately successful. Northwest Seaplanes said last year it was “heartbroken” over the incident and was working with the FAA, NTSB and Coast Guard. https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawsuit-deadly-seaplane-crash-washington-state-targets-aircraft-102553558 A Case For Maintaining Two Pilots In Commercial Aircraft Cockpits ALPA President Jason Ambrosi discussed issues around pilot supply and pilot safety in the United States. SUMMARY • ALPA President Jason Ambrosi emphasizes the importance of having two trained pilots in the cockpit for safety reasons, citing an incident where a pilot's sudden incapacitation endangered passengers and crew. • Ambrosi acknowledges the potential distractions caused by technology in the cockpit, but believes it can be managed by pilots and should not replace their understanding and manual flying skills. • Ambrosi addresses concerns about the pilot shortage, stating that there is an adequate supply of pilots in the United States, but the training backlog due to COVID-19 is impacting the availability of pilots. In an August 22 interview with Simple Flying, Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) President Jason Ambrosi discussed issues around pilot supply and pilot safety in the United States. Those issues include crewing, pay and more. A business case for two pilots During the interview, Ambrosi stressed safety for commercial aviation starts with two trained pilots. Ambrosi raised the recent LATAM tragedy where a pilot died in-flight after collapsing in the restroom, and how not having another trained pilot would endanger the cabin crew and passengers. Hence Ambrosi’s concern about some international airlines wanting to have long-distance flights with only a pilot in the cockpit with a lavatory and a relief pilot on standby. However to Ambrosi, If your business plan or some airline’s business plans for an operator is based on the few cents per seat, it is to have two pilots in the cockpit at all times, then their business plan should probably be you know, reviewed. Technology is a distraction but not a replacement To Ambrosi, the growing technology in today’s cockpits is something to be “managed”. Ambrosi expounded sharing; “I'll be honest with you, one of those distractions that pilots have to manage is, is the technology because, you know, all this new technology it has is made by engineers and pilots have to manage it. So that can be a distraction, right? The FAA has said that there's times when you need to just turn it all off and get back to flying airplanes because the technology can be overwhelming so bad things happen obviously.” The author is currently reading pilot-author Karlene Pettit, Ph.D.’s Kindle Normalization of Deviance linked below. This passage of Dr. Pettit’s arguably supports Ambrosi’s assertions; “Manual flight does not remove the necessity to understand the systems and utilize the information presented on the aircraft displays. Therefore, pushing buttons and allowing the aircraft to do its thing would be more comfortable for the pilot who lacks understanding.” But when asked about artificial intelligence potentially replacing pilots, he replied that there's nothing he sees on the horizon that could "possibly replace two well-trained, qualified and rested pilots on the flight deck." ALPA’s view on the pilot shortage Simple Flying brought up the pilot shortage concerns voiced by many airline executives. Ambrosi believes there is an adequate supply beyond US market needs. However, he brought up the training backlog from COVID-19 that impacts the United States' pilot supply. The below video summarizes Ambrosi's views. Additionally, Ambrosi, a former regional airline pilot, shared his perception that United States regional airlines were worse off. He said that regional airlines have traditionally treated their pilots as second-class citizens. Ambrosi also added his perception that the Regional Airline Association (RAA), which represents regional airlines’ management, was advocating for the wrong solution. Granted, the RAA says, “32 U.S. communities have lost all commercial air service since 2013. Another 42 airports have seen a 75% reduction in air service since 2013 and 77 airports have experienced a reduction of 50% or more." However, Ambrosi shared that when he was flying for the regional airlines, his first officers would have low hours of flying time needing “on-the-job training” and regional airline passengers don’t deserve co-pilots needing on-the-job training. Nor for SkyWest to “Exploit a loophole to offer rural communities less safe service” as Ambrosi put a SkyWest proposal to provide regional airline service as a less-regulated charter airline that does not require experienced first officers. Part of Ambrosi's concerns were that young regional pilots do not wish to wait to fly for major US airlines. On sexual harassment One matter that arguably impacts pilot supply is sexual harassment. After recent in-depth reporting by CNN and The Landing about sexual harassment in commercial aviation, Simple Flying asked about what ALPA’s response to sexual harassment is. Ambrosi explained, “There's no place for sexual harassment in the workplace, there's, you know, we have a hard policy on that. … We do everything we can to, you know, make sure that it's a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. … We process every official situation that comes forth and manage it, and work through it as best as we possibly can. But there's obviously no place for sexual harassment in the workplace.” Ambrosi also added that ALPA has committees to help the union work through the problem of sexual harassment and an ALPA spokesperson said the training comes from the airlines. Another small but acute factor in pilot supply is ensuring that pilots who are battling addiction can make a full recovery. Of course, the risk of an addicted pilot is small with over 45,000 flights a day but as Ambrosi reminded Simple Flying, airline pilots are the most highly scrutinized profession in the world. Need for improved cockpit security An ongoing concern for ALPA is the lack of secondary barriers in the cockpit. Although Ambrosi is grateful new airplanes will have to have an actual barrier versus a flight attendant to protect when pilots have to use the restroom, Ambrosi wants secondary barriers retroactively installed. Furthermore, Ambrosi is concerned about cargo aircraft lacking any barrier. Additionally, Ambrosi stressed during the interview that cargo aircraft share the same airspace as passenger aircraft so the safety standard must be the same high standard. On pattern bargaining One final potential distraction to pilots is pay. Ambrosi was happy to share with Simple Flying that the leadership of the Alaska Airlines pilots union agreement set the tone for this round of United States pilots’ unions bargaining and helped raise the pay of Delta Air Lines and United Airlines pilots. As the Alaska Airlines chapter of ALPA podcasted below, the airline recently honored its contract with pilots to grant a competitive snap-up in pay. However, the Alaska Airlines flight attendants are very upset and issued an Instagram statement, https://simpleflying.com/a-case-for-maintaining-two-pilots-in-commercial-aircraft-cockpits/ Karol Bobko, First to Pilot the Challenger Into Space, Dies at 85 Almost three years before it exploded, he was aboard the shuttle on its maiden flight. He commanded two other shuttle missions and was the first New York City native to orbit the earth. Karol Bobko, an Air Force pilot who joined NASA as an astronaut in 1969 and then waited 14 years before going into space, piloting the first voyage of the shuttle Challenger nearly three years before it exploded soon after liftoff, died on Aug. 17 at his home in Half Moon Bay, Calif., south of San Francisco. He was 85. His son, Paul, said the cause was complications of an unspecified degenerative disease of the nervous system. In 1966, with NASA’s early Gemini missions nearing their end and the Apollo program’s start-up in sight, Colonel Bobko joined a Defense Department project to explore the military uses of space. The Air Force’s Manned Operating Laboratory planned to shoot astronauts into orbit in a modified Gemini capsule that would have been connected to a 50-foot-long lab and powered by a Titan booster rocket. But in June 1969 — a month before Apollo 11 made the first moon landing — the government canceled the laboratory, citing its cost. Colonel Bobko, who was known as Bo, was one of the seven laboratory astronauts transferred to NASA. While he waited for a space mission, he earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1970 at the University of Southern California and provided support and testing for three forthcoming projects: Skylab, an orbiting laboratory that was launched in 1973; the joint U.S.-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz mission, in 1975; and the shuttle, which got off the ground in 1981. Asked how it felt to wait so long to be chosen for a space mission, he told a NASA oral history interviewer in 2002, “There were times when I felt I was a cosine wave in a sine-wave world.” The Challenger made its inaugural flight on April 4, 1983. For five days in space, its four-man crew deployed a communications satellite, and two astronauts, Story Musgrave and Donald Peterson, performed the shuttle program’s first spacewalk. “My responsibility was getting them into the suits” for the spacewalk, Colonel Bobko said in the oral history. “You know, it provides power and atmosphere and communications and meteoroid protection. It does everything. So it’s kind of like launching a small satellite, except it’s got a man in it.” Colonel Bobko was celebrated soon after, in a proclamation, as the first New York City native to orbit the earth. He flew on two more shuttle missions, the first as commander of the Discovery in 1985. On that mission the crew deployed one communications satellite, but a second one didn’t turn on, despite an attempt to fix it in an unplanned spacewalk by the astronauts Jeffrey Hoffman and S. David Griggs. (Two spacewalking members of another Discovery mission that year made the repairs.) “Bo was a commander who could lead without ever getting angry with people or raising his voice,” Dr. Hoffman, now a professor of aerospace engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said by phone. A rocket carrying a space shuttle lifting off, its boosters firing amid a cloud of white smoke. A rocket carrying the Challenger lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in April 1983. Colonel Bobko was aboard as the pilot. Credit...NASA Colonel Bobko went on to command the shuttle Atlantis on its first flight, in October 1985. Karol Joseph Bobko was born on Dec. 23, 1937, in Manhattan and lived with his family in Queens before moving, at 13, to Seaford, on the South Shore of Long Island. His parents, Charles and Veronica (Sagatis) Bobko, owned a beer and soda distributorship. Karol studied aerospace and engineering at Brooklyn Technical High School, commuting from Seaford, and graduated in 1955. Four years later, he was in the first graduating class of the United States Air Force Academy. He trained as a test and fighter pilot before joining the Defense Department’s Manned Operating Laboratory program, then suffered the disappointment of seeing it scrapped. Any hope of being assigned to an Apollo flight ended when the program was shut down after the last moon landing, by Apollo 17, in 1972. During his long wait to go into space, Colonel Bobko and two other astronauts spent eight weeks in a Skylab simulator in Houston, where the impact of food and exercise on their bodies was measured. He later joined the support crew for the Apollo-Soyuz project, working with Soviet cosmonauts. He recognized the irony of cooperating with the Soviets on a space project in the 1970s with Cold War tensions still high. He recalled walking one day in Red Square in Moscow with Robert F. Overmyer, another former Mobile Operating Laboratory astronaut who was in the support crew. Colonel Bobko had thought that if he ever visited the Soviet Union, it would be under combat conditions and not in a cooperative venture. “I never doubted I’d be here,” he recalled saying to Colonel Overmyer. “I always thought it would be at 200 feet and a full afterburner.” He edged closer into space as part of the support crew for the shuttle’s approach and landing tests, and he was the lead astronaut in a test group for the Columbia, the first shuttle to fly in space, in 1981. Colonel Bobko was still in the space program when the Challenger exploded 73 seconds into liftoff in 1986, killing its seven crew members. “That was pretty hard,” he told The Half Moon Bay Review in 2011. “I knew them all well.” (The Columbia later met disaster as well; it disintegrated as it re-entered the atmosphere in 2003, killing all seven aboard.) Colonel Bobko had retired from NASA, and the shuttle program had ended, when he spoke at a ceremony in 2012 marking the transfer of the shuttle Atlantis to the visitor center at the Kennedy Space Center. He had commanded its first mission. In addition to his son, Colonel Bobko is survived by his wife, Dianne (Welsh) Bobko; his daughter, Michelle Bobko; a grandson; and his brother, Peter. Colonel Bobko retired from NASA and the Air Force in 1988 and worked at the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which had contracts with the space agency. In 2000, he was hired as a vice president of Spacehab, which provided microgravity experimentation equipment for the space shuttle. In 2005, he became program manager for the technology company SAIC’s contract with NASA’s Ames Research Center Simulation Labs. He stayed in that position until 2014 and had been a consultant through last year. Colonel Bobko traveled to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2011 to watch the 135th and final launch of the shuttle program: that of the Atlantis, which he had commanded 26 years earlier. In an interview with The Half Moon Bay Review soon after, he recalled going through the prelaunch checklist, the engines firing, and being thrust into orbit. “Those things I participated in many years ago … and now there won’t be any more shuttle launches,” he said. “Now it’s come full circle.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/us/karol-bobko-dead.html First-ever independently developed supersonic jet on its way The XB-1 is finally undergoing testing in the Mojave desert. Aviation company Boom Supersonic has undertaken a gargantuan task: it is building XB-1, the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet. The new airline will support next-generation aviation technology such as “carbon fiber composites, advanced avionics, and digitally-optimized aerodynamics to enable sustainable supersonic travel.” Boasting impressive specs A quick look at the company’s website indicates that XB-1 boasts some impressive specs such as carbon composite and titanium fuselage that measure 71 feet in length and three General Electric J85 engines that produce a combined maximum thrust of 12,300 pounds of force (lbf). The plane was mostly developed in Centennial, Colorado but was moved earlier this year to the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California where it underwent extensive ground testing including taxi testing. "The recent progress made towards XB-1's first flight reflects the team's collective efforts to build and safely fly the world's first independently developed supersonic jet," said in the statement Blake Scholl, Boom Supersonic's founder and CEO. Most recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) undertook a detailed aircraft inspection of the craft in order to award Boom Supersonic an experimental airworthiness certificate. This key milestone along with letters of authorization and other agreements will now allow Chief Test Pilot Bill "Doc" Shoemaker and test pilot Tristan "Gepetto" Brandenburg to fly the XB-1 for the first time over the Mojave desert. This location holds a particular significance as it is the airspace where Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1. It's also where the Mach 3+, strategic reconnaissance SR-71 "Blackbird" first took to the skies all the way back in 1964. Safety is of paramount importance to Boom Supersonic and its pilots have completed hundreds of hours of training in a precise simulator before undertaking their historic flights. "It's fitting that XB-1 is now progressing toward first flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port, home to more than 50 first flights and other significant aviation events," said Shoemaker, Chief Test Pilot for Boom Supersonic. "I'm looking forward to flying XB-1 here, building on the achievements of other talented engineers and pilots who inspire us every day to make supersonic travel mainstream." Laying the foundation for world’s fastest airliner Most importantly, the XB-1 is now laying the foundation for Boom Supersonic’s Overture, the sustainable supersonic airliner that will run on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel, have a capacity of carrying 65-80 passengers and will fly at Mach 1.7. This speed is twice that of today's fastest airliners. Despite Virgin Group deciding not to purchase the craft after all, the jet still has many interested buyers such as American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines which altogether have ordered 130 of the airplanes. Boom Supersonic is also in talks with Northrop Grumman for government and defense applications of Overture and has the support and collaboration of several companies including Aernnova, Leonardo, Aciturri, Safran Landing Systems, Eaton, Collins Aerospace, and the United States Air Force. Both the XB-1 and Overture have the capacity to revolutionize how we fly, introducing a new ear of aviation. https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/first-ever-independently-developed-supersonic-jet-on-its-way FAA Clears Boom Supersonic For XB-1 Flight Tests Boom Supersonic has received an FAA experimental certificate of airworthiness for its XB-1 technology demonstrator, clearing the way for flight testing to get underway at Mojave Air and Space Port, California. The FAA’s permit to fly the 71-ft.-long, delta-winged aircraft comes as Boom begins high-speed taxi tests, with a run up to 60 kt. achieved on Aug. 23. Previously the XB-1 achieved a top taxi speed of 10 kt. at Boom’s site in Centennial, Colorado, before the aircraft was transferred to California for the flight-test program earlier this year. “This forms part of the build up to the flight-test campaign that we still expect to start later this year,” Boom Founder and CEO Blake Scholl says. Speaking to Aerospace DAILY, he adds: “Over the next few months we’re going to continue to expand the envelope and push to higher speeds out on the runway. When we have enough tests in a row where the team comes back and says, ‘If we’d flown today it would have been a really good day,’ that’s when we know it’s going to be time to push the throttle forward and pull back on the stick.” Configured with three afterburning General Electric J85-15s, the slender delta-winged XB-1 is intended to pave the way for Boom’s full-scale Mach 1.7 Overture airliner by proving out design processes, engineering software, digital modeling, production methods and flight-test procedures. Boom says the XB-1 therefore remains highly relevant, despite the company’s 2022 announcement of a complete redesign of the Overture airliner with four engines and a cranked-arrow planform in place of the original trijet, ogive-wing configuration. The length of the test campaign and progression to Mach 1-plus flight is still to be determined, Scholl says. “It really depends greatly on how things go. It’s hard to see a way that we will go from first flight to first supersonic flight in less than three months. It could be as long as a year and we’re going to let the airplane tell us when it’s ready,” he says. Boom originally hoped to fly the XB-1 in 2021, but delayed the effort after integration and initial ground tests took longer than expected. The XB-1 program also has been key to the company’s safety culture, Scholl says. “In the tech world, people talk about ‘move fast and break things’—and we want to move fast. We definitely don’t want to break them.” Boom has also filed its request for special authorization with the FAA for supersonic flight. Although designed for Mach 2.2, the planned cruise speed of the original Overture trijet, the XB-1, is now targeted at a top speed closer to the revised Mach 1.7 of the later configuration. “It’s unlikely we will push XB-1 that high [Mach 2-plus]. What we really want to see are the low-speed handling qualities, which are actually one of the most difficult things to get right on a long, skinny airplane,” Scholl says. “We want to see if they are as we expect them. And then we’ll go fly the airplane supersonic. We’ll make a call later on how far we want to push the limits to the top speed,” he adds. On preparations for the Overture, Scholl says progress on the company’s 400,000-ft.2 production and test facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport near Greensboro, North Carolina, is moving slightly ahead of schedule. “We said we’d be ready next year, and it looks like it might be ready earlier next year than we thought it would be. It’s looking like a real factory now. The sidewalls are up for about half the building and it’s coming along.” Boom also recently announced that former Boeing propulsion veteran Scott Powell has joined the company as senior vice president for the Symphony engine program for Overture. Powell, who is now responsible for leading the development, industrialization, certification and integration of the propulsion system, was formerly engineering propulsion leader for the 787 and held key engine-related roles in the KC-46A tanker program among others. Most recently, he served as the Propulsion Integrated Product Team leader for the B-52J Commercial Engine Replacement Program. https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/safety-ops-regulation/faa-clears-boom-supersonic-xb-1-flight-tests US FAA considering stricter rules for high-volume charter flight operators WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Thursday it is considering subjecting high-volume charter flight operators to stricter regulations imposed on passenger airlines. Airline unions have opposed the expansion of charter operations. Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson praised the FAA action, calling the charter regulations a "loophole that undermines safety and security rules for commercial aviation." Advertisement · Scroll to continue Charter flights, which can have a maximum of 30 seats, are not subject to the same training for first officers, mandatory retirement of pilots at age 65 or minimum rest periods for airline pilots. Passengers on those flights also need not be screened by the Transportation Security Administration. The number of charter flights has grown dramatically over the last decade. The FAA said on Thursday "this rapid growth poses an increased risk to safety if left unchecked" and said it will "begin a rulemaking to address this safety risk." Advertisement · Scroll to continue Utah-based regional carrier SkyWest Airlines operates regional flights for United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines and wants approval to operate a separate charter service called SkyWest Charter. The Transportation Department has not yet acted on the request. SkyWest Charter said it believes the charter designation "is essential for small community air service, today and well into the future." The air carrier added it "already exceeds current safety requirements." SkyWest Inc (SKYW.O) shares fell 2.4% Thursday to $40.28. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Aviation unions and American Airlines (AAL.O) have criticized growing charter operations by air carrier JSX. American said in May that JSX had a "competitive advantage" by operating under less stringent regulatory rules. JSX had 110,000 departures since 2016 with its 37 aircraft, the company said, while unions said that is more than some small regional passenger airlines, unions argued. JSX said on Thursday the FAA notice "is disappointing, both for the traveling public and for the advancement of vital air mobility programs around the nation ... JSX complies with all applicable rules and regulations and far exceeds the safety requirements germane to our public charter operations." Dallas-based JSX counts both United Airlines (UAL.O) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) as investors. Former House Transportation Committee chair Peter DeFazio, a Democrat, praised the FAA for planning "to rein in JSX and others who are flying scheduled 'charters' to avoid pilot training requirements, proper rest and duty time (and) no retirement age." Separately, a bill to extend the FAA's authorization for another four years has stalled in Congress over a debate about whether to revise pilot training requirements. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/faa-considering-stricter-rules-high-volume-charter-flight-operators-2023-08-24/ NTSB: Rushed Flight Contributed to Gulfstream G150 Runway Overrun The cockpit recording indicates the pilots were racing to land ahead of another jet, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its final report on a runway overrun accident on May 5, 2021, at Ridgeland-Claude Dean Airport (3J1) in South Carolina. The accident resulted in substantial damage to the aircraft, a Gulfstream G150 registered to Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. The two crewmembers and three passengers on board were not injured, the NTSB said. During a flight from New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport (KEVB) in Florida to Ridgeland, the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded information indicating that the pilot in command (PIC) wanted to complete the flight as quickly as possible and arrive at the destination airport ahead of another aircraft. According to the NTSB report, a passenger asked the crewmembers about the estimated time of arrival, and the PIC replied, “I’ll speed up. I’ll go real fast here.” A minute or so later, the second in command (SIC) noted the airplane’s airspeed was 300 knots and its altitude was 9,000 feet. For the next few minutes, the crew talked about ways to shorten the flight time, the report said. The pilots also noted that another jet on the radio was headed to 3J1. The PIC said the other aircraft’s estimated arrival time was 10:33, local time or about two minutes ahead of the eventual accident aircraft. The CVR recorded the PIC commenting that the other jet would “slow to 250 [knots] below 10 [thousand feet] and we won’t. We know what we’re doing right now. We’re trying to win a race.” The SIC can be heard replying, “That’s right,” and the PIC said, “This is NASCAR,” after which laughter can be heard on the recording. At Ridgeland, the crew performed a straight-in visual approach to land on Runway 36. The airplane was high and fast throughout the final approach “as evidenced by the SIC’s airspeed callouts,” per the NTSB report. The SIC asked if S-turns were necessary, and the PIC replied that they were not. The CVR recorded an electronic voice giving repeated “sink rate” and “pull-up” warnings during the final approach, indicating the approach was not stable. The pilots continued the landing, touching down about 1,000 feet down the 4,200-foot runway. The airplane failed to stop in time, overran the runway, and came to rest in a marshy area about 400 feet beyond the departure end. The fuselage and wings sustained substantial damage, according to the NTSB. The PIC later said the airplane’s wheel brakes, thrust reversers, and ground air brakes did not function after touchdown, but evidence from witnesses and video indicated the thrust reversers deployed shortly after touchdown. Tire skid marks indicated that wheel braking “occurred throughout the ground roll,” the report said. NTSA said the ground air brakes did not deploy, and tests performed to determine why were inconclusive. The NTSB said the probable cause of the accident was “the flight crew’s continuation of an unstable approach and the failure of the ground air brakes to deploy upon touchdown, both of which resulted in the runway overrun. Contributing was the crew’s motivation and response to external pressures to complete the flight as quickly as possible to accommodate passenger wishes and the crew’s decision to land with a quartering tailwind that exceeded the airplane’s limitations.” https://www.flyingmag.com/ntsb-rushed-flight-contributed-to-gulfstream-g150-runway-overrun/ Three Ryanair passengers removed from flight after brawl erupts Ryanair says incident happened on Aug. 21 flight from Manchester, England to Ibiza, Spain A video has captured a brawl onboard a Ryanair flight that resulted in three passengers being kicked off the aircraft. The airline tells FOX Business that its Aug. 21 flight from Manchester, England to Ibiza, Spain, was "delayed ahead of takeoff when a small number of passengers became disruptive." "These passengers were removed from the aircraft by local police and the flight continued safely to Ibiza following a short delay," a Ryanair spokesperson said in a statement. "This is now a matter for local police," the spokesperson added. "We sincerely apologize to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of these passengers' disruptive behavior." Fight on Ryanair plane A video taken by a passenger shows the incident that delayed the takeoff of a Ryanair flight on Monday from Manchester to Ibiza. In footage taken by a passenger, a woman could be heard repeatedly saying, "I will find you!" The video appears to show several passengers engaged in a struggle in the plane’s aisle. At one point, a woman in pink clothing stumbles backward as another person pulls her away from the confrontation. "Two men in their 30s and one woman, also in her 30s, have all been arrested on suspicion of being drunk on board an aircraft," a Greater Manchester Police spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News. "One of the men and the woman were further arrested on suspicion of assaulting police officers," that spokesperson added. "They all remain in custody for questioning." A passenger onboard the plane, identified by Kennedy News & Media as Lyndsay Cash from Wigan, England, said a woman was "barging into everyone the second she got on the plane." "She was drunk and when someone pointed that out she took offense and started kicking off with everyone," Cash reportedly said. "They just started fighting in the aisle and it got really aggressive." "The stewardesses weren't much use and kids were upset. I wasn't happy with the way it was managed," Cash added. "It annoyed me and everyone else on the plane. Everyone clapped as she got escorted off and she even fought with police," she continued. "I don't think she should have been let on the plane and I think the stewards should have been much quicker. It was left for the passengers to deal with." Dispute onboard Ryanair plane The incident, according to Cash, happened about 15 minutes before the plane’s departure, and takeoff ended up being delayed around an hour and a half as a result, Kennedy News & Media reports. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/three-ryanair-passengers-removed-flight-brawl-erupts-video Curt Lewis