Flight Safety Information - August 28, 2023 No. 166   In This Issue : Incident: Envoy E175 at Dallas on Aug 25th 2023, could not retract the landing gear : Incident: Brussels A320 at Brussels on Aug 25th 2023, lightning strike : Incident: Delta B739 near Albuquerque on Aug 26th 2023, electrical odour in cockpit : Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey - Fatal Accident (Australia) : Federal officials are warning airlines to keep workers away from jet engines that are still running : 5,000 pilots suspected of hiding major health issues. Most are still flying. : FAA Revokes Certificates Of 60 Pilots Getting VA Benefits : Air traffic control ‘failure’ hits UK airports : Airlines tried to stop fake service animals. It kept blind people off flights. : American Airlines flight from Miami to NYC diverts to Jacksonville after pepper spray incident : Regulator Finds Lapses In Air India's Internal Safety Audits Following Inspection : Demand soars for airplane maintenance as sector vies for parts, workers : Fan blades, engine parts go missing from Go First jets, lessor says : EU infrastructure fund eyes African clean jet fuel projects Incident: Envoy E175 at Dallas on Aug 25th 2023, could not retract the landing gear An Envoy Embraer ERJ-175, registration N228NN performing flight AA-3995 from Dallas Ft. Worth,TX to Columbus,OH (USA), was climbing out of Dallas' runway 17C when the crew stopped the climb at 8000 feet reporting they were unable to retract the landing gear. The aircraft entered a hold while the crew was troubleshooting the problem and subsequently returned to Dallas for a safe landing on runway 18R about 90 minutes after departure. A replacement ERJ-175 registration N227NN reached Columbus with a delay of about 3.5 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 14 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=50d96885&opt=0 Incident: Brussels A320 at Brussels on Aug 25th 2023, lightning strike A Brussels Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration OO-TCH performing flight SN-3289 from Brussels (Belgium) to Tel Aviv (Israel), was climbing out of Brussels' runway 25R when the aircraft received a lightning strike. The crew stopped the climb at FL290, burned off fuel and returned to Brussels for a safe landing on runway 25L about 90 minutes after departure. The airline reported the aircraft received minor damage to its nose when it encountered a lightning strike. The passengers were rebooked onto other flights. The flight was cancelled. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 10 hours after landing back. https://avherald.com/h?article=50d8bf20&opt=0 Incident: Delta B739 near Albuquerque on Aug 26th 2023, electrical odour in cockpit A Delta Airlines Boeing 737-900, registration N850DN performing flight DL-941 from Raleigh/Durham,NC to Las Vegas,NV (USA), was enroute at FL320 about 270nm east of Albuquerque,NM (USA) when the crew initiated a descent to FL200 and subsequently decided to divert to Albuquerque reporting they had an odour of an electrical fire in the cockpit, they wanted emergency services to check both engines (CFM56). The aircraft landed safely on Albuquerque's runway 08 about 45 minutes after leaving FL320 and vacated the runway. Emergency services inspected the aircraft and followed the aircraft to the apron. A replacement Boeing 737-900 registration N922DZ continued the flight and reached Las Vegas with a delay of about 6 hours. The airline reported the aircraft diverted to Albuquerque due to an unusual odour on board of the aircraft. https://avherald.com/h?article=50d966fb&opt=0 Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey - Fatal Accident (Australia) Date: 27-AUG-2023 Time: 09:43 LT Type: Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey Owner/operator: US Marine Corps (USMC) Registration: MSN: Fatalities: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 23 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: Melville Island, Tiwi Islands, about 60km N of Darwin, NT - Australia Phase: En route Nature: Military Departure airport: Destination airport: Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources Narrative: A USMC Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey crashed during the Exercise Predator's Run 2023 at Melville Island, Tiwi Islands, about 60km north of Darwin, Northern Territory. There were 23 POB. Three US marines died and five has been transported by CareFlight to the Royal Darwin Hospital in serious condition, one of them critical, and the other marines were treated at the site of the crash. https://www.aviation-safety.net/wikibase/344934 Federal officials are warning airlines to keep workers away from jet engines that are still running The warning was prompted by “multiple events” in which workers were injured or killed during ground operations at airports, including one in Montgomery. Federal safety regulators are citing recent incidents, at least one of them fatal, in warning airlines to make sure that workers keep their distance from jet engines until they are powered off. The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it issued a safety alert to prevent workers from being injured while towing planes or guiding them to and from terminal gates. The FAA said airlines should review their safety programs to make sure they follow practices including keeping workers clear of planes until they are stopped and chocks are placed under the wheels. The warning was prompted by “multiple events” in which workers were injured or killed during ground operations at airports. The FAA bulletin cited two incidents, including the death of a ramp worker who was pulled into an engine of an American Eagle plane parked at a gate at the airport in Montgomery, Alabama. The Labor Department has proposed $15,625 in penalties against the worker’s employer, Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines. Piedmont is contesting the fine. In the other incident, a worker removing landing gear safety pins was struck by a wing when a tow driver moved the plane. The worker was run over by the plane’s wheels. https://www.wvtm13.com/article/federal-officials-are-warning-airlines-to-keep-workers-away-from-jet-engines-that-are-still-running/44920133# 5,000 pilots suspected of hiding major health issues. Most are still flying. Experts say the sheer number of pilots' unreported health problems presents a risk to aviation safety. Federal authorities have been investigating nearly 5,000 pilots suspected of falsifying their medical records to conceal that they were receiving benefits for mental health disorders and other serious conditions that could make them unfit to fly, documents and interviews show. The pilots under scrutiny are military veterans who told the Federal Aviation Administration that they are healthy enough to fly, yet failed to report — as required by law — that they were also collecting veterans benefits for disabilities that could bar them from the cockpit. Veterans Affairs investigators discovered the inconsistencies more than two years ago by cross-checking federal databases, but the FAA has kept many details of the case a secret from the public. FAA spokesman Matthew Lehner acknowledged in a statement that the agency has been investigating about 4,800 pilots “who might have submitted incorrect or false information as part of their medical applications.” The FAA has now closed about half of those cases, he said, and has ordered about 60 pilots — who Lehner said “posed a clear danger to aviation safety” — to cease flying on an emergency basis while their records are reviewed. About 600 of the pilots under investigation are licensed to fly for passenger airlines, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing case. Most of the rest hold commercial licenses that allow them to fly for hire, including with cargo firms, corporate clients or tour companies. Experts said that the inquiry has exposed long-standing vulnerabilities in the FAA’s medical system for screening pilots and that the sheer number of unreported health problems presents a risk to aviation safety. While pilots must pass regular government-contracted health exams, the tests often are cursory and the FAA relies on aviators to self-report conditions that can otherwise be difficult to detect, such as depression or post-traumatic stress, according to physicians who conduct the exams. Many veterans minimize their ailments to the FAA so they can keep flying but exaggerate them to VA to maximize their disability payments, physicians and former officials at the aviation agency say. “There are people out there who I think are trying to play both sides of the game,” said Jerome Limoge, an aviation medical examiner in Colorado Springs who gives physicals to hundreds of pilots a year. “They’re being encouraged by VA to claim everything. Some of it is almost stolen valor.” The medical conditions that could disqualify a pilot from flying arrow leftarrow right: These conditions are not automatically disqualifying. The FAA can grant waivers with restrictions when an ailment is adequately controlled and regularly does so, but pilots must accurately report medical issues, take regular physical exams and be monitored to keep their licenses. • Angina • Bipolar disease • Cardiac valve replacement • Coronary heart disease that has been treated or, if untreated, that has been symptomatic or clinically significant • Diabetes • Disturbance of consciousness without satisfactory explanation of cause • Epilepsy • Heart replacement • Myocardial infarction • Permanent cardiac pacemaker • Personality disorder that is severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself by overt acts • Psychosis • Substance abuse • Substance dependence • Transient loss of control of nervous system function(s) without satisfactory explanation of cause. Source: Federal Aviation Administration Federal contracting records obtained by The Washington Post show the FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine allotted $3.6 million starting last year to hire medical experts and other staff members to reexamine certification records for 5,000 pilots who pose “potential risks to the flying public.” Senior officials at the FAA, including its top physician, Susan Northrup, declined interview requests from The Post. Officials at the Department of Transportation, the FAA’s parent agency, also declined to comment. “The FAA used a risk-based approach to identify veterans whose medical conditions posed the greatest risk to safety and instructed them to cease flying while the agency reviews their cases,” Lehner said in a statement. “The vast majority of these pilots may continue to operate safely while we complete the reconciliation process.” In many of the cases closed by the FAA, pilots have been ordered to correct their records and take new health exams; some have been temporarily grounded while the results are reviewed, according to Lehner, as well as pilots and their attorneys. Aviation authorities also learned that some pilots did not disclose their VA disability benefits because FAA-contracted physicians advised them to withhold the information, officials said. The VA inspector general’s office is also investigating many of the 4,800 pilots to determine if any should be referred to the Justice Department to face charges of defrauding the benefits system, according to two senior U.S. officials familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Court records show at least 10 pilots have been prosecuted since 2018 on federal charges of lying to the FAA by hiding their veterans disability benefits and obscuring their health histories, including two whose cases were discovered only after they crashed aircraft. The FAA has known for two decades that tens of thousands of pilots are probably flying with serious undisclosed medical conditions, based on past investigations and audits, and experts who have testified before Congress. But transportation officials had long resisted pressure from lawmakers and watchdog groups to expand background checks on pilots by running their names through medical disability databases maintained by other federal and state agencies. An excerpt from a medical certification form that pilots need to fill out on a regular basis in other to keep their licenses to fly. Question 18Y is highlighted, asking whether the pilot is receiving disability benefits from any other government agency. Thousands of commercial pilots who are military veterans failed to tell the FAA that they receive veterans' disability benefits for a range of health issues. FAA officials said they plan to overhaul the agency's medical certification form to make sure pilots comply with the law. (Washington Post illustration; FAA) The ongoing probe started in 2019, when the VA inspector general’s office, concerned that some pilots may be hiding mental health conditions or fraudulently receiving disability benefits, cross-checked the agency’s disability benefit records against a database the FAA shared of veterans licensed as civilian pilots. About one-third of the country’s 110,000 commercial pilots learned to fly in the military. “Given the serious safety issues involved with flying commercial airplanes, and to promote the proper use of significant taxpayer dollars, we have been proactively reviewing certain VA disability benefits paid to commercial pilots based on conditions that may be disqualifying if true,” Inspector General Michael Missal said in an email. As the FAA’s probe has intensified in recent months, Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg, who also serves as acting FAA administrator, VA Secretary Denis McDonough and congressional oversight committees have received briefings, according to government officials familiar with the conversations. In March, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, an influential trade organization, called on the FAA to declare an amnesty for those swept up in the review. In a statement to The Post, the group said pilots often inadvertently make mistakes on the medical certification form because it asks overly broad questions and is difficult to navigate. “This is a complex issue, and it would be easy to just point fingers at the thousands of pilots caught up in the issue,” the association added. The Air Line Pilots Association International, which represents almost 70,000 pilots employed by 39 U.S. and Canadian airlines, did not respond to requests for comment. The FAA’s review has led some pilots who served in the military to complain they are being treated unfairly. “If they’re going to shine a light on veterans, they need to shine a light everywhere,” said Rick Mangini, 52, a former Army pilot who has been grounded from his job flying for a cargo company since his medical certificate was not renewed last month. The FAA notified him in May that he was under review for failing to disclose sleep apnea, for which he receives VA disability benefits, Mangini said. Although he checked the box on his application that asked if he receives any government disability benefits, Mangini, who lives in Killeen, Tex., said he was not aware he had to provide specifics. “I know of a lot of pilots who have told me about [medical conditions] they aren’t telling the FAA about,” he said. “What they’re doing to veterans? That’s the definition of harassment.” U.S. passenger airlines have not had a fatal crash since 2009, and other forms of commercial air travel remain relatively safe. But safety experts suspect suicidal pilots were responsible for several high-profile disasters in recent years, including a China Eastern jet that flew into a mountain last year, a Germanwings jet that crashed in the French Alps in 2015 and a Malaysian Airlines flight that vanished over the Indian Ocean in 2014. Pilots who have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions are not automatically prohibited from flying. But the FAA requires them to be closely monitored because their conditions and medications can affect their ability to safely handle an aircraft. The investigation has also exposed a glaring systemic vulnerability for VA, federal authorities and pilot advocates said. Under pressure from Congress to take better care of veterans after two decades of war, VA has expanded access to tax-free disability benefits. The agency projects that about 6 million veterans will receive $132 billion in compensation this fiscal year, up from 3.3 million veterans in 2011. At the same time, the system has become more vulnerable to dubious or fraudulent claims, according to former VA officials and veterans advocates. As the FAA works to determine which pilots are fit to continue flying, Missal has also urged VA officials to review the pilots’ disability files for possible cases of fraud, he said. “We will continue to work with VA and other stakeholders to ensure the integrity of the benefits and services reserved for our nation’s veterans.” Louis Celli, a former executive director of the American Legion, said he suspected many of the pilots under investigation either are too sick to fly, have exaggerated their disabilities to VA or are defrauding taxpayers outright. “One of the agencies has been fooled.” No data-sharing, rare enforcement The FAA has known about flaws in its medical screening process since 2005, when inspectors general at the Transportation Department and the Social Security Administration — in an investigation dubbed Operation Safe Pilot — uncovered a scam that had run undetected for years. About 3,200 pilots in Northern California were collecting Social Security disability benefits, claiming they were too sick to work, but reporting to the FAA that they were medically fit to fly. Many worked as commercial pilots even though, under the law, those receiving disability compensation from Social Security can only work limited hours. The U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco prosecuted 45 of the most serious cases for fraud and related charges, winning convictions or guilty pleas in all of them. Officials said they could have prosecuted hundreds of additional pilots, but the cases would have clogged the justice system. At the time, aviation officials acknowledged that their medical screening depended on pilots to be truthful about their health histories. Depending on their age and the class of license they fly under, pilots must take physical exams every six months to five years. The FAA does not require its doctors to review any of the pilots’ medical records outside the aviation system. Members of Congress and safety advocates urged the FAA to strengthen its oversight by cross-checking its national registry of pilots — not just those in Northern California — with databases maintained by Social Security and other federal agencies that pay disability claims. The most obvious source was VA, which compensates millions of veterans for disabilities incurred in the line of duty. But no data-sharing program was implemented, even one limited to spot-checking the pilots’ claims. FAA officials said they didn’t have enough staff members or money. They also questioned whether the enhanced enforcement would do much to improve public safety. Lawmakers grew impatient and angry. “The argument makes a mockery of FAA’s safety regulations,” noted a 2007 congressional report. “FAA cannot punish noncompliance if it does not attempt to look for it.” In 2008, the FAA began requiring pilots to disclose whether they receive government disability benefits and increased oversight of the aviation medical examiners contracted to conduct physicals. The FAA also notified pilots that their medical forms could be shared with other federal agencies to verify their accuracy. Until last year, though, the authority was rarely, if ever, used. In a 2010 audit, Transportation’s inspector general scolded the FAA for making “limited progress” and urged officials to “expedite” data-sharing agreements with VA, Social Security and other agencies “to ensure unqualified airmen do not receive a medical certification enabling them to fly.” But the FAA continued to dawdle, despite the evident risk. Pilot medical issues were the cause of 9 percent of fatal aviation accidents during a 10-year period from 2012 to 2022, data compiled by the National Transportation Safety Board shows. A fatal crash in Europe in March 2015 raised new alarms about the risks of pilots with undisclosed mental health conditions. Andreas Lubitz, the young co-pilot who authorities say deliberately flew a Germanwings airliner into the French Alps, had been treated for suicidal tendencies and depressive episodes but hid his condition from his employer, French authorities found. The case spurred an investigator in Missal’s office to learn more about U.S. pilots who may have concealed medical issues or defrauded VA. In 2018, the FAA shared a limited number of pilot medical records with the VA inspector general’s office, whose probe led to the prosecution of four pilots in Northern California for failing to disclose mental health conditions, including two flying for major airlines. Then, after resisting for more than a decade, transportation officials agreed in 2019 to share a trove of pilot medical records with VA investigators. They compared that database with a list of veterans whom VA had assigned a 50 percent degree of disability with one of 15 health issues that the FAA considers potentially disqualifying for pilots. Missal’s office shared the resulting list of nearly 5,000 pilots suspected of lying to the FAA about their disability benefits with Transportation Inspector General Eric Soskin, whose office referred the cases to the FAA in June 2021, a spokeswoman confirmed. In summer 2022, one year later, FAA officials began notifying pilots that their records were under scrutiny. The agency hired former staffers from its Office of Aerospace Medicine to help review the cases as contractors, but told them the nature of their work was secret, according to people involved in the project. Pilots’ reasons for not reporting The FAA’s investigation quickly ran into resistance from pilots unions and industry groups, which balked at potential enforcement that could ground their members. They began lobbying authorities to allow aviators to resubmit their medical applications without penalty for failing to disclose they were collecting disability benefits. Lehner, the FAA spokesman, said the agency “will take additional steps — including enforcement action — based on the details of the individual cases.” In some cases that have gone to court, disturbing details have emerged. Noah Felice, a 72-year-old Navy veteran, was convicted in December of making false statements to the FAA after he crashed a Cessna during an aborted takeoff in Rochester, N.Y. Authorities investigating the accident blamed it on pilot error and discovered that Felice had failed to disclose that he had six prior criminal convictions and was collecting $2,900 a month in veterans benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder. He is scheduled for sentencing in September and faces up to five years in prison. Gabrielle DiBella, a lawyer for Felice, declined to comment on his case because his sentence is pending. But she criticized the FAA for “a history of pursuing mass criminal charges against pilots rather than implementing any sort of system that would simply allow them to verify the information provided” on the medical applications. Matthew Jones, a 35-year-old Army veteran who served in Iraq, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in December after he ignored weather warnings and flew a helicopter into a Tennessee mountainside, killing a passenger. He had failed to disclose to the FAA that he was receiving veterans benefits for seizures and also had a history of strokes and marijuana usage, court records show. Jones, who was left paralyzed below the waist, admitted to duping customers, including the passenger who died, that he was a certified flight instructor. His attorney did not respond to requests for comment. Pilots must request waivers from the FAA for a number of medical conditions, including mental illness, some cardiac issues and substance abuse. But the wait for those waivers can take months in the FAA’s understaffed medical certification system, one reason pilots say they limit what they report. Joseph LoRusso, a Colorado-based aviation-law attorney whose firm has fielded “hundreds” of queries from military veterans under FAA scrutiny since July 2022, said it is an open secret that “probably greater than 85 percent of pilots are lying on their medical forms” because they don’t want to flag conditions that might drag out approval or renewal of their licenses. “Really, they’re only making the skies more dangerous,” LoRusso said of the FAA’s approach to mental health. “It’s ungodly frustrating that pilots cannot be humans.” FAA officials said they have now reiterated to aviation physicians that they are not allowed to advise pilots to hide their VA disabilities from aviation authorities, Lehner said. Mitchell Garber, former chief medical officer for the NTSB, said in an email that given the FAA’s reliance on self-reporting, “falsification or failure to disclose important medical information may put the safety of the pilot and their passengers at greater risk.” Some pilots who have been charged with falsifying their records say there’s a disconnect between the federal government’s standards for determining if a veteran is disabled and its rules for certifying aviators. Adam Asleson, a former Air Force Special Operations pilot, lost his job flying for Delta Air Lines and his pilot’s license after he was charged in 2018 with lying to the FAA for not disclosing VA disability benefits for depression. Asleson, 44, who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said military pilots rarely disclose mental health issues because they are dedicated to their mission and don’t want to let down their units. “You’ll get your wings taken away,” he said. Prosecutors dropped the charge against him as part of a deal in which he agreed to provide 100 hours of community service and not work in the aviation industry for a year. Asleson said that his health condition wasn’t serious and that VA officials only assessed him as having a history of mild depression. He got his license back four years later and now works for a charter flight company as a Boeing 737 pilot. “Which tells me they never should have stripped my license in the first place,” he said. Other pilots have blamed their plight on what they describe as VA’s lax oversight. Nicholas King Beyer, a 37-year-old Navy veteran from Northern California with a commercial pilot’s license, was charged with lying to the FAA by concealing his VA disability payments for “major depressive disorder.” At his 2020 trial, transcripts show, Beyer’s attorneys played down the condition and blamed a VA doctor for overdiagnosing him, saying that Beyer had suffered “some grief and unhappiness” when his first marriage fell apart while he was in the Navy. But prosecutors noted that Beyer never objected to the $979 in monthly disability payments he had been receiving for his depression for four years. A judge found him guilty and sentenced him to a year’s probation. In a phone interview, Beyer said it was unfair that the FAA was cracking down on pilots who are veterans — and not those who never served in uniform — just because they have access to their VA medical records. “Personally, I think it’s crazy,” he said. “It’s discriminatory, really.” He said the FAA revoked his pilot’s license after his conviction but he reapplied and finally won it back a few months ago. Medical examiners working for the FAA, meanwhile, say they rely on the honesty of pilots to disclose conditions such as mental health issues. Pilots are not required to show their medical examiner their records from previous doctor’s visits — and few do, according to those familiar with the system. The exams run short, often less than an hour, and the vast majority of exams are approved. The aviation medical examiner’s goal is to get pilots in the air and keep them there, physicians said. “If there’s something they don’t mention, that’s on them,” said Warren Silberman, a former FAA aeromedical certification chief who now works as a consultant and medical examiner. “I don’t know for sure who’s lying to me and who’s not. You just do the best you can.” An increase in VA disability claims After two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, VA has sped up processing claims for compensation benefits for service-connected disabilities and liberalized who gets them — particularly for post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems, veteran advocates and former senior VA officials said. By granting more claims, though, the agency may have opened the door to more fraud. “Veterans and their advocates have gotten more skilled than ever about getting higher checks, and VA has gotten more generous,” said Celli, the former American Legion official. VA sets no prohibition or income limit on veterans who hold full-time jobs and receive disability checks, even those the government determines are 100 percent disabled — a rating reserved for those with the most debilitating service-connected conditions, compensated at $3,622 per month for those with no dependents. This number doubled from 2016 to 2022, to 1.1 million from 531,000, VA budget documents for fiscal year 2024 show. Claims have grown more complex, with a 200 percent jump over the last decade in original claims with eight or more medical issues, the documents show. The system has created a quandary for many pilots, though, who want to keep flying while still maximizing their VA claims. “They’re throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks,” said Keith Roxo, a former Navy fighter pilot and aerospace physician who is director of operations for the aviation medical consulting firm Wingman Med. “And you know what sticks? Almost everything. It’s, ‘Get what you can. Disability is supposed to compensate you for your suffering.’” Roxo acknowledged that some VA disabilities “are just disabilities on paper.” He tells his clients not to stretch the truth when dealing with the FAA, he said. “What’s worth more to you: the disability pay or the job with United?” Asked if he plans to assign his staff to review benefit claims filed by pilots for accuracy, McDonough, the VA secretary, said he will let any criminal investigations run their course. “I attach great importance to the function of our inspector general, and there is a process there that’s being worked through,” McDonough said in an interview. “We continue to stay in touch with him on this.” Meanwhile, physicians examining pilots for medical fitness this year were given a new checklist of yes-or-no questions to help them assess if a veteran receiving disability benefits for PTSD should be certified to fly. Silberman acknowledged that when he gives pilots physicals, he is sometimes surprised at VA’s willingness to grant benefits. “If you see some of the stuff the VA gave them for disability,” he said, “you shake your head and say, ‘Whatever.’” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/27/faa-pilots-health-conditions-va-benefits/ FAA Revokes Certificates Of 60 Pilots Getting VA Benefits The FAA says it’s revoked the pilot certificates of 60 pilots as part of a project by the Department of Veterans Affairs to cross-reference its list of those receiving benefits with the medical records of active pilots. According to a Washington Post report, there are a total of 4,800 pilots, including 600 ATPs, who were under review because they are also VA beneficiaries. FAA spokesman Matthew Lehner told the Post about half the files have been completed and the 60 revocations were for pilots who “posed a clear danger to aviation safety.” Lehner said most of those under review have nothing to worry about. “The FAA used a risk-based approach to identify veterans whose medical conditions posed the greatest risk to safety and instructed them to cease flying while the agency reviews their cases,” Lehner said in a statement to the Post. “The vast majority of these pilots may continue to operate safely while we complete the reconciliation process.” Some have been told to fix the paperwork submitted with their medicals while others have to get fresh medicals. For its part the VA is trying to weed out fraudulent claims while also protecting public safety. “Given the serious safety issues involved with flying commercial airplanes, and to promote the proper use of significant taxpayer dollars, we have been proactively reviewing certain VA disability benefits paid to commercial pilots based on conditions that may be disqualifying if true,” Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General Michael Missal said in a statement. “We will continue to work with VA and other stakeholders to ensure the integrity of the benefits and services reserved for our nation’s veterans.” https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/faa-revokes-certificates-of-60-pilots-getting-va-benefits/ Air traffic control ‘failure’ hits UK airports Passengers have been warned of delays after a technical problem hit the UK's air traffic control system. Air passengers across Europe faced potential delays on Monday after the UK’s air traffic control system suffered a “technical issue” resulting in restrictions on flights. Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said that UK airspace would remain open while it tried to resolve the problem. “We have had to apply air traffic flow restrictions which ensures we can maintain safety,” it said in a statement issued at 1140 GMT (7:40 a.m ET). Earlier, NATS urged passengers to check with airlines on the status of flights and said its engineers were “working hard to find and fix the fault.” It comes amid a public holiday weekend in the UK and the final few days of the summer vacation, meaning many holidaymakers could be affected. A spokesperson for London’s Heathrow Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, said it was “likely that schedules to all UK airports are affected.” “Passengers who have a journey later today should check with their airlines directly.” Gatwick Airport, south of London, reported “some delays” but said it was “not a major issue at the moment.” Gatwick Head of Communications Bronwyn Huband told CNN the airport was trying to figure out what the technical issues meant for flights. She said “some cancellations are likely” and the control tower was talking to the planes. A spokesperson for Manchester Airport, in northern England, told CNN: “We are aware of a nationwide air traffic control issue that is affecting flights in and out of airports across the country. Manchester Airport is currently operating as normal but flights may be disrupted. Passengers should check their flight status with their airlines.” Logan Air, a UK airline mainly serving Scotland, posted on social media that there had been a “network-wide failure of UK air traffic control computer systems this morning.” “Although we are hopeful of being able to operate most intra-Scotland flights on the basis of local coordination and with a minimum of disruption, north-south and international flights,” it tweeted. Ireland’s air traffic control service provider AirNav has said that there were “significant delays” to flights traveling within UK airspace on Monday. “Flights between Ireland and UK airports, and flights traveling to or from Ireland that travel through UK airspace are experiencing significant delays,” it said. “At this time, there is no certainty as to when flights will be back on schedule, so passengers who are due to travel today should contact their airlines in the first instance to check if their flights are delayed.” https://www.cnn.com/travel/air-traffic-control-failure-uk-airports/index.html Airlines tried to stop fake service animals. It kept blind people off flights. New Department of Transportation rules have made flying more difficult, and at times, inaccessible to blind passengers Schoen stands in a field holding a leash attached to Eva's harness. Eva sits next to her. A plane flies overhead. Elizabeth Schoen’s guide dog, Eva, is trained to help her navigate crowded, chaotic environments such as airports. The black Labrador knows how to find elevators, follow crowds to the baggage claim area and help Schoen, who is blind, avoid obstacles. But when Schoen, 21, of Arlington, Va., tried to fly to Boston to tour graduate schools last March, airline staffers told her she could not take Eva on the plane. She is one of many blind people who say they have encountered more difficulty taking service animals onto flights since new rules from the Department of Transportation took effect in January 2021. The regulations were an effort to crack down on a rise in passengers passing off untrained pets as service or emotional support animals. Some travelers tried to take peacocks, pigs, ducks and even miniature horses onboard aircraft. Some animals defecated on the planes or attacked crew members, passengers and legitimate service dogs. The new rules state that emotional support animals are not considered service animals and narrow the definition exclusively to properly trained dogs. Airlines can require passengers to complete forms about their service dog’s training at least 48 hours before their flight. Airlines also must make a reasonable effort to allow all passengers with service dogs to fly, even if they do not submit their forms in time. But disability advocates say airlines seem to be interpreting the regulations differently, enforcing varying rules for submitting documents or rejecting forms from other airlines’ websites. Some passengers say their dogs have been rejected for simple paperwork mistakes. The required forms also have been difficult to fill out, blind travelers say, because they are often not compatible with the screen reader technology people use to convert text to speech. In interviews, blind people told The Washington Post that the regulations are so difficult to navigate that they are now hesitant to fly or are anxious about the experience. Various organizations for the blind are calling for the forms to be changed or eliminated. Department of Transportation data shows that the number of service-animal-related complaints from people with disabilities have more than doubled since the new regulations took effect. In 2018, the agency received 116 complaints. In 2022, the number was 451. The agency acknowledged that people with disabilities are experiencing problems flying with their service animals and said in an email that it is taking their concerns seriously and “has begun looking further into those issues.” “It’s a gigantic mess,” said Albert Elia, a board member at the National Association of Guide Dog Users and a staff attorney at the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, a nonprofit legal organization focused on disability justice. Denied at the airport Schoen originally tried to submit her form online four days before her JetBlue flight, but it was rejected by the airline. JetBlue’s customer service advised her to bring the paperwork to the airport on the day of her flight. When she arrived, airline staffers told her she had not submitted the form on time. Schoen tried to explain that JetBlue needed to make reasonable efforts to get her and Eva on the flight but was told that the airline had the right to turn her dog away. “If you’re denying my dog, you’re denying me,” she said. Schoen missed her flight and spent about $400 to fly the next day with a different airline. She was later reimbursed for her original flight and learned that the form had been rejected because she had used an incorrect flight confirmation code. The experience is one of many in which Schoen said she has had trouble submitting her form and been treated with suspicion by airline staffers. “It’s made me more scared. Every time I go to the airport, it’s like, ‘Are they going to stop me?’” Schoen said. “Even if I know I’m approved, I still feel this pressure, like I’m under a microscope.” The airline did not respond to questions about Schoen’s experience, but JetBlue spokesman Derek Dombrowski wrote in an email that timely submission of the service dog form is necessary to determine whether a dog is qualified to travel. He wrote that roughly 80 percent of applications are approved but that “customers who do not submit in advance may not be able to travel.” Inaccessible forms Filling out the forms requires blind users to have the most up-to-date screen-reader technology, which can cost over $1,000, said Elia, the attorney at the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center. In some cases, forms are difficult to navigate because text boxes are not labeled properly or cannot be clicked into. It took over 30 minutes for Elia to fill out the form, and on some devices and browsers, he was not able to fill out the form at all. The forms have proved so cumbersome that travelers including Sherry Gomes, 65, of Patterson, Calif., now choose not to fly. Gomes used to teach computer skills to other blind people and assist people encountering screen-reader problems but grew frustrated trying to fill out the form herself. “It was a fairly simple form. But if I, who have a lot of experience using this product, had trouble with it, then newer computer people and people with less experience are going to have a lot more trouble with it,” she said. A Department of Transportation spokesperson said in an email that the department consulted disability rights organizations on the forms and also worked with accessibility testers. The department said it has begun investigating potential problems and is open to feedback to make improvements. Not enough to stop fake service animals For all the trouble the forms cause, they do not stop people from lying or trying to pass off untrained pets as service animals, said Eric Lipp, the executive director of Open Doors Organization, which reviews service-dog forms for JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air and Sun Country Airlines. The forms ask owners to attest that their dog has been properly trained to assist them with their disability and to behave in public settings. Owners must also provide veterinarian contact information and date of last vaccination, but are not required to present other documentation. It can be hard to tell a legitimate service dog from a fake one, Lipp said, and some service animals are trained by individuals or owners rather than by organizations. Michael Stein, the executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, called the regulations “poorly designed” because they introduce additional barriers for people with disabilities and ultimately leave decisions up to the discretion of workers. He said there is no clear rationale behind the forms, as they do not help airline staffers to distinguish fake service dogs from legitimate ones. “This seems to be bending over backward to create some kind of formal requirement,” he said. “I don’t see the logic or the benefit.” Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, businesses are allowed to ask people if their service dogs are required because of a disability and to explain what tasks the dogs are trained to perform. But it is still possible to fake having a service dog in person, particularly when it comes to dogs assisting people with psychiatric disorders or other invisible disabilities, Elia said. “How am I supposed to know if a dog is trained to perceive seizures? How are you going to prove it? Have a seizure on demand?” And asking people to prove that they have disabilities may force them to disclose sensitive health information, Elia added. Some airlines have contacted service-dog training programs to verify information on the required forms. But in early August, the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center warned some airlines and dog-training programs that this could be considered a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects the privacy of health information. Airlines for America, a trade group representing U.S. airlines, did not respond to questions about these practices. Hannah Walden, a spokeswoman for the association, wrote in an email that its members comply with the Department of Transportation’s rules. A matter of safety The Department of Transportation said the rules were created to ensure the safety and health of passengers and aircrews. But the agency said it does not have data on whether these rules have reduced incidents involving untrained animals on flights. JetBlue has seen a “significant reduction in disruptions from untrained dogs,” but some problems continue, Dombrowski wrote in an email. JetBlue says that on average it experiences an incident involving service dogs, such as a dog biting customers or crew members, every three weeks. Screening out fake service animals also can help protect the safety of genuine ones, said Donald Overton Jr., executive director of the Blinded Veterans Association. His guide dog, a German Shepherd named Pierce, was trained for years at a cost of thousands of dollars. After Pierce was attacked multiple times by untrained pets on planes and in airports, the dog eventually became too reactive and anxious to continue working as a service animal. “In the blink of an eye, somebody who has just casually and carelessly decided that their pet should be out there can take all of that and destroy it,” he said. Pushing for change Organizations including the American Council of the Blind, Guide Dog Users Inc., the National Federation of the Blind and the National Association of Guide Dog Users have been meeting with Department of Transportation staffers and pushing for the forms to be eliminated or changed. “We don’t think airlines, with regard to guide dogs, should require a separate process than what is required for everyone else,” said John G. Paré Jr., the executive director for advocacy and policy at the National Federation of the Blind. But changing the rules could take time, because proposed regulations go through a public comment period before decisions are made. In the meantime, some of these organizations are supporting a provision in the Senate Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act that would establish a pilot program for people to register their service dogs. This would allow blind people to fly repeatedly with guide dogs on the basis of a one-time approval process, instead of needing to submit a form every time they fly. The provision is one of many bipartisan efforts seeking to improve air travel for disabled passengers as Congress prepares to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s funding and programs before Sept. 30. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who is a double leg amputee as a result of combat injuries sustained as a U.S. military pilot and who drafted the provision, said the program would create a more streamlined process for vetting service animals. “Far too often, many continue to be flat-out denied or charged exorbitant extra fees to sit in accessible seats or sit with a service companion during commercial flights,” she said. Jessica Beecham, 38, of Colorado Springs, is blind and said she regularly faces questions from airline workers about her guide dog and has been delayed at airports for up to four hours over issues with her form. “It feels like a guessing game of whether or not you’re going to get hassled,” Beecham said. “I would like to just fly in peace.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/08/28/airline-regulations-service-animals/ American Airlines flight from Miami to NYC diverts to Jacksonville after pepper spray incident An American Airlines flight traveling from Miami to New York City was diverted to Jacksonville, Florida, after someone inadvertently sprayed a bottle of pepper spray in the cabin, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to USA TODAY. The FAA said the incident happened Sunday night on American Airlines Flight 1680. The aircraft was cleaned after the incident and continued to LaGuardia Airport in New York City without further incident. The FAA said it will investigate the incident. According to the Transportation Security Administration, one 4 fluid ounce container of mace or pepper spray is permitted in checked baggage if it is equipped with a safety mechanism to prevent accidental discharge, but they are not allowed in carry-on bags. Additionally, self-defense sprays containing more than 2% by mass of tear gas are prohibited in checked baggage. The incident comes weeks after passengers on an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Gainesville, Florida, had to don their oxygen masks as a pressurization issue forced the plane to make a quick but controlled descent. One passenger on the flight posted on social media that the experience was “scary” and that the pictures didn’t do the full scene justice. In a later social media post, the passenger added that the crew was “exceptional” and “cool under pressure.” In a statement to USA TODAY, an American Airlines spokesperson confirmed the incident and said there were no injuries reported as a result. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2023/08/23/american-airlines-flight-diverts-pepper-spray/70656534007/ Regulator Finds Lapses In Air India's Internal Safety Audits Following Inspection The flag carrier might have just landed in significant trouble with the DGCA. SUMMARY • Air India failed an internal safety audit verified by the DGCA, which revealed significant lapses in the airline's operations. • The audit found that Air India falsified reports for all 13 safety checkpoints, with unauthorized signatures and non-compliance with mandated checks. • Investigations are ongoing to determine the extent of the safety oversight, and the consequences for Air India remain uncertain. Air India recently got hit with quite a big blow after the flag carrier failed an internal safety audit upon further verification by a two-member surveillance team from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). During the routine exercise, the aviation regulator determined significant lapses and is currently investigating this matter with the airline. Dropping by to verify According to Air India, all airlines must undergo routine safety audits conducted by regulatory and external entities to uphold and improve aviation safety. The flag carrier also emphasizes that it always proactively participates in these audits to continuously evaluate and enhance its operational procedures, making it no surprise for the DGCA to drop by with a surveillance team. Under this internal safety audit, a list of 13 checks on different aspects of Air India's operations is typically carried out, including but not limited to policy changes, ramp operations, loading management, cargo handling, maintenance, and cabin surveillance. This means the airline was mandated to conduct consistent safety spot checks on the specified 13 safety checkpoints and submit an inspection report to the DGCA. Upon review of the submitted report, the aviation regulator will then deploy a surveillance team for additional verification of the spot checks - which occurred on July 25th and 26th. It's worth noting that for this round's audit, neither Air India nor the DGCA detailed what the chosen list of safety checkpoints was. Allegedly failing all checkpoints During the surveillance team's enhanced verification of the unspecified 13 safety checkpoints, the two men established that Air India had falsified reports for every station. The fabrication was noticed after the spot check reports did not bear the signature of the Chief of Flight Safety - the only officer who could sign off such statements. These reports instead bore the signature of a Quality Management System Department auditor, who did not have the authority to do so as the department's standards fell outside the scope approved and inspected by the DGCA. It was also found that the Chief of Flight Safety did not delegate the authority to anyone else, as there were no email correspondence or authorization forms. To make matters worse, the surveillance team's investigation subsequently revealed through CCTV footage, auditee statements, official records, and passenger manifests that the airline allegedly did not carry out the mandated regular checks. An example was the Pre-Flight Medical Examination, where alcohol consumption tests for pilots are conducted. Although a physical visit was required because equipment details and test readings needed to be specified in Air India's report, it was discovered that Air India's internal auditor did not pay any visits to the facility. Without a visit, there would be no way of checking. And despite the lack of such details for verification, the airline still allegedly marked all items as satisfactory to assert compliance. Investigations are underway Another example concerned the cabin surveillance spot checks, which were supposed to have been conducted by Air India on July 16th. However, the DGCA surveillance team found that the supposed auditor who signed off on these checks was a flying passenger with family members on the said flight. And when asked to provide the flight safety auditors' list to the surveillance team, the Star Alliance member could not produce one immediately. When it was finally delivered, the list only included auditors from the Quality Management Systems Department, all of whom were not stipulated by the aviation regulator's higher standards. Given the alarming lapses found by the surveillance team from the DGCA, an investigation is undoubtedly already being carried out, as confirmed by the agency's Director General, Vikram Dev Dutt. As for the flag carrier, Air India highlights it will personally address these matters with the aviation regulator. But there's no telling as to what the consequences could be for such a severe safety oversight. https://simpleflying.com/lapses-in-air-india-internal-safety-audits/ Demand soars for airplane maintenance as sector vies for parts, workers New jet production and maintenance activities are vying for parts and workers, constraining how quickly airlines can add flights to their schedules. Aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul companies are caught between the steep demand for aftermarket parts and the Boeing Co.’s jet production goals. Though most of the pandemic-era supply chain shocks have subsided, that tension has continued to constrain airlines' ability to field enough planes to meet the demand for travel. “Every airline would tell you the general feeling is there’s a limited capacity for maintenance,” said Paul Dolan, CEO of Everett-based Aviation Technical Services (ATS). “Really, supply chain right now is less about materials and it’s much more about labor. The only real constraint is building the workforce.” Workforce training has become a limiting factor for the MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) industry, said Craig Gottlieb, principal director and lead aerospace and defense analyst for Accenture. “There’s this need to increase the speed and frequency of skilling and upskilling the MRO workforce,” Gottlieb said, not only to replace senior technicians who retired at higher-than-usual rates during the pandemic but to manage the “predominance of newer generation aircraft, more electric aircraft, more digital aircraft” that require more advanced diagnostic and prognostic tools. They’re also aiming to reduce turn times between planes to capture more business, he added. That’s led to a record level of investment in new training technologies. ATS employs more than 800 people across its Everett, Moses Lake, Kansas City and Dallas-Fort Worth facilities. In 2019, it launched a full-time apprenticeship program to help early-career candidates attain their airplane mechanic certification, which has since graduated around 140 workers. While many of those eventually moved on to other companies, including at the neighboring Boeing manufacturing facility, that program has been key to the company's ability to keep up, Dolan said. “Month by month, quarter by quarter our workforce is growing,” he said. “If we could grow it faster, we would, but we’re very pleased.” Entry-level pay has jumped 25% since the pandemic began, Dolan said, predicting that salaries would climb even higher before they leveled off. That’s accelerated the normal rate of cost increases, adding as much as 3% to the prices airlines will pay for their maintenance and potentially trickling through to the cost of new planes. “MROs like ourselves are passing that through to our workforce,” Dolan said. “The growth rate for the per-hour labor cost is going to continue to grow.” Meanwhile, supply chain constraints have forced manufacturers such as Boeing and its top-tier suppliers to choose between their own internal maintenance and repair operations, aftermarket MRO providers and new plane production when it comes to delivering parts. That's as Boeing seeks to increase production in Renton across its 737 operation and its South Carolina-produced 787 lines over the next 18 months. The sector’s recovery is expected to stay steady through the end of the year as airlines aim to beef up their schedules in response to higher travel demand, Gottlieb said. In a survey Accenture conducted, more than half of commercial aerospace companies expected MRO costs to increase through early 2024. An even higher percentage expected raw materials costs to stay stable in this quarter, before climbing again in the next year. Of those surveyed, 70% said they expect labor-related costs to rise over the next two years. “There’s more interest in investment in expanding MRO capability and efficiency and speed than I have seen previously, even before the pandemic,” Gottlieb said. “There’s a recognition that return to growth is there, the aftermarket is a highly profitable segment of the industry.” https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2023/08/27/airplane-maintenance-demand-takes-off.html Fan blades, engine parts go missing from Go First jets, lessor says Summary • India's Go First, lessors fighting over plane recoveries • Lessors want planes, Go assets frozen due to bankruptcy process • Go aims to revive operations, fleet grounded for now NEW DELHI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - From fan blades to escape slides, critical parts are missing from at least two planes of India's bankrupt Go First airline, its Ireland-based lessor ACG Aircraft Leasing has told a court as it seeks to recover aircraft. Go First and many of its foreign lessors have been locked in a legal dispute for months after the airline was granted bankruptcy protection in India in May. Bankruptcy froze its assets and has prohibited the recovery of more than 50 grounded Airbus (AIR.PA) planes. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/fan-blades-engine-parts-go-missing-go-first-jets-lessor-says-2023-08-26/ EU infrastructure fund eyes African clean jet fuel projects CAPE TOWN, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The European Union is scouting Africa to back clean jet fuel projects under its Global Gateway infrastructure fund, an EU official said, ahead of an anticipated boom in demand for environmentally sustainable air travel. The EU has pledged to dedicate half of its 300 billion euro ($324 billion) infrastructure plan, seen as a rival to China's Belt and Road Initiative, to Africa. The fund has already backed renewable plants, green hydrogen initiatives, vaccines and education projects in Africa, and the official said it was now looking into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). "In the context of the Global Gateway, the Commission is currently looking into possible co-financing mechanisms and guarantee instruments," said Stefan De Keersmaecker, a European Commission spokesperson. "SAF production in the African continent has great potential." SAFs are low-carbon fuel alternatives for the aviation industry and can be made from various crops among other feedstock sources. The EU will launch a 4 million euro capacity-building project by Dec. 31 to support SAF feasibility studies and certification in 11 African countries and India. Following feasibility studies, selected projects could draw funds from the Global Gateway, De Keersmaecker said. The aviation industry contributes more than 2% of global energy-related emissions, and the EU is mandating emissions reduction targets that will require airlines to use more SAF. That will help create annual global demand of 450 billion litres of SAF by 2050, according to the International Air Transport Association, and has made Africa's vast swathes of under-utilised agricultural land increasingly attractive. There is currently no SAF production on the continent. And establishing feedstock supply chains will be a challenge in Africa where poor infrastructure, limited refining capacity and inadequate regulations could delay projects and drive up costs, analysts said. "The greatest way to reduce the cost of SAF in the African continent and to have SAF that is produced sustainably is through local manufacturing," Allan Kilavuka, chief executive at Kenya Airways (KQNA.NR), said. Companies including Italy's Eni (ENI.MI), South Africa's Sasol (SOLJ.J), Linde (LIN.DE) of Germany and Danish firm Topsoe are nonetheless forging ahead with African SAF and biofuel investments. Frankline Omondi, environmental manager at the African Civil Aviation Commission, said the body wants SAF production to launch in at least two African countries within a few years, with potential for a third. South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia are likely candidates, he said. ($1 = 0.9249 euros) https://www.reuters.com/world/eu-infrastructure-fund-eyes-african-clean-jet-fuel-projects-2023-08-28/ Curt Lewis