Flight Safety Information - December 12, 2023 No. 237 In This Issue : Incident: Delta A333 near Goose Bay on Dec 10th 2023, de-icing failure : Incident: Delta BCS3 at New York on Dec 10th 2023, smoke in cockpit : SID Analyzer Helps Pilots Meet Climb Requirements : Flight Safety Foundation Calls for Global, Coordinated Action on Runway Incursions : Russian Aircraft Incidents Have Tripled In 2023 As Airlines Struggle To Maintain Planes : Kenya Airways Warns Of Flight Disruptions As It Struggles To Find Spare Parts For Aircraft : GE completes testing sustainable aviation fuel on 10th aircraft engine model : FAA Starts 737NG Nacelle Retrofit Mandate Process : Taiwanese Pilot Planned CH-47 Defection To China : Boeing promotes insider to chief operating officer, putting her in the discussion about the next CEO : LAX passenger arrives on international flight without passport, visa, ticket: report : Top Senate Democrats demand airlines carry EpiPens on flights : First-Time Measures of Pilot Performance Have Potential to Transform Aviation Safety : CALENDAR OF EVENTS Incident: Delta A333 near Goose Bay on Dec 10th 2023, de-icing failure A Delta Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration N811NW performing flight DL-135 from Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Detroit,MI (USA), was enroute at FL340 about 160nm east of Goose Bay,NL (Canada) when the crew requested and was cleared to descend to FL260 reporting de-icing failure. The aircraft initially continued towards their destination, but about 65 minutes later declared emergency and decided to divert to Goose Bay advising that no assistance was needed on the ground, the emergency was declared only as a precaution. ATC advised emergency services would be standing by nonetheless. The aircraft landed safely on Goose Bay's runway 26 about another hour later. The airline reported the aircraft experienced a mechanical issue and diverted to Goose Bay. A replacement Airbus A330-300 registration N816NW was dispatched to Goose Bay, landed in Goose Bay but was unable to depart for the remainder of flight DL-135. Another replacement A330-300 registration N851NW was dispatched to Goose Bay the following morning and is currently estimated to continue the flight reaching Detroit with a delay of about 26 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=51248cc8&opt=0 Incident: Delta BCS3 at New York on Dec 10th 2023, smoke in cockpit A Delta Airlines Bombardier C-Series CS-300, registration N313DU performing flight DL-2380 from New Orleans,LA to New York La Guardia,NY (USA), was on approach to La Guardia's runway 22 when the crew reported smoke on the flight deck. The aircraft continued for a safe landing about 20 minutes later. The FAA opened an investigation into the occurrence. The aircraft is still on the ground about 17 hours later. https://avherald.com/h?article=512472a8&opt=0 SID Analyzer Helps Pilots Meet Climb Requirements • APG continues adding new features to its iPreFlight Genesis platform Aircraft Performance Group (APG) has added a standard instrument departure (SID) analyzer to its iPreFlight Genesis flight planning and performance calculation software. The SID analyzer integrates with APG’s runway analysis and TERPS/PAN-OPS compliance checks, allowing pilots and dispatchers to ensure “compliance with TERPS/PAN-OPS while maintaining the safety of APG’s existing runway analysis calculations,” according to APG. “Before SID analyzer, meeting rigorous climb requirements for SIDs was left to ‘best judgment.’” With the SID analyzer, the departure process is simpler and it also reduces “the need for engine-out procedure briefings.” Pilots can also toggle between all-engines operating and one-engine inoperative calculations “to meet TERPS/PAN-OPS climb requirements, ensuring compliance and safety.” The iPreFlight Genesis software is available in a Pro version for the web and iPad that includes worldwide flight planning, runway analysis, and a weight-and-balance calculator. Flight planning is fully Eurocontrol-compliant and can be customized to avoid specific areas—for example, regions where pilots should fly well away from military operations. APG’s software supports more than 350 aircraft types. The Navigator version of iPreFlight Genesis is available just for the iPad, while the Performance version for the iPad doesn’t include flight planning. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2023-12-11/sid-analyzer-helps-pilots-meet-climb-requirements Flight Safety Foundation Calls for Global, Coordinated Action on Runway Incursions BRUSSELS, Dec. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Runway incursions are one of the most persistent threats to aviation safety, and the risk of incursions is likely to increase as air traffic grows, unless robust, coordinated safety defenses are implemented, Flight Safety Foundation said today in releasing the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions (GAPPRI). "Despite efforts over the years to prevent incursions, they still happen," said Foundation President and CEO Dr. Hassan Shahidi. "The risk of runway incursions is a global concern, and the potential consequences of an incursion are severe. Airport operations are complex and involve multiple parties, including operators, air traffic control and ground service providers. It is critical that all stakeholders work collaboratively to eliminate the risk of serious incursions." GAPPRI was developed by an international task force of 200 aviation professionals from 80 organizations around the world. The findings and recommendations in the report are based on an analysis of multiple global and regional datasets, combined with insights from real-world experience and operational expertise. In analyzing the data, the task force found that variability in human performance and breakdowns in communication and coordination play a role in incursions. Also, the absence of systemwide collision-avoidance barriers and technologies, combined with increased surface operations, is creating unfavorable conditions with increased risk of runway incursions. Many of the serious incidents could have been avoided through better situational awareness technologies that can help air traffic controllers and pilots detect potential runway conflicts. The GAPPRI report contains 127 actionable recommendations addressed to airport operators, air navigation service providers, aircraft operators, manufacturers, countries and regulators, and the research community. The recommendations, which emphasize the need to strengthen operational barriers, cover such topics as improved training, empowering and equipping aviation personnel, enhanced procedures for runway operations, improved communication protocols and airport visual aids, and risk mitigation through infrastructure design. The recommendations include immediate and near-term actions to mitigate risk, and also the development of future technologies that could be deployed in a medium time horizon. "GAPPRI is a roadmap for addressing risk and building resilience," Shahidi said. The Foundation will be working with global stakeholders to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations and to enable governments and industry not only to cope with expected increases in traffic but also to be proactive in anticipating and addressing problems. The GAPPRI initiative was coordinated by the Foundation and EUROCONTROL, and the recommendations were developed in partnership with CANSO, the International Air Transport Association and Airports Council International, and in cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organization. The GAPPRI report is available on the Foundation's website. About Flight Safety Foundation (flightsafety.org) Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, international organization engaged in research, education and communications to improve aviation safety. The Foundation's mission is to connect, influence and lead global aviation safety. Media Contact: Frank Jackman Director, Communications and Research +1 703.739.6700, ext. 116 mailto:jackman@flightsafety.org SOURCE Flight Safety Foundation https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flight-safety-foundation-calls-for-global-coordinated-action-on-runway-incursions-302011929.html Russian Aircraft Incidents Have Tripled In 2023 As Airlines Struggle To Maintain Planes • There have been over 180 incidents this year. SUMMARY • Safety incidents involving Russian aircraft have tripled due to a lack of spare parts and maintenance. • Over 180 incidents have been recorded this year, which is a significant increase from previous years. • Russian airlines have attempted to import spare parts and seek maintenance abroad. Safety incidents involving Russian aircraft have spiked in the past year as airlines in the country struggle to maintain their aircraft. Western sanctions have prevented Russian carriers from acquiring spare parts, yet they have continued operating planes at considerable safety risk. Russian safety incidents triple As expected, Russian airlines are feeling the impact of not having access to spare parts or expert maintenance services for their Western-made planes. It has now been over 18 months since sanctions were imposed on Russian-owned companies, including the country's airlines. While carriers have continued flying Western-made aircraft, it was only a matter of time before poor maintenance practices would show itself. According to a report by Newsweek, there has been a sharp rise in emergency landings in Russia due to technical problems in recent months. From September 2023 to December 8, 2023, there were 60 safety incidents forcing commercial aircraft to divert or execute an emergency landing - 15 of these were in September, rising to 25 in October before dropping to 12 in November, but shot up again during the first several days of December. This trend has been visible throughout the year, with a Novaya Gazeta Europe report revealing over 120 incidents recorded between January and August. This amounts to over 180 incidents in 2023 and counting, up from 60 in 2022 and significantly higher than pre-pandemic times (110 in 2019 and 87 in 2018). Discover more aviation news with Simple Flying. The worrying part is that these numbers are almost certainly lower than the actual number of incidents, as many go unreported. Engine issues have caused around 30% of incidents, closely followed by landing gear problems (25%). 11 incidents so far in December As reported by The Kyiv Independent, there were 11 incidents involving Russian aircraft in the first nine days of December alone. Many of these were potentially serious, including engines catching fire, cabin depressurization, and engine failure. Russian news outlet The Moscow Times provides further details on these 11 incidents. The most recent involved an Airbus A319 operated by Rossiya Airlines, which suffered cabin depressurization and had to make an emergency landing. Other incidents this month include: • An Aeroflot Airbus A321 made an emergency landing in Moscow after its left engine failed • An S7 Boeing 737 diverted due to surges in both engines • A cabin fire onboard an Aeroflot Boeing 777 • An Aeroflot Boeing 737 made an emergency landing after a drop in landing gear pressure • Flying deathtraps Russian airlines have attempted to get around sanctions by importing spare parts from countries unaffected by the sanctions - even resorting to receiving aircraft maintenance in Iran - but this clearly hasn't been enough. According to Viktor Basargin, head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Transport (Rostransnadzor), by May of this year, there had been over 2,000 flights operated by aircraft containing expired parts. Kirill Yankov, chairman of Russia's Passengers Union, said, "Firstly, it has become much more difficult to obtain spare parts and maintenance materials for many aircraft. And, secondly, what's worse, it's possible that spare parts that are not certified by the manufacturers have already begun to be installed on aircraft. We don't see an increase in plane crashes, but the number of accidents where no one dies has noticeably increased." Western aircraft in the country also haven't received vital software updates or their regular maintenance checks, further jeopardizing their safety. https://simpleflying.com/russian-aircraft-incidents-triple-2023/ Kenya Airways Warns Of Flight Disruptions As It Struggles To Find Spare Parts For Aircraft • Kenya Airways passengers may face disruptions during the holidays. SUMMARY • Kenya Airways warns of possible flight disruptions during the festival holidays due to challenges in the global supply chain for aircraft parts. • Passengers traveling through Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport may face inconveniences and are advised to check for updates. • Kenyan travelers also faced disruptions at Nairobi Airport over the weekend due to another power outage. • Kenya Airways (KQ) has warned passengers traveling on its flights during the festival holidays to prepare for possible flight disruptions as the carrier struggles to get spare parts for its aircraft. This was communicated in a letter from the Kenya Airways Group CEO, Alan Kilavuka. Disruptions to flight schedules As the 2023 festive season is finally upon us, several airlines and airports have prepared for their busiest schedules of the year, with travel demand exceeding pre-pandemic levels in many regions. However, the increased demand may come with some undesirable problems for Kenya's national carrier. KQ has warned that its current schedule may be disrupted throughout the next few weeks primarily due to challenges in the global supply chain for aircraft parts. These challenges have caused its planes to remain in maintenance for longer periods and might lead to the grounding of some aircraft during the holidays. "We understand the impact that schedule changes can have on your travel plans, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please be assured that our team is working tirelessly to minimize these disruptions and to keep you informed every step of the way." Passengers traveling through its hub at Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) may face little to very significant inconveniences to their travel plans due to unexpected schedule changes. The situation is expected to last about two weeks since the issuing of the statement on December 8. Kenya Airways advises customers to constantly check its website and mobile app or contact the Customer Excellency Center (CEC) for updates on flight schedules. The SkyTeam member did not specify the aircraft currently in maintenance or the ones which would be grounded. According to ch-aviation, KQ's fleet comprises 13 Embraer E190s, nine Boeing 787-8s, eight B737-800s, and two B737-300Fs. However, none of the jets are currently listed as inactive. Last month, the carrier also received a B737-800 freighter to expand its cargo capacity. As per data from Cirium, Kenya Airways has 1,723 scheduled flights and 227,554 seats from Nairobi to about 37 destinations this month. This is about 241 more flights than in December 2022 but 339 fewer than in December 2019. Its top destination is Mombasa (MBA), with 289 flights and 32,742 seats. The NBO-MBA route is operated with KQ's B737s and E190s. Entebbe (EBB) is second with 121 flights, followed by Johannesburg (JNB) with 116, Dar es Salam (DAR) with 109, and Kisumu (KIS) with 84 flights. Its top intercontinental destinations are Mumbai (BOM) with 62 flights, London (LHR) with 58, Dubai with 46, and Amsterdam (AMS) with 31 flights. Kenya Airways recently resumed flights from Nairobi to Bangkok (BKK), operated five times a week with the 787-8. Disruptions at Jomo Kenyatta Airport Over the weekend, passengers traveling through some Kenyan airports faced other disruptions due to power outages. A nationwide blackout on Sunday plunged many areas into darkness, affecting major establishments like Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Power went out around 20:00, making it the third nationwide blackout in the last four months. NBO's Terminals IA and IE were affected as two generators failed to activate immediately. According to a statement from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), lights did not go out in the rest of the airport, including the control tower and the runway, as they remained operational during the blackout. In August, another blackout at the airport led to the dismissal of the KAA Managing Director and other officials. https://simpleflying.com/kenya-airways-flight-disruption-spare-parts-shortage/ GE completes testing sustainable aviation fuel on 10th aircraft engine model • The test is a milestone towards operating flights with 100% sustainable fuel. GE Aerospace is taking another step towards its commitment to sustainable flights, completing testing with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on its 10th aircraft engine model. The company announced Monday its finished testing with 100% SAF on 10 aircraft engine models. Currently, GE Aerospace engines power three out of four commercial flights worldwide, the company said. Among the tests, which have been taking place since 2016, were test flights operated with SAF. Most recently, Emirates Airlines operated a flight on an Airbus A380 powered by four engines made by a GE subsidiary – one of them fueled by SAF. Current regulations allow commercial flights to operate with a blend of SAF and jet fuel, however airlines, regulators and manufacturers are working towards operating flights with 100% recycled fuel. GE's tests were conducted with Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) fuel thats made of vegetable oils, waste oils, or fats. "Right now [SAF] is more expensive and it's hard to find, but that's something that's going to change over time," Chris Lorence, chief engineer and general manager at GE Aerospace, told ABC News. "As more capacity comes online, our hope is that it's going to be comparable or better than jet fuel today." According to the most recent data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the transportation sector accounts for 29% of greenhouse gas emissions – with aviation accounting for 8%. Lorence said as the aviation industry continues to grow, GE wants to make sure it's done in an "environmentally-friendly way" with "more efficient products." "Plants, essentially through their lifecycle, recycle carbon in the atmosphere. They suck it out as they grow and they release it when they die. And the beautiful thing about SAF is we're sort of intercepting that process," Lorence said. "As the plants remove carbon from the atmosphere, we catch it before it gets returned and released to the environment, converted into fuel and then when the airplanes actually fly, then it gets released back, so that there's no net carbon that's created as part of the process." With the 10th test complete, data will be sent to ASTM International – the governing body that sets technical standards for different materials, products and systems – including SAF. The data will also be used by GE to see how SAF impacts engines over time. "Most of the testing we see coming up now, we're now going to be component testing and what we call endurance testing where we run, we simulate multiple cycles of aircraft flight to see how it performs over time in expected service," Lorence said. "So that we can see not just what happens for a single flight, but what happens over a much longer exposure and duration of testing to make sure that there's no reliability or durability concerns." Major U.S. airlines like American, Delta, Southwest and United have committed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. https://abcnews.go.com/Business/ge-completes-testing-sustainable-aviation-fuel-10th-aircraft/story?id=105500118 FAA Starts 737NG Nacelle Retrofit Mandate Process The FAA has kicked off the process that will mandate nacelle design changes on the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) fleet that were prompted by a fatal accident and a related NTSB recommendation and are expected to be mandated globally. Three notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) set for release Dec. 11 codify a plan developed by Boeing and approved by the agency over the last two years. The FAA’s timeline provides 45 days for public comment on the proposed changes. Final rules would mandate the modifications, giving affected operators until July 31, 2028, to upgrade their aircraft. Boeing has until Dec. 31, 2029, to develop and issue a related set of maintenance instructions on mitigating risks related to leaving fan cowl doors and other access panels unlatched. Boeing developed the changes and outlined them in an exemption request sent to the FAA in 2022. The exemptions are necessary so that Boeing can roll out the changes in phases and demonstrate the entire system complies with the regulations once all the upgrades are done. This process will get retrofits into the fleet more quickly than waiting for all the changes to be approved and implemented at once, Boeing said. The FAA formally signed off on the plan in September. The changes address design issues flagged in extensive reviews following two occurrences in which Southwest Airlines 737-700s suffered extensive damage when fan blades failed and parts from the affected engines’ nacelles struck the fuselage. In the higher-profile accident, in April 2018, one passenger was killed. Findings from the probe into both occurrences convinced the NTSB recommended the 737NG nacelle redesign. The plan developed by Boeing includes three changes: new inlet spacers and fasteners, a fan cowl support beam, and a stiffer exhaust nozzle. Boeing has designed a spacer for the inlet attachment bolts to improve structural integrity. The company also developed upgrades to inlet aft bulkhead fasteners. Fan cowls will get modified radial restraint fittings and added venting to help ensure they stay closed, intact, and attached to the airplane during broken fan blade, or fan-blade-out, events. Fan cowl support beam bolts are also being upgraded. Changes to exhaust nozzle attachment area structure will improve the part’s load-handling ability, Boeing said. Boeing has committed to getting all required service information to operators by the end of 2024. The company also must convince the FAA that the resulting nacelle “system” complies with Part 25.901(c), which stipulates that any single failure or combination of failures, excluding events calculated as “extremely remote,” will not pose unacceptable hazards. The FAA’s mandate affects about 1,900 U.S.-registered aircraft. But the upgrade requirements are expected to be mandated globally. The Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database shows 6,500 737NGs in operation or storage around the world. Some of these will be retired by the expected 2028 upgrade deadlines. https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/safety-ops-regulation/faa-starts-737ng-nacelle-retrofit-mandate-process Taiwanese Pilot Planned CH-47 Defection To China As part of the plot, the pilot was also allegedly offered safe passage for his family to Thailand should a Chinese invasion of Taiwan occur. A Taiwanese pilot, allegedly planning to defect to the People's Republic of China (PRC), was reportedly offered $15 million USD to deliver a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). As part of the defection scheme, the individual was supposedly set to land the Chinook on a PLAN vessel in the Taiwan Strait. Along with the money offered, the pilot was also apparently assured by Chinese officials that his family would be given safe passage out of Taiwan should a potential conflict between the country and China erupt. The pilot in question has been named as Lt. Col. Hsieh of the Republic of China Army (ROCA) as part of an indictment released by Taiwan's High Court Prosecutors Office today. Hsieh was arrested back in August following a tip-off, a Taiwan court heard today, which foiled the defection scheme. According to reports, Hsieh — as well as a wider spy ring within the Taiwanese military connected to his defection — has been on the radar of Taiwanese law enforcement since the spring. Prior to today's revelations, lawmakers previously indicted a group of active and retired Taiwanese officers on November 27 on the grounds of spying for Beijing. As per reporting by the South China Morning Post, Hsieh was originally approached in June by alleged Chinese intelligence officials via a retired ROCA officer. As part of his defection scheme, Hsieh was set to fly a CH-47SD Chinook helicopter — of which the ROCA currently has roughly eight of — onto a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessel in the Taiwan Straight. Which PLAN vessel this pertains to remains unclear, although multiple outlets suggest it was to have been one of China's two existing aircraft carriers; either Type 001 Liaoning or Type 002 Shandong. Hsieh suggested that the PLAN perform naval drills close to the port city of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan in advance of his defection, prosecutors contend. This was suggested in order to prevent the lieutenant colonel from having to cross the sensitive "median line" which bisects the Taiwan Strait and serves as a de facto boundary between mainland China and Taiwan. Circumventing the median line would have minimized the chances of the Chinook being intercepted by Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) fighters on its way to the PLAN vessel, prosecutors argue. "According to the instruction from the [mainland] agents, Lieutenant Colonel Hsieh was asked to fly the helicopter at low altitude along the coastline to the Chinese Communist carrier which would be staging drills close to the waters 24 nautical miles off [Taiwan]," the indictment reads, as per the South China Morning Post. It isn't clear what would have happened to the other crew on the Chinook as the type always flies with a second pilot and crew chiefs. Why China would want this helicopter isn't perfectly clear, but the PLA does not fly a tandem rotor type at this time, but they are surely looking to develop improved heavy-lift designs. The CH-47SD model is something of a precursor to more recent models of the Chinook, which would have made it even more enticing for reverse engineering purposes. The avionics onboard as well as the crew's potential intelligence value could have also been attractive. In terms of financial compensation, Hsieh was initially offered $6,355 USD per month, equivalent to some $200,000 in New Taiwan Dollars (NTD), to defect and deliver the helicopter. However, he declined the offer, owing to the significant risks involved. A counter-offer of $15 million USD, which reports suggest came to half the overall cost of the helicopter, along with a $1 million USD "deposit" was subsequently agreed between Hsieh and Chinese officials, according to the indictment. From the start, it was agreed by the mainland side that Hsieh’s wife and children would be helped to emigrate to Thailand — specifically via sourcing Thai visas — should a potential invasion of Taiwan by China occur in the near future. According to Taiwanese prosecutors, Hsieh conducted a teleconference with Chinese operatives in July to discuss the details of the defection, as well as contingency plans for his family’s emigration to Thailand. Of course, China has a track record of courting Taiwanese military officers to defect, prompting efforts by Taiwan's law makers to clamp down on its neighbors' ability to steal sensitive information. Speaking to lawmakers today, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said of Hsieh's indictment, "I feel pained too, to have discovered a case like this and those allegedly involved must be dealt with according to the law." A separate investigation has been completed by Taiwan’s military and security agencies into Hsieh's case, the country’s Ministry of Defense noted. However, the revelation that Hsieh discussed with PRC officials plans for his family to emigrate to Thailand underscores fears of a possible Chinese intervention in Taiwan in the minds of Taiwanese military officials. The promise of hefty payments and lavish gifts alone may, on its own, provide less weight in enticing defectors to China going forward given said concerns. As The War Zone has highlighted repeatedly, both Taiwanese and U.S. officials have pointed to this likelihood of a Chinese intervention in Taiwan for some time. Senior U.S. military officials have noted the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) could be in a position to launch an invasion against Taiwan by 2027, or potentially sooner. There is has been a major uptick in escalatory aerial and naval drills squared against Taiwan by China's military. These have significantly increased in the past 18 months, particularly following former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August last year. While legal proceedings connected to Hsieh's alleged espionage activities have only just begun, the new revelations no doubt point to a broader and potentially troubling range of factors motivating Taiwanese military officials to defect to China. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/taiwanese-pilot-planned-ch-47-defection-to-china-reports Boeing promotes insider to chief operating officer, putting her in the discussion about the next CEO Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing global services, attends a press conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, June 20, 2023. Boeing said Monday, Dec. 11, that Pope will become executive vice president and chief operating officer on Jan. 1. Pope has spent nearly 30 years at Boeing, and has been CEO of the company's services business since last year. ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Boeing has promoted the head of its services business to chief operating officer, putting the female executive in discussion as a potential heir apparent to CEO David Calhoun in a male-dominated industry. Boeing said Monday that Stephanie Pope's elevation to the job, which includes the title of executive vice president, takes effect Jan. 1. Pope has spent nearly 30 years at Boeing, holding down key financial jobs in the company’s defense, commercial airplanes and services divisions. She became CEO of the services unit last year. Some industry observers were quick to tap Pope, 51, as a contender to become the aerospace company's next CEO. Richard Aboulafia, managing director of aerospace consultant AeroDynamic Advisory, named Pope and Chief Financial Officer Brian West as potential successors to Calhoun. Calhoun, 66, has held the top job since January 2020, when he replaced Dennis Muilenburg, who was fired during the fallout from two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jets. Calhoun, however, has shown no indication that he plans to retire anytime soon. Days after Calhoun turned 64 in 2021, Boeing raised the retirement age for CEO from 65 to 70 — he won't reach that age until early 2028. In February of this year, the company board gave Calhoun a $5.3 million retention grant that doesn't vest until 2025. Boeing has struggled with manufacturing and supply-chain problems that have interrupted production of the Max and a larger airliner, the 787 Dreamliner. It has also suffered setbacks in military programs, including a contract with the U.S. Air Force to build two new presidential jets. The company lost $2.2 billion in the first nine months of this year after losing more than $5 billion last year. However, it has a huge backlog of orders for commercial planes, as airlines look to update their fleets with more fuel-efficient models. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/boeing-promotes-insider-chief-operating-002934945.html LAX passenger arrives on international flight without passport, visa, ticket: report A Russian man flew from Europe to LAX without a passport, visa or plane ticket last month, and officials have no idea how he did it. Neither, it seems, does the man himself. Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava faces a charge of being a stowaway on an aircraft related to a Nov. 4 flight, but according to a report by Jason Koebler published jointly by 404 Media and Court Watch, he “was not a stowaway in the traditional sense.” “[Ochigava] seemingly interacted with flight crew, ate two meals on the plane, spoke to other passengers on the flight, and, at one point ‘attempted to eat the chocolate that belonged to members of the cabin crew,’ Koebler wrote. “The affidavit states that ‘most’ of the crew noticed him on the plane, and said he was sitting in a few different seats, but that nothing else seemed amiss.” Despite being very visible to many on the plane, Ochigava, an economist, had apparently evaded security in Copenhagen, Denmark, from which his flight departed. Ochigava was not on the flight’s manifest, nor was he on the passenger list of any other international flight. His iPhone contained a picture of the flight board at Copenhagen’s airport and “screen grabs from the ‘Maps’ app showing a hostel in Kiel, Germany, and street maps from an unknown foreign city,” FBI agent Caroline Walling wrote in an affadavit. He did have some identification, however. “A search of his bags found ‘Russian identification cards and an Israeli identification card,’ as well as ‘a partial photograph of a passport,'” Koebler wrote. Perhaps the most confounding part of the saga is that Ochigava seemingly had no inkling anything was amiss until he arrived in the U.S. and tried to pass an examination by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. At first, Ochigava told CBP officials that he left his passport on the plane, but no document was found. Further complicating matters, Ochigava wasn’t in the CBP system at all, something “the CBP officer had never encountered,” Walling wrote. Ochigava didn’t even remember how he got to Copenhagen in the first place or what he was doing there. “Ochigava claimed he had not been sleeping for three days and did not understand what was going on. Ochigava stated he might have had a plane ticket to come to the United States, but he was not sure … When asked how he got through security in Copenhagen, Ochigava claimed he did not remember how he went through security without a ticket,” Walling wrote. At this point, it seems only one thing is known for sure. “Everyone involved is very confused,” Koebler wrote. Ochigava has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, his public defender told KTLA. https://www.yahoo.com/news/lax-passenger-arrives-international-flight-155300636.html Top Senate Democrats demand airlines carry EpiPens on flights A trio of top Senate Democrats is demanding that the federal government require airlines to carry epinephrine auto-injectors – such as EpiPens – on board commercial flights. In a letter shared first with CNN, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer and Ed Markey tell the Federal Aviation Administration it has a “glaring gap” in its requirements for what is carried as part of in-flight emergency kits, which “puts airline passengers at risk.” Epinephrine auto-injectors treat a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. The letter says FAA standards last updated in 2004 only require that airlines carry epinephrine in syringes “designed to be used primarily in the event of a cardiac emergency.” “We urge you to amend the current standing regulation to require that epinephrine auto-injectors be included in the emergency medical kit of every flight, as well as engage in regular review of medical kit requirements,” the letter reads. CNN has reached out to the FAA for comment. Alexa Jordon was on a flight from Boston to Chicago in May 2019 when she ate a salad she bought in the airport that wasn’t supposed to contain tree nuts, to which she is allergic. After using her own EpiPen that she carried on board, “my throat remained extremely tight, and I was terrified that it would not improve without a second shot,” Jordon told CNN. The Association of Flight Attendants, a labor union representing flight attendants from United Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Alaska Airlines, says it has “long advocated” for Congress and the FAA to “review and make recommendations to the list of medications required onboard including allergy pens.” A 2018 study published the medical journal JAMA found in-flight medical emergencies occur on about one in every 604 flights, and allergic reactions occur “often,” accounting for 1.6% of those emergencies. The Transportation Security Administration allows passengers to bring “medically necessary” EpiPens through airport security checkpoints. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/travel/epipens-flights-faa-democrats/index.html First-Time Measures of Pilot Performance Have Potential to Transform Aviation Safety Ground-breaking MITRE research quantifies real-world flight crew performance on critical safety maneuvers—with broad applications for enhancing overall aviation safety. If an aircraft stalls in mid-air, how long does it take a pilot to execute the multi-step recovery process, and was that process performed correctly? What if an onboard system alerts the pilot that another aircraft is too close? How quickly can the pilot take the steps necessary to avoid a collision? Capturing specifics like these has the potential to transform aircraft equipment design and certification, flight procedure development, and pilot training in ways that enhance overall flight safety. As the longtime operator of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) federal R&D center, MITRE understands just how important those goals are. “The aviation industry has never been able to obtain broad measures of what actually happens when safety issues arise during commercial flights,” explains Valerie Gawron, Ph.D., an expert in human-centered engineering. “We’ve been able to measure pilot performance in a simulator, but that’s quite different from the real world, when the pressure is on to respond quickly and correctly at a moment’s notice.” That means avionics and flight procedure design, as well as pilot training, are based on estimates or rules of thumb rather than real-world performance. “That’s less than optimal, so the FAA and industry have been asking for in-flight measures for a long time,” Gawron says. REAL-WORLD DATA PAINTS A MORE PRECISE PICTURE Now, through an independent research project, MITRE has demonstrated it’s possible to provide just that, along with the models that make the data easy to apply. The research team—led by data scientist Houda Kerkoub—began by sifting through airline and FAA data from 30 million flights over a 5-year span to identify the safety issues they elected to study: aircraft “loss-of-control” events that result in a stall and “loss-of-separation” events, where two aircraft come too close together, creating a risk of collision. We measured how long it took to complete the entire recovery procedure—and how long for each component. HOUDA KERKOUB, LEAD DATA SCIENTIST “That narrowed the research to 16,000 flight records,” says Darren Neal, a pilot and multidiscipline systems engineer who provided flight operations expertise to the team. “We then used ‘black box’-like data from those flights’ quick access recorders—which capture everything from alerts to button pushes and other flight control inputs—to measure exactly what happened during the identified safety events.” “We measured how long it took to complete the entire recovery procedure,” Kerkoub adds. “And, since these procedures can involve multiple steps—such as pitching the aircraft’s nose downward, increasing power, and rolling the wings level—we also measured how long it took to complete each component of the procedure.” Additional analysis enabled the team to determine whether the flight crews followed the procedures as designed or if they deviated from them in some way, such as performing the steps out of the prescribed order. They also examined how much time was available to avert an accident and how the flight crew’s performance compared. By looking at all those factors together, the team calculated the probability of error in the selected safety scenarios. “Our approach looks at the overall likelihood that pilots would fail to execute a procedure either because they ran out of time, made a mistake, or a combination of the two,” Kerkoub explains. RESEARCH LAYS THE FOUNDATION FOR MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS Using their combined expertise in black-box-like data, flight operations, human-centered design, and statistics, the team incorporated their findings into predictive models of flight crew performance that are designed to support a variety of needs. “There are multiple applications for the research we’re doing,” Kerkoub says. “It can enable aircraft designers to evaluate equipment before it gets installed in the cockpit. It can help airlines fine-tune their pilot training. It can be used in aircraft certification processes. And it can help the FAA evaluate new flight procedures before they’re implemented.” While the potential of the existing findings is great, Kerkoub acknowledges there’s more work to be done. “We’ve broken new ground, but there are many more scenarios to be studied,” she notes. Another aspect of the team’s plan is to leverage the software and tools the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission already uses to conduct human reliability analysis. “If we can adapt those capabilities to aviation and incorporate our models into them, it would accelerate our research significantly,” Kerkoub says. Ultimately, the team hopes to put the models into the hands of analysts at the FAA, airlines, and avionics manufacturers. “We need these organizations to vet our models and help us refine them to ensure they meet all stakeholders’ needs,” Gawron says. “They’ve dreamed of having such a capability. This is an opportunity to partner with us to make it a reality. We can’t wait to move this transformational research forward.” To partner with MITRE and help move this work forward, please contact Houda Kerboub at hkerkoubkourdali@mitre.org. https://www.mitre.org/news-insights/impact-story/pilot-performance-potential-transform-aviation-safety CALENDAR OF EVENTS • SINGAPORE AIRSHOW 2024 - February 20 - 25 • HAI Heli-Expo 2024 - February 26 - 29 - Anaheim, CA • 2024 Women in Aviation International Conference - March 21-23 (Orlando) • 2024 ACSF Safety Symposium – Air Charter Safety Foundation - April 1-3, 2024 • 2024 ISASI - Lisbon, Portugal - September 30 to October 4, 2024 • 2024 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - Oct. 22-24 (Vegas) Curt Lewis