Flight Safety Information - January 8, 2024 No. 006 In This Issue : Incident: SAS A20N at Funchal on Jan 6th 2024, hard landing and engine trouble : Accident: Alaska B39M at Portland on Jan 5th 2024, emergency exit and panel separated in flight : Accident: Flybondi B738 at Mar del Plata on Jan 5th 2024, hard landing and tail strike : Incident: Easyjet A320 at Glasgow on Jan 5th 2024, smoke in the cockpit : F.A.A. Orders Airlines to Ground Some Boeing 737 Max 9 Jets After Midair ‘Incident’ : Taiwan slams Chinese balloons as safety threat, psychological warfare : Door in Alaska Airlines accident believed to have fallen over Beaverton; public’s help sought in finding the key evidence : EASA adopts FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive on Boeing 737-9 – no EU operators seen affected : 'Stakes are high' in the Alaska Airlines flight inquiry, NTSB chair says : CALENDAR OF EVENTS Incident: SAS A20N at Funchal on Jan 6th 2024, hard landing and engine trouble A SAS Scandinavian Airlines Airbus A320-200N, registration SE-ROE performing flight SK-2901 from Stockholm (Sweden) to Funchal (Portugal), was on final approach to Funchal's runway 23 at 13:48L (13:48Z) when the aircraft encountered windshear, touched down hard with the left hand engine (LEAP) suffering a compressor stall and bounced. The crew initiated a go around and entered a hold, subsequently decided to divert to Las Palmas,CI (Spain) where the aircraft landed without further incident on runway 03L about 90 minutes later. A passenger reported the aircraft touched down hard, the captain subsequently indicated they had encountered windshear. The left hand engine (LEAP) emitted unusual "fumes" following the go around. The airline confirmed engine trouble as reason for the precautionary diversion to Las Palmas where better maintenance facilities are available. https://avherald.com/h?article=51359ccb&opt=0 Accident: Alaska B39M at Portland on Jan 5th 2024, emergency exit and panel separated in flight An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX, registration N704AL performing flight AS-1282 from Portland,OR to Ontario,CA (USA) with 171 passengers and 6 crew, was climbing out of Portland's runway 28L when one of the cabin windows/emergency exits and its holding panel as well as parts of one un-occupied seat (seat row 26) separated from the aircraft, the passenger oxygen masks were released. The crew donned their oxygen masks, stopped the climb at about 16,000 feet, declared emergency reporting depressurization of the aircraft in a very noisy transmission, initiated an emergency descent to 10,000 feet and returned to Portland for a safe landing on runway 28L about 20 minutes after departure. No injuries are being reported. An emergency exit and whole panel at the left hand side of the aircraft was missing. A replacement Boeing 737-900 registration N263AK reached Ontario as flight AS-9233 with a delay of about 6.5 hours. The NTSB have opened an investigation into the occurrence. Passengers reported a boy sitting in row 26 had his t-shirt sucked off him while his mother was holding on to him to prevent him being sucked out, too. Several phones were sucked out as well. The area of the panel blown out features an emergency exit for high density configuration, however, is not used as emergency exit by Alaska Airlines, the exit door was covered by a panel inside the cabin to prevent access to the release mechanism. Alaska Airlines reported that as a precautionary measure they have grounded all their 65 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft. The aircraft carried 171 passengers and 6 crew when it experienced an "incident" shortly after departure from Portland. The occurrence aircraft had entered service with Alaska Airlines on Oct 31st 2023. On Jan 6th 2024 the FAA announced an emergency airworthiness Directive will be released requiring in total 171 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft to be inspected before they can return to service. The inspection will take between 4 and 8 hours per aircraft. On Jan 6th 2024 the airline reported about 25% of their 65 aircraft have already been inspected without any findings, the fleet is expected to be back in the air soon. https://avherald.com/h?article=51354f78&opt=0 Accident: Flybondi B738 at Mar del Plata on Jan 5th 2024, hard landing and tail strike A Flybondi Boeing 737-800, registration LV-KJE performing flight FO-5720 from Buenos Aires Aeroparque,BA to Mar del Plata,BA (Argentina), touched down hard on Mar del Plata's runway 31 at 22:28L (01:28Z Jan 6th) and suffered a tail strike. The aircraft rolled out without further incident. There are no reported injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage. Argentina's JST rated the occurrence an accident and opened an investigation. The airline reported passengers and crews disembarked safely after a hard landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=513586e4&opt=0 Incident: Easyjet A320 at Glasgow on Jan 5th 2024, smoke in the cockpit An Easyjet Airbus A320-200, registration G-EJCC performing flight U2-868 from Glasgow,SC to London Gatwick,EN (UK), was climbing out of Glasgow's runway 23 when the crew stopped the climb at FL300 and decided to return to Glasgow reporting smoke in the cockpit. The aircraft landed safely on runway 23 about 40 minutes after departure. A replacement A319-100 registration G-EZDX reached London with a delay of about 5.5 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 23.5 hours after landing back. https://avherald.com/h?article=513595ce&opt=0 F.A.A. Orders Airlines to Ground Some Boeing 737 Max 9 Jets After Midair ‘Incident’ An Alaska Airlines plane made an emergency landing at the Portland, Ore., international airport on Friday after losing a chunk of its body, terrifying passengers. Plane Makes Emergency Landing After a Portion Blows Out Midair An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet lost a chunk of its fuselage shortly after takeoff. The crew cited a midair pressure problem. “Folks, please stay in your seats with your seatbelt securely fastened until you are told to stand up. Thank you.” [clapping] “Oh, my God.” “This wasn’t even the emergency door. We’re at the end of the plane, so the emergency door is right there. It was just a piece of plane.” The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday ordered U.S. airlines to stop using some Boeing 737 Max 9 planes until they are inspected, less than a day after one of those planes lost a chunk of its body in midair “with an extremely loud pop,” terrifying passengers before the jet safely returned to ground. Those on board Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 described an unnerving experience during the 20 minutes of the flight, which was destined for Ontario, Calif., but returned to Portland International Airport in Oregon on Friday night. As yellow oxygen masks dangled above their heads, a powerful wind tore through a gaping hole that showed the night sky and the city lights below. No one aboard the plane was seriously injured. A passenger, Vi Nguyen of Portland, said that she woke up to a loud sound during the flight. Then she saw a large hole in the side of the aircraft. “I open up my eyes and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me,” Ms. Nguyen, 22, said. “And I look to the left and the wall on the side of the plane is gone.” “The first thing I thought was, ‘I’m going to die,’” she added. The F.A.A.’s order will affect about 171 planes. While the F.A.A. has yet to publicly discuss the cause of the incident, in its grounding order to the airlines, it asked that they inspect what it called a “mid cabin door plug.” Some of the Boeing 737 Max 9s are configured with fewer seats and, therefore, do not need all the emergency exits originally designed for the plane. The unneeded exits are filled with a plug. Alaska Airlines confirmed in a statement on Saturday afternoon that it had started inspecting the door plugs and cleared 18 of its 65 Max 9s to return to service. The airline said it expected to complete the inspections in the next few days. Forrest Gossett, a spokesman for Spirit AeroSystems, said on Saturday that his company installed door plugs on the Max 9s and that Spirit had installed the plug on the Alaska Air flight. United Airlines has 79 Max 9s in service, more than any other airline, according to Cirium, an aviation data provider. Alaska’s 65 represent about a fifth of its fleet. “Safety will continue to drive our decision-making,” the agency’s administrator, Mike Whitaker, said in a statement. The F.A.A. is working with the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading an investigation into the Alaska flight. United Airlines said on Saturday that it would be suspending the use of certain Boeing 737 Max 9s it operates as a result of the F.A.A.’s order. Of the airline's 79 Max 9s in service, 33 have already been inspected, the airline said in a statement. The airline said the removal of the planes from service was expected to be the cause of about 60 cancellations on Saturday. “We are working directly with impacted customers to find them alternative travel options,” the airline said in statement. The F.A.A. said that the required inspections should take four to eight hours per plane to complete. Boeing issued a statement shortly after the F.A.A.’s grounding order. “Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers,” Jessica Kowal, a spokeswoman for Boeing, said in the statement. “We agree with and fully support the F.A.A.’s decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane.” Boeing’s Max aircraft have a troubled history. After two crashes of Max 8 jets killed hundreds of people within several months in 2018 and 2019, the Max was grounded around the world. Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 departed for Ontario International Airport at 5:07 p.m. and was diverted back to Portland six minutes later, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. It reached a maximum altitude of about 16,000 feet, when its speed was recorded at more than 440 miles per hour, and landed in Portland at 5:27 p.m. The cause of the midair problem was not immediately clear. Keith Tonkin, the managing director of Aviation Projects, an aviation consulting company in Brisbane, Australia, said that an excessive difference in the air pressure inside versus outside the cabin could have caused the wall to break off. Passengers were probably able to breathe normally even when the plane was at its highest altitude, Mr. Tonkin added. A friend of Ms. Nguyen, Elizabeth Le, 20, said she heard “an extremely loud pop.” When she looked up, she saw a large hole on the wall of the plane about two or three rows away, she said. Ms. Le said no one was sitting in the window seat next to the missing fuselage, but that a teenage boy and his mother were sitting in the middle and aisle seats. Flight attendants helped them move to the other side of the plane a few minutes later, she said. The boy appeared to have lost his shirt, and his skin looked red and irritated, she added. “It was honestly horrifying,” she said. “I almost broke down, but I realized I needed to remain calm.” There were announcements over the speaker system, but none were audible because the wind whipping through the plane was so loud, she said. After the plane landed, paramedics came on board to ask whether anyone was injured, she added. A man seated in the row immediately behind the hole said that he had hurt his foot. Ms. Le said the passengers were not given an explanation of what had happened. In a video she took of the flight, passengers can be heard clapping after landing. “Oh my god,” someone says. After landing, Ms. Le said that she and her friends were boarding another flight to Ontario later that night. Evan Smith, 72, a lawyer who was returning to his home in Murrieta, Calif., after visiting his daughter and son-in-law in Portland, said he heard a loud “bang” and saw some “dusky, smoky stuff” swirling around the cabin. Mr. Smith said his experience as a military police officer taught him that it was important to keep a cool head. Plus, he said: “The plane was stable. It wasn’t shaking. It wasn’t making any weird maneuvers. It was just flying steady.” He added, “I was sure the aircraft was fine and we were going to get down OK.” The plane was new, having been certified in November, according to the F.A.A. registry of aircraft. It entered commercial service that month and has since logged 145 flights, according to Flightradar24, another flight tracking site. Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants, a union that represents flight attendants at Alaska, United and other airlines, said in a statement on Saturday that she welcomed the inspections required by the F.A.A. “This is a critical move to ensure the safety of all crew and passengers, as well as confidence in aviation safety,” she said. “Lives must come first always.” As of midday on Saturday, Alaska Airlines had canceled about 100 flights, or 13 percent of those scheduled for the day, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. Dozens more flights were delayed. Passengers were swarming Alaska Airlines’ phone lines on Saturday to rebook canceled flights and determine whether upcoming flights would be affected by the grounding. Customer service hold times, passengers were saying on social media, exceeded seven hours. In 2018, Lion Air Flight 610, a 737 Max 8, crashed into the ocean off the coast of Indonesia, killing all 189 passengers and crew members. Less than five months later in 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed shortly after leaving Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. The Max planes were grounded after the second crash. Boeing made changes to the plane, including to the flight control system behind the crashes, and the F.A.A. cleared it to fly again in late 2020. In 2021, the company agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department, resolving a criminal charge that Boeing conspired to defraud the agency. In December, Boeing urged airlines to inspect all 737 Max airplanes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system after an international airline discovered a bolt with a missing nut during routine maintenance. Alaska Airlines said at the time that it expected to complete inspections for its fleet in the first half of January. The Max planes are in wide use. Of the nearly 2.9 million flights scheduled globally in January, 4.3 percent are planned to be carried out using Max 8 planes, while 0.7 percent are slated to use the Max 9. The Max is the most popular plane in Boeing’s history, accounting for a fifth of all orders placed since 1955, according to company data. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/05/business/alaska-airlines-flight-portland-landing.html Taiwan slams Chinese balloons as safety threat, psychological warfare TAIPEI, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry accused China on Saturday of threatening aviation safety and waging psychological warfare on the island's people with a recent spate of balloons spotted near or over the island, days before key Taiwanese elections. The potential for China to use balloons for spying became a global issue in February when the United States shot down what it said was a Chinese surveillance balloon. China said the balloon was a civilian craft that accidentally drifted astray. Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese military and political activity ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections. It says China is exerting military and economic pressure in an attempt to interfere in the elections. China views the island as its own territory, a claim Taiwan's government rejects. Since last month Taiwan's defence ministry has reported several instances of Chinese balloons flying over the sensitive Taiwan Strait. It has said over the past week some balloons had flown over Taiwan island near major air bases. In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said the balloons were a "serious threat" to international aviation safety given their flight paths. "We also express our condemnation of the Chinese communists' disregard for aviation safety and its disregard for the safety of passengers on cross-Taiwan Strait and international flights," it said. The ministry said its analysis was that the balloons were part of China's "grey zone" tactics against Taiwan "in an attempt to use cognitive warfare to affect the morale of our people". This was stronger than Taiwan's previous assertions that the balloons appeared to be mostly for weather monitoring, driven by prevailing winds at this time of year. China's Taiwan Affairs Office referred Reuters to previous comments stating that Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was "hyping up the threat from the mainland as the election approaches" and inciting confrontation. China's defence ministry declined to comment on the balloons at a monthly news conference in December. Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, the DPP's presidential candidate, told a campaign event on Saturday that China was using its warships, warplanes and fake news to "divide Taiwan". "I urge you all with your sacred votes to tell the world that Taiwan will not surrender to an authoritarian regime but will continue to choose democracy and freedom," Lai said, according to his campaign team. STRONGER WORDING In a separate statement on Saturday, Taiwan's defence ministry said that during the previous 24 hours it had detected two more Chinese balloons, one of which briefly flew over the far northern tip of the island. Taiwan has complained for four years of stepped-up Chinese military action such as fighter jets regularly flying over the strait as part of a "grey zone" strategy attempting to wear down Taiwan with offensive actions that stop short of full-blown conflict. The United States, Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, has watched with alarm as tensions over the semiconductor powerhouse island have risen. Asked about the balloons at a news conference in Washington on Thursday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said he could not comment. "We obviously support the democracy and the democratic institutions of Taiwan, and we want to see free, fair, open, transparent elections there." he said. "And we're certainly mindful that outside actors could try to interfere." China says the Taiwan government's repeated accusations of election interference are "dirty tricks" aimed at boosting the chances of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing detests, calling them separatists. A Western security source, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said China was sending a very simple pre-election message to Taiwan with the balloons. "We are watching you closely and you can't hide," the source said. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-says-chinese-balloons-threaten-aviation-safety-2024-01-06/ Door in Alaska Airlines accident believed to have fallen over Beaverton; public’s help sought in finding the key evidence Investigators have asked the public to help find an airplane door that blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Friday and likely fell near Beaverton’s Cedar Hills neighborhood. The accident occurred shortly after a flight to Ontario, California, departed from Portland International Airport and the unused mid-cabin door that was plugged by an interior window panel came off of the airplane. The sudden decompression caused minor injuries to a person sitting near the hole but did not otherwise cause physical harm to the plane’s 171 passengers, officials have said. Saturday, the National Transportation Safety Board urged the public to help their investigation and tell officials if they find the door. Based on radar data, the safety board believes the door is around Southwest Barnes Road, near Oregon-217 and the Cedar Hills neighborhood, Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Saturday. https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2024/01/door-in-alaska-airlines-accident-believed-to-have-fallen-over-beaverton-publics-help-sought-in-finding-the-key-evidence.html EASA adopts FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive on Boeing 737-9 – no EU operators seen affected The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has adopted an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a specific configuration of the Boeing 737-9 (MAX). The EAD, which grounds aircraft in this specific configuration until an inspection has been completed, follows an event on an Alaska Airlines flight, where an exit panel detached from the aircraft inflight, leading to rapid decompression of the cabin. EASA decided to adopt the FAA EAD even though, to the Agency’s knowledge and also based on statements from the FAA and Boeing, no airline in an EASA Member State currently operates an aircraft in the relevant configuration. In the specific set-up covered by the EAD, a mid-cabin exit is replaced by a plug-in panel. This configuration is typically adopted by airlines flying lower-density operations (with lower passenger capacity) where this additional exit is not required to meet evacuation safety requirements. EASA says that the 737-9 aircraft operating in Europe do not have this configuration and are therefore not grounded by the EAD and can continue to operate normally. However, the Dutch subsidiary of Turkish group Corendon has two Boeing 737-9 aircraft with a plug-in panel. And if Turkish airlines is to be considered as a European airline, it also has 5 such planes. EASA is in contact with the FAA on this matter and will follow the investigation into the Alaska Airlines event closely. https://www.aviation24.be/manufacturers/boeing/737/max/easa-adopts-faa-emergency-airworthiness-directive-on-boeing-737-9-no-eu-operators-seen-affected/ 'Stakes are high' in the Alaska Airlines flight inquiry, NTSB chair says Sunday was the first full day of the National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the incident Friday. The agency's chair spoke with NBC News about the process. The "stakes are high" in the investigation into the Alaska Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing when a panel of the Boeing plane blew out midair, according to the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board. Sunday was the first full day of the NTSB investigation into the incident on Friday. "We will be looking at the entire chain of the events, from production to putting this plug in service to what happened to the history of this particular aircraft in flight and in service from the start to where we are today," Jennifer Homendy told NBC News on Sunday. Sunday’s process has involved speaking with the flight crew, Homendy said, and the plane's so-called black boxes have been sent to Washington, D.C., for review. In a message sent to employees Sunday, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said an all-employee meeting focused on safety would be held Tuesday. He also canceled a leadership summit that was set to take place on Monday and Tuesday so the company can focus its attention to the NTSB investigation. Homendy said investigators will also look into pressurization alerts that went off on the plane during flights Wednesday and Thursday, the days before the accident. She said her team was informed of the alerts but is still waiting for confirmation from Alaska Airlines. She added the NTSB was told the alerts were "pretty benign" but said her team is "digging into" them. Homendy described the "violent" and "chaotic" explosion of the door plug and noted that the situation could have been far more dire had the plane been at cruising altitude, about 35,000 feet. "This could have been a catastrophic, catastrophic event," she said. "This is why we go to incidents, why we go to accidents, when there aren’t fatalities, when there aren’t injuries, because we want to make sure that the public is aware of what’s occurring and that we’re taking a look and that we want to prevent this from reoccurring." She said Boeing is working closely with the NTSB to uncover what happened and to prevent it from happening again. "We will not stop until we get to the bottom of what has occurred and what led to this," Homendy said. The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered the grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes, the model flown in the Alaska Airlines incident, after a retrofitted door panel detached at roughly 16,000 feet in the air Friday. On Saturday, the FAA issued a directive that requires operators to inspect certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft before they can be flown again. The process is estimated to take four to eight hours per aircraft, affecting 171 planes worldwide. The agency said Sunday the aircraft "will remain grounded until the FAA is satisfied that they are safe." The European Union Aviation Safety Agency adopted the FAA order but noted that the specific configuration of the model was not widely used in Europe, and no flights have been grounded as a result. FAA orders temporary grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 after a piece of a plane wall detached midair According to the NTSB, the part of the plane that detached was a plug door, which creates a seal where an emergency door would be in configurations with higher passenger capacity. From the inside of the plane, it would appear to be a normal window seat, but it appears in the shape of a door from the exterior. The door plug has not been recovered. There were no serious injuries or deaths, the NTSB has said, because of the plane's relatively low altitude when the incident occurred and the fact that two seats by the panel were vacant. The NTSB said it happened about 10 minutes after the flight departed the Portland, Oregon, airport en route to San Bernardino County, California. 'An issue of life or death' Jeff Guzzetti, a former investigator for the FAA and the NTSB, said the federal investigation will probe not only the cause of Friday's incident but also whether it was a flaw caused during production that might have been more widespread. "This is an issue of life or death," Guzzetti said. "This is why aviation redundancy is so critical, why quality control is so critical, because even a small mistake, if this was a mistake, like misplaced bolt or something like that, that can lead to death and injury. ... We have to nail down the process of what happened here." The issue appears to be, in Guzzetti's opinion, a "quality escape," or, in other words, a part that gave way, which caused the plug to dislodge. "All manufacturers are going to have problems like this. It's just a matter of how often they occur and how serious they are," Guzzetti said. "But yes, even an incident like this that doesn't involve any injuries or fatalities does serve to undermine to some degree the confidence in Boeing's ability to manufacture safe aircraft." Homendy has not speculated on a cause. Determining the cause The plane used Friday was delivered a little over two months before the accident, the NTSB and Alaska have said. John Cox, a former pilot and accident investigator, examined photos and said it appeared that all eight pins that attach the plug door to the plane were intact. The question then becomes, he told NBC News, whether the bolts were at fault. "There are four bolts that hold that plug in place," Cox said. "And why ... why didn't they do their job? Were they — was it an improper installation? Were they not properly torqued? Did they not have the proper hardware? All of those questions are the things that the investigators are going to look at." Cox recalled that Boeing made promises a few years ago to improve its quality assurance process after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed a total of 346 people, both of which also involved 737 Max models. A congressional investigation released in September 2020 found that the crashes were “a horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing’s management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA." It's important for both passengers and airline operators to get answers about what happened to cause Friday's accident, whether it was a one-off issue or a result of systemic breakdowns. "It certainly does not help the reputation of Boeing to go out into the world and sell new airplanes and for the operators to feel good that they're not going to have an interruption or, worse, a safety issue that they have to deal with … because Boeing may build the airplane, but it's the operators — they end up having to deal with the consequences," Cox said. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/alaska-air-flight-ntsb-rcna132714 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 • Airborne Public Safety Association, Inc. (APSCON 2024) - July 29 - August 3; Houston TX • 2024 ISASI - Lisbon, Portugal - September 30 to October 4, 2024 • 2024 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - Oct. 22-24 (Vegas) Curt Lewis