Flight Safety Information - February 19, 2024 No. 036 In This Issue : Incident: Smartlynx Malta B38M near Stuttgart on Feb 18th 2024, cracked windshield : Accident: Marathon E195 at Belgrade on Feb 18th 2024, overran runway on takeoff : Incident: Easyjet Europe A320 near Bilbao on Feb 15th 2024, smoke in cockpit : Incident: Lauda Europe A320 at Tallinn on Feb 18th 2024, flap problems : Incident: Lufthansa A321 near Madrid on Feb 17th 2024, first officer unwell : Incident: Swiss B773 at Zurich on Feb 16th 2024, generator failure : Planes top 800 mph as near-record winds sweep high over Mid-Atlantic : Passenger jet hits equipment on takeoff from Belgrade airport, makes emergency return : Fire Breaks Out in Cockpit of Plane Flying to JFK : Former NTSB chair says crash of OSU to Naples jet should be a wake-up call for air safety : Flight diverted to Winnipeg after passenger tried to open plane door : A baggage handler at a London airport is in critical condition after being dragged by a conveyor belt, report says : Israeli flight from Thailand faced attack by 'hostile elements' : A passenger on a flight from Thailand to London was arrested after appearing to punch an attendant in the face : CALENDAR OF EVENTS Incident: Smartlynx Malta B38M near Stuttgart on Feb 18th 2024, cracked windshield A Smartlynx Airlines Malta Boeing 737-8 MAX on behalf of THY Turkish Airlines, registration 9H-CHA performing flight TK-7750 from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (Turkey) to Stuttgart (Germany), was descending through about FL280 towards Stuttgart when the crew reported a crack had developed in one of their windshields. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on Stuttgart's runway 25 about 25 minutes later. The aircraft remained on the ground in Stuttgart for about 5.5 hours, then performed the return flight TK-4381 to Sabiha Gokcen Airport and is now still on the ground in Istanbul about 16 hours after landing in Istanbul. https://avherald.com/h?article=51524b7c&opt=0 Accident: Marathon E195 at Belgrade on Feb 18th 2024, overran runway on takeoff A Marathon Embraer ERJ-195 on behalf of Air Serbia, registration OY-GDC performing flight JU-324 from Belgrade (Serbia) to Dusseldorf (Germany), had lined up runway 30L at taxiway D5 (TORA/TODA/ASDA 1273 meters/4175 feet) and departed at 17:38L (16:38Z), but overran the end of the runway before becoming airborne. Following a collision with the high precision approach lights of runway 12R past the end of the runway the aircraft became airborne about 500 meters/1650 feet past the runway end, climbed through 50 feet AGL about 2050 meters/6700 feet past the runway end, stopped the climb at 4000 feet, burned off fuel and returned to Belgrade for a landing on runway 30L without further incident about 55 minutes after departure. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage. Following the occurrence the ILS of runway 12R was downgraded from CATIII to CATI. Passengers reported immediately after takeoff something broke, the aircraft shook, they then entered a holding for about an hour before returning to land at Belgrade. They were quickly escorated off the aircraft, they weren't told anything except it was a minor incident, however, they could see something had broken off the left wing. The airline reported the aircraft returned due to technical reasons and landed safely. According to ADS-B data the aircraft lined up runway 30L via taxiway D5, commenced takeoff in direction of runway 30L, was still on the ground at position N44.8274 E20.2846 and climbed through 50 feet AGL at position N44.8335 E20.2673 just ahead of the motorway. https://avherald.com/h?article=5151ede4&opt=0 Incident: Easyjet Europe A320 near Bilbao on Feb 15th 2024, smoke in cockpit An Easyjet Europe Airbus A320-200, registration OE-ING performing flight U2-4592 from Lisbon (Portugal) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) with 141 people on board, was enroute at FL380 about 60nm northwest of Bilbao,SP (Spain) when the crew donned their oxygen masks, declared Mayday and decided to divert to Bilbao reporting smoke in the cockpit. The aircraft landed safely on runway 12 about 20 minutes later. A replacement A320-200 registration OE-IZG reached Paris with a delay of about 5 hours. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Bilbao about 8.5 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=515087ea&opt=0 Incident: Lauda Europe A320 at Tallinn on Feb 18th 2024, flap problems A Lauda Europe Airbus A320-200 on behalf of Ryanair, registration 9H-IHL performing flight FR-2225 from London Stansted,EN (UK) to Tallinn (Estonia), was on approach to Tallinn's runway 26 when the crew reported they had problems with their flaps and entered a hold for about 20 minutes. The crew subsequently declared PAN PAN reporting their flaps were locked in the zero position and requested that emergency services were on standby for their landing though they expected a normal landing. The aircraft landed safely on runway 26 at about 145 knots over ground about 30 minutes after the first onset of trouble. The aircraft is still on the ground in Tallinn about 12 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=5151e6e8&opt=0 Incident: Lufthansa A321 near Madrid on Feb 17th 2024, first officer unwell A Lufthansa Airbus A321-200, registration D-AISO performing flight LH-1140 from Frankfurt/Main (Germany) to Seville,SP (Spain), was enroute at FL350 about 40nm southsouthwest of Madrid,SP (Spain) when the crew requested to urgently divert to Madrid reporting the first officer was feeling unwell. The aircraft turned around and landed safely on Madrid's runway 32L about 18 minutes later. The aircraft remained on the ground in Madrid for about 5.5 hours then continued the journey and reached Seville with a delay of about 5.5 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=51511d9e&opt=0 Incident: Swiss B773 at Zurich on Feb 16th 2024, generator failure A Swiss International Airlines Boeing 777-300, registration HB-JNB performing flight LX-40 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Los Angeles,CA (USA) with 214 people on board, was climbing through FL305 out of Zurich's runway 16 when the crew stopped the climb and decided to return to Zurich reporting a generator failure. The aircraft dumped fuel and landed safely on Zurich's runway 16 about 70 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration HB-JNC is estimated to reach Los Angeles with a delay of about 4.5 hours. The airline reported the aircraft returned to Zurich due to a problem with one of the generators. https://avherald.com/h?article=51508545&opt=0 Planes top 800 mph as near-record winds sweep high over Mid-Atlantic • The planes were propelled by a record jet stream that reached 265 mph over Washington Winds roared to speeds of 265 mph high over Washington — at about 35,000 feet above ground, cruising altitude for airplanes — as a powerful jet stream swept over the region late Saturday. These winds allowed at least three commercial aircraft to reach speeds over 800 mph. Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. The National Weather Service office serving the Washington-Baltimore region said the 265-mph wind speed was the second-highest measured since records began in the 1950s. The only higher wind speed recorded at a comparable altitude was 267 mph on Dec. 6, 2002. “For those flying eastbound in this jet [stream], there will be quite a tailwind,” the Weather Service wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Virgin Atlantic Flight 22, from Washington Dulles International Airport to London, took off at 10:45 p.m. Saturday and landed ahead of schedule by 45 minutes. Boosted by the extreme tailwind, the Virgin Atlantic jet reached a peak speed of 802 mph at 11:20 p.m. Saturday, data from the online tracker Flight Aware indicated. It attained that velocity over the Atlantic Ocean just east of Long Island as it was gaining altitude and entering the jet stream’s fast flow. After it exited that stream farther north, its speed leveled off to between 600 and 700 mph, which is still a bit faster than typical cruising speed. While the flight’s peak speed of 802 mph was higher than the speed of sound (767 mph), the aircraft did not break the sound barrier. Although its ground speed — a measure that combines the plane’s actual speed and the additional push from the wind — was greater than the speed of sound, it was still moving through the surrounding air at its ordinary cruise speed. It just so happened that the surrounding air was moving unusually fast. United Airlines Flight 64 from Newark to Lisbon, which departed at 8:35 p.m. Saturday, reached a ground speed of 835 mph just off the East Coast, according to Flight Aware. The flight reached Lisbon 20 minutes early. Not be outdone, American Airlines Flight 120 from Philadelphia to Doha, Qatar, topped out near 840 mph, which would rank among the highest on record. The high-speed flights come less than a month after a China Airlines flight reached a speed of 826 mph over the Pacific Ocean. It was also propelled by a tailwind over 250 mph. At the time, it was thought that flight may have set an informal record for commercial flight speeds, not including supersonic Concorde flights. Saturday night’s powerful winds in the Mid-Atlantic were detected by a weather balloon launched from the Weather Service’s office in Sterling, Va. The office releases weather balloons every 12 hours, and the data from the balloons feeds computer models that aid prediction. (National Weather Service) Winds were still roaring in Washington on Sunday morning. Tom Niziol, winter weather expert for Fox Weather, posted to X that the 7 a.m. weather balloon from Sterling clocked winds of 246 mph around 38,000 feet. The high winds developed because of the contrast between very cold air over the Northeast and very mild air over the Southeast. At 7 p.m. Saturday, temperatures were as low as the single digits in interior Maine but were in the 70s in South Florida. The fast high-altitude flow was among several reasons Washington got less snow less than predicted 24 hours earlier. It meant that, as the storm system passed by, snow lasted only two to three hours, limiting amounts to a dusting to a couple of inches. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/02/18/record-jet-stream-winds-dc-flights/ Passenger jet hits equipment on takeoff from Belgrade airport, makes emergency return A passenger jet with 106 people on board had to return to the Belgrade airport after it hit runway equipment and sustained severe damage shortly after takeoff from the Serbian capital BELGRADE, Serbia -- A passenger jet with 106 people on board returned safely to the Belgrade airport after it hit runway equipment and sustained severe damage shortly after takeoff from the Serbian capital, media and airline blogs reported Monday. There were no injuries. The Embraer E-195 was on route to Dusseldorf in Germany on Sunday afternoon. The aircraft belongs to Greek charter company Marathon Airlines, which is currently operating several aircraft on behalf of Serbian national carrier, AirSerbia, on long-term basis. Live tracker Flightradar24 said the flight JU324 lined up at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport on one of the intersecting taxiways more than halfway down the runway, indicating it did not have enough distance for a safe takeoff. During its departure, the aircraft’s left side was badly damaged when it struck the opposing runway’s instrument landing system array, located not far from a busy highway. Video footage and photos of the damaged aircraft show a large gaping hole and tear on the fuselage at the base of the left wing. The tail section was also damaged. Firefighters sprayed the fuselage with foam as fuel appeared to be leaking from the damaged aircraft. After struggling to gain height, the aircraft shook as it entered a holding pattern for about an hour before returning to land safely at the Belgrade airport, Serbian media said, quoting passengers. The passengers were escorted off the aircraft. They were told by AirSerbia that the flight returned because of technical reasons and that their lives were never in danger. The airport was closed for a while on Sunday and incoming planes were diverted to other airports. https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/passenger-jet-hits-equipment-takeoff-belgrade-airport-forced-107337777 Fire Breaks Out in Cockpit of Plane Flying to JFK A pilot declared a "mayday" emergency and was forced to make a midair U-turn when an electrical fire broke out inside the cockpit. The incident happened on board an Endeavor Air jet with 74 people on board that had left Pearson Airport in Toronto, Canada, bound for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on February 3. The potentially life-threatening situation was revealed in an audio clip of the pilot's urgent request for help. It was uploaded recently on an aviation social-media channel. Newsweek has reached out by phone to American firm Endeavor Air seeking further information and comment. The audio clip of the February 3 incident was published on a YouTube account called You Can See ATC. It shares videos featuring pilots' accounts of emergencies or unusual situations during flights, such as equipment failures or fights on board. Most of the channel's viewers appear to be those working in the industry, and a video published on the site has been viewed more than 69,000 times so far. It shows a graphic of the flight path of an Endeavor Air Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-900 (CRJ9), registration N320PQ, during flight EDV4826/9E4826 from Toronto Pearson International Airport to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. An audio clip is played over the graphic. It is said to be a recording of a conversation between the pilot and an air traffic controller while the aircraft was about 11,000 feet into its climb after taking off from Toronto. https://www.newsweek.com/fire-plane-mayday-pilot-emergency-toronto-jfk-new-york-1871152 Former NTSB chair says crash of OSU to Naples jet should be a wake-up call for air safety Much remains unclear about how a charter jet that took off from Ohio State University on Feb. 9 ended up crashing in Florida a few hours later, but experts told The Dispatch the incident is a symptom of a system struggling to keep up with a soaring number of aircraft in the sky. The 68-foot-long Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed along a busy stretch of Interstate 75 near Naples and burst into flames. The pilot and co-pilot were killed, while a flight attendant and two passengers from Columbus walked away. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release a preliminary report on its investigation within 30 days of the crash, spokesman Peter Knudson told The Dispatch. Plane crash is the latest in a string mishaps The plane crash is the latest in a string of aviation mishaps that have garnered scrutiny and stoked concerns about the industry, said Jim Hall, a former chair of the NTSB under President Bill Clinton. Between the recent Boeing incident involving an Alaska Airlines door plug and three of five aboard and those traveling on I-75 escaping death in the crash in Florida, Hall said "we keep getting very lucky." "The Alaska Airlines incident could have been a major loss of life and the same is true in this situation. That's a very busy interstate," Hall said. "I think at some point in time your luck runs out and that's why we need to pay attention." While aviation accidents have declined in recent years from 2,110 reported in 1992 to 1,157 reported in 2021, the number of objects crisscrossing the sky is increasing due to a rise in private jets and drones. The number of drones used by businesses in the U.S. is expected to grow from 507,000 to 828,000 this year while the number of personal use drones is expected to top 1.4 million nationwide, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). At the same time, private jet-setting has exploded since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of private planes increasing to 23,133 by mid-2022, according to the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The Ohio Department of Transportation recorded a 1.8% increase in aircraft registered with the state in the past year, bringing the total to 5,265 in 2023. FAA needs to increase number of staff With the dramatic increases, Hall said it would make sense for government agencies such as the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration to follow suit and significantly add to their respective staff. But due to budget constraints, Hall said they've struggled to keep up. Despite transportation growth, the NTSB was found to have the same number of employees in August 2023 as it had for the 20 previous years, according to a GAO report. However, the NTSB was expected to hire 70 new people by the end of 2023 as part of what chair Jennifer Homendy described as an effort to "right-size" its workforce, after it had been "stagnant for decades." The GAO has also cited concerns about the FAA, noting that most of its safety inspectors are eligible for retirement by 2025. When asked about connections between aviation accidents and safety lapses, an FAA spokesperson directed The Dispatch to its website on incidents that simply confirmed the Feb. 9 crash and an investigation that is underway. It's important for there to be enough aircraft investigators and safety inspectors, Hall said, because otherwise airlines and airplane manufacturers end up behaving like drivers speeding down a highway without any law enforcement in sight. "If you were driving on the highway and your (map) tells you there's a policeman ahead, you're going to tap on the brakes," Hall said. "The same thing is true with safety and oversight." Bob Clifford, a Chicago-based attorney who has represented clients in nearly every major aviation accident in the last 40 years, told The Dispatch that he thinks aviation regulatory agencies need to "clean house." As long as the industry continues "chasing down profit over safety" Clifford said that people can "draw a lot of lines" from one aviation accident to another. Clifford said federal agencies deserve some blame for the state of the industry, but he insisted that the pilots who died in the Feb. 9 crash deserve deference until more details are revealed. As the jet approached Naples, the pilots radioed to the airport that the plane had lost both of its engines and wasn't going to make the runway. The plane crashed on the southbound side of I-75 near a highway wall. Although two vehicles were struck, everyone on the ground survived. Like Hall, Clifford feared the plane crash could have been a lot deadlier had quick action not been taken. Referencing a 2009 plane landing on the Hudson River near New York, Clifford credited the pilots aboard the doomed jet for making sure the crash didn't take more lives than their own. "That pilot was calm, collected, professional and he knew he was in a lot of trouble — but he knew he had to land that plane," Clifford said. https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2024/02/19/ntsb-crash-osu-naples-jet-air-safety-airplane-crash-faa-flight-charter-i-75/72583488007/ Flight diverted to Winnipeg after passenger tried to open plane door An 18-year-old man from B.C. is facing charges after he allegedly attempted to open the door of an aircraft mid-flight, causing the plane to be diverted to Winnipeg. People flying from Vancouver to Toronto on WestJet flight 710 had to make a pit stop at the Winnipeg Richardson International shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, a spokesperson for Winnipeg Airports Authority said. RCMP Manitoba said in a statement Saturday it received reports of an unruly passenger trying to open the aircraft's emergency door about half an hour before the plane landed. "Crew and other passengers had intervened and held him until they landed in Winnipeg. He was arrested without incident," the statement said. A WestJet spokesperson said emergency medical services also met the plane when it landed. "Our crew are trained to handle passengers who may pose a safety hazard to themselves or others, as well as in de-escalating many situations to protect everyone onboard," the spokesperson said in an email to CBC News. They also noted that it's impossible to open pressurized airplane doors when flying at high altitudes. Police said the man has been charged with endangering an aircraft under the Aeronautics Act. He was released from custody and is scheduled to appear at a Winnipeg court on May 23. WestJet said it scheduled a new flight for passengers on Friday. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/flight-diverted-winnipeg-passenger-tried-142433337.html A baggage handler at a London airport is in critical condition after being dragged by a conveyor belt, report says • A baggage handler was hospitalized after being caught in a conveyor belt, The Sun reported. • The incident occurred at London's Heathrow Airport, the report said. • The handler's scarf got snagged in the conveyor belt and she was dragged along. A baggage handler at London's Heathrow Airport is in critical condition after an incident involving a conveyor belt, the British newspaper The Sun reported. It occurred when her scarf got snagged in the conveyor belt and she was dragged along as she unloaded luggage from a flight operated by Scottish airline Loganair, the report said. Passengers had already disembarked from the aircraft while the flight crew was unaware of the situation below, it added. The woman, who was working for airport services company Menzies, was attended to by paramedics and then taken to hospital. A Menzies spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Business Insider that one of its employees was in hospital receiving treatment following an incident at Heathrow. "Our thoughts are with our employee and their family. We cannot provide any further detail at this stage," the company added. A London Ambulance Service spokesperson told BI that paramedics responded to a call at 5.49 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 February, about an incident at Heathrow's Terminal 2. "We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an advanced paramedic and members of our hazardous area response team (HART)," the spokesperson said. "Our first medics arrived on scene in four minutes. "We treated a patient at the scene and took them to a major trauma centre as a priority," they added. "It was the stuff of nightmares," an unnamed source told The Sun. "No one was on hand to help out. It's a miracle she wasn't killed." On its website, Menzies says it works on 11,000 aircraft a week and that its ground teams "take immense pride in delivering quality through best practice working processes" and "an exceptional approach to safety." https://www.businessinsider.com/airport-baggage-handler-critical-after-conveyor-belt-dragged-her-report-2024-2 Israeli flight from Thailand faced attack by 'hostile elements' This is the second time such an incident has occurred in the past week, according to the report. "Hostile elements" attempted to take over the communication network of an El Al plane flying from Phuket to Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday night and divert it from its destination, Israel's national airline confirmed on Sunday. The plane reached its destination safely. This is the second time such an incident has occurred in the past week, according to a KAN Reshet B report. The incident took place over an area where the Iran-backed Houthis are active, although sources in Somalia told KAN that a group in the de-facto state Somaliland, which recently signed an agreement with Ethiopia, is responsible for the attempted attack. Crew noticed the attack and thwarted it During the incident, instructions were given to the crew that were different from their set route, raising concerns that someone was trying to damage the plane or lead it to dangerous areas, maybe even to conduct a kidnapping. El Al Israel Airlines planes are seen on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel March 10, 2020. (credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)Enlrage image El Al Israel Airlines planes are seen on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel March 10, 2020. (credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun) The crew disobeyed the instructions and quickly switched to alternative means of communication while also checking the data against other air traffic controllers and realizing that they were being misled. El Al: The disruption did not affect the normal course of the flight A source in El Al told Walla that "in Somalia, there have been communication interruptions all week, not only for El Al planes, and the official authorities have issued instructions to all pilots that as soon as this happens with a certain frequency, not to listen to the instructions and to switch to another communication method." The source told Walla that the hostile elements contacted El Al pilots twice: Once on the flight between Phuket and Ben-Gurion and once on a flight to Bangkok. "Our pilots are instructed on how to deal with this incident, such as the problematic frequency, and how to handle the flight professionally when it happens," explained the source. A statement at El Al stressed that "the disturbances are not aimed at El Al planes and that this is not a security incident. The disruption did not affect the normal course of the flight thanks to the professionalism of the pilots who used the alternative means of communication and allowed the flight to continue on the planned route." https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-787572 A passenger on a flight from Thailand to London was arrested after appearing to punch an attendant in the face A passenger on a flight from Thailand to London was arrested after appearing to punch an attendant in the face A man was charged on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after appearing to punch a flight attendant. The incident took place on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to London Heathrow. London's Metropolitan Police said they met the aircraft upon landing. A man was arrested after appearing to punch an attendant on board a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to London Heathrow Airport on February 7. In a statement shared with Business Insider, London's Metropolitan Police said that the 35-year-old man was charged on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and endangering an aircraft. A video appearing to show the attack has been shared on social media. Police officers met the aircraft upon landing, the spokesperson said. Another passenger on the flight told the UK's Metro newspaper that the man started shouting while in the bathroom, then smashed its door so hard it came off the hinges. "An older guy — in the white t-shirt — tried to get him out. A fight broke out and he ended up smacking the flight attendant," she added. "I think he broke his nose." Passengers were told the flight might have to divert to Dubai if the man continued misbehaving, the Metro reported. The witness said two passengers sat on either side of the man and "kept pulling him down." "We had to put up with his shouting. He was being very verbally abusive," she added. UK police said that the man remains in custody and is due to appear in court on February 29. https://www.yahoo.com/news/passenger-flight-thailand-london-arrested-123945462.html 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) • SMU Air Law Symposium - March 21-22, 2024 ( Dallas, TX) • 2024 ACSF Safety Symposium – Air Charter Safety Foundation - April 1-3, 2024 • Blazetech - Aircraft Fire Hazards, Protection, and Investigation Course June 4 - 7, 2024 • Airborne Public Safety Association, Inc. (APSCON 2024) - July 29 - August 3; Houston TX • Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium - APATS 2024, 0-11 September, 2024, Singapore • 2024 ISASI - Lisbon, Portugal - September 30 to October 4, 2024 • 2024 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - Oct. 22-24 (Vegas) Curt Lewis