Flight Safety Information January 19, 2015 - No. 013 In This Issue Indonesia says no evidence so far of terrorism in AirAsia crash Runway Incursion Forces Jet to Abort Takeoff Bombardier Global 5000 Runway Excursion (Philippines) Hawaiian Airlines flight from Oakland diverted to San Jose PROS 2015 TRAINING Future passenger aircraft will fly in formation 'like flocks of birds' at hypersonic speeds Research Survey Request Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar - Washington, D.C. Upcoming Events Indonesia says no evidence so far of terrorism in AirAsia crash A rescue team member walks near part of the fuselage of crashed AirAsia Flight QZ8501 inside a storage facility at Kumai port in Pangkalan Bun, January 19, 2015. REUTERS/Beawiharta (Reuters) - Indonesian investigators said on Monday they had found no evidence so far that terrorism played a part in the crash of an AirAsia passenger jet last month that killed all 162 people on board. Andreas Hananto told Reuters that his team of 10 investigators at the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) had found "no threats" in the cockpit voice recordings to indicate foul play during AirAsia Flight QZ8501. The Airbus A320-200 vanished from radar screens on Dec. 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors. When asked if there was any evidence from the recording that terrorism was involved, Hananto said: "No. Because if there were terrorism, there would have been a threat of some kind." "In that critical situation, the recording indicates that the pilot was busy with the handling of the plane." Investigators said they had listened to the whole of the recording but transcribed only about half. "We didn't hear any voice of other persons other than the pilots," said Nurcahyo Utomo, another investigator. "We didn't hear any sounds of gunfire or explosions. For the time being, based on that, we can eliminate the possibility of terrorism." EXPLOSION ALSO "UNLIKELY" Utomo said that investigators could hear "almost everything" on the recording contained in one of the flight's two "black boxes". The other is the flight data recorder, and both have been recovered from the wreckage at the bottom of the Java Sea. He declined to give details about what was said during the doomed flight's final moments, citing Indonesian law. Indonesian authorities have said that bad weather was likely to have played a part in the disaster. According to Hananto, evidence also showed that an explosion was unlikely before the plane crashed, disputing a theory suggested by an official from the National Search and Rescue Agency last week. "From the (flight data recordings) so far, it's unlikely there was an explosion," Hananto said. "If there was, we would definitely know because certain parameters would show it. There are something like 1,200 parameters." The final minutes of the AirAsia flight were full of "sounds of machines and sounds of warnings" that must be filtered out to get a complete transcript of what was said in the cockpit, said Hananto, who has been an air safety investigator since 2009. The first half of the two-hour long cockpit voice recording has been transcribed. That includes audio from the previous flight and the beginning of Flight QZ8501, which crashed around 40 minutes after takeoff. The team, which is working with French, Singaporean and Chinese air safety investigators, hopes to finish transcribing the recording this week, Hananto said. With seven computers and various audio equipment, the small NTSC laboratory dedicated to the AirAsia investigation is split into two rooms; one for the cockpit voice recorder and the other for the flight data recorder. Analysis of the flight data recorder would take longer, Hananto said, because investigators were examining all 72 previous flights flown by the aircraft. Investigators hope to finish a preliminary report on the crash early next week. The full report could take up to a year, but will not include the entire cockpit voice transcript. "In Indonesia it remains undisclosed," said Tatang Kurniadi, chief of the NTSC. "Just some important highlights will be included in the report." http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/19/us-indonesia-airplane-investigation- idUSKBN0KS0S220150119 Back to Top Runway Incursion Forces Jet to Abort Takeoff NEW YORK - JetBlue says one of its planes aborted a takeoff at Kennedy International Airport when another aircraft suddenly crossed the runway. JetBlue spokesman Rick Clark says Flight 1295 to Austin, Texas, was cleared for takeoff on Saturday evening and rolling down the tarmac at full speed when the pilot was forced to put on the brakes. Clark says there were no injuries. The JetBlue plane returned to the gate and took off for Austin three hours late. Clark says he doesn't know exactly how close the two planes were. JetBlue officials say Caribbean Airways Flight 526 crossed the runway without authorization. No one was immediately available for comment at Caribbean Airways. The Federal Aviation Authority did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jetblue-flight-forced-abort-takeoff-kennedy- airport-28309396 Back to Top Bombardier Global 5000 Runway Excursion (Philippines) Status: Preliminary Date: Saturday 17 January 2015 Time: ca 13:45 Type: Bombardier BD-700-1A11 Global 5000 Operator: Challenger Aero Corporation Metro Manila Registration: RP-C9363 C/n / msn: 9363 First flight: 2009 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 12 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 15 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Tacloban Airport (TAC) ( Philippines) Phase: Takeoff (TOF) Nature: Executive Departure airport: Tacloban Airport (TAC/RPVA), Philippines Destination airport: ? Narrative: A Bombardier Global 5000 corporate jet, registration RP-C9363, sustained substantial damage in a runway excursion accident at Tacloban Airport (TAC), Philippines. The fifteen occupants of the plane were not injured. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. were on board the private jet that departed following the visit of Pope Francis to Tacloban. The airplane suffered a runway excursion during takeoff for as of yet undetermined reasons. It ran onto wet grassy terrain where the left hand main gear and nose landing gear collapsed. Weather was poor at the time of the accident due to Tropical Storm Amang (Mekkhala). Tacloban has a single runway 18/36, 2138 m x 45 m. www.aviation-safety.net Back to Top Hawaiian Airlines flight from Oakland diverted to San Jose SAN JOSE -- A Hawaiian Airlines flight was diverted to San Jose after leaving Oakland on Sunday morning when a crack developed in the windshield, according to Hawaiian Airlines' Huy Vo. Flight 47, which was scheduled to depart Oakland at 9:30 a.m., was rerouted due to the crack, Vo said. San Jose Mineta International Airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said the Boeing 767 landed safely around 11:30 a.m. and passengers were taken off the plane. On Sunday afternoon the airline worked to get travelers onto another flight bound for Honolulu, Vo said. There was no further information about what caused the crack to develop or how serious the damage was. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_27346055/san-jose-crack-windshield- diverts-hawaii-bound-flight Back to Top Back to Top Future passenger aircraft will fly in formation 'like flocks of birds' at hypersonic speeds High-frequency routes would allow aircraft to benefit from flying in formation like birds during cruise Scientific advancements in air travel outlined by the chief executive of National Air Traffic Services, Richard Deakin, has revealed the shape of things to come for airline passengers. Deakin predicted that in the future airlines could fly their aircraft in formation like flocks of birds. Speaking at a Royal Academy of Engineering lecture, Deakins suggested this could happen within 30 years and would reduce drag and be more fuel-efficient, according to a Sunday Times report. "It won't take the wing-tip precision of the Red Arrows or Blue Angels, either. A safe flight separation of about 20 wingspans - far less than the four nautical miles that separates civil aircraft today but still over one nautical mile - is sufficient to reap the benefits," said an Airbus spokesman. "In a V formation of 25 birds, each can achieve a reduction of induced drag by up to 65% and increase their range by 7%. While efficiencies for commercial aircraft are not as great, they remain significant." Hypersonic travel and traffic control prioritisation Hypersonic air travel, with aircraft flying faster than 2,840mph could be possible within 50 years, allowing passengers to fly from London to Sydney and back within a day at a cruising altitude of 100,000 ft. Under "four-dimensional" flight management, controllers would be able to predict exactly where planes will be every moment of their flight. It's expected that by 2018, a network of 66 satellites will allow airliners to be tracked across the north Atlantic for the first time. If aircraft are flying on very specific flight paths, Deakin argued that air traffic control towers may no longer be required. "Why not have a virtual tower in a regional centre where the controller can see and control everything with remote technology, sensors and infrared cameras?" Deakin asked. There could also be a 'gold card' to allow frequent flyers and priority airlines land first. Airliners carrying high numbers of business or first-class passengers could in future be given priority by air traffic controllers, allowing them to jump the queue and land more quickly, according to Deakin. Plans to transform the way controllers manage the skies could allow them to prioritise specific flights at the request of airlines, including "premium services" with "high-value customers" on board. The controllers who are in charge of 6,000 flights in UK airspace daily, could also give permission to aircraft with a large number of passengers who are connecting to other flights to jump the queue of jets waiting to land or take off at a busy airport. Aviation experts say such a move would end the traditional "first come, first served" approach to air traffic control. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/future-aircraft-will-fly-formation-like-flocks-birds-hypersonic- speeds-1483961 Back to Top Research Survey Request Limited Job Task Analysis Validation Survey The Center for Aviation Safety Research at Saint Louis University (USA) invites active and recently retired pilots, check airmen and instructors to validate a Limited Job Task Analysis for professional pilots. This task analysis focuses on a select set of phases of flight and seeks your opinion regarding the criticality of the underpinning knowledge requirements. This task analysis was developed with the help of an international panel of subject matter experts and practicing professional pilots. We are requesting you to kindly take this 45-minute online survey (https://slu.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0GuI969wyJB4snP ) to validate our draft of the task analysis. Please note that we need to have all survey responses by January 15, 2015. And, if you have friends who are qualified to support this research, we respectfully ask that you forward this invitation to them, as well. If you have any trouble accessing the survey, please feel free to contact Dr. Manoj Patankar, Executive Director of the Center for Aviation Safety, at patankar@slu.edu or 314-977-8725. Back to Top Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship The Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship was established by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to shape the next generation of researchers in aviation weather, honoring the late Najeeb Elias Halaby, an eminent aviator and administrator, for his vision and more than five decades of extraordinary contributions to aviation (http://www.ral.ucar.edu/halabyfellowship.pdf). The Fellowship The recipient of a Najeeb E. Halaby Graduate Student Fellowship will spend three months (in 2015 or early 2016) in residence with NCAR's Aviation Weather Research Program, which Mr. Halaby was instrumental in establishing in the 1980s. As the nation's leader in addressing aviation weather research, NCAR plays a unique role in meeting user needs by transferring research results to operations through its Research Application Laboratory (http://www.ral.ucar.edu/). The Fellow will conduct research broadly aimed at improving the integration of weather into decision support tools for improved weather avoidance and air traffic management. The Fellowship will provide: * a monthly stipend for three months, including temporary living expenses * round-trip travel expenses to and from Boulder, CO * travel to a conference to present results * page charges for one publication of key results Eligibility and Application The Halaby Fellowship targets graduate students (late Masters or early PhD level) enrolled in an aviation-relevant department or program of a domestic or international university. Interested candidates should have advanced research skills, far-reaching vision, and dedication to get things accomplished. Consideration for this Fellowship will be given to candidates based on the following submitted material: * Curriculum vitae * Proposal (maximum five pages) presenting the research to be conducted at NCAR, the anticipated outcome of that, and how the proposed effort ties into the candidate's ongoing graduate research project(s) * Contact information for three references (one of which should be the student's primary advisor) NCAR will accept applications for the Halaby Fellowship each year. Email Applications by February 28, 2015 to halabyfellowship@ucar.edu Back to Top ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar - Washington, D.C. "The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide Office of Professional Education is pleased to announce a two-day seminar entitled NextGen 101. The course is designed to identify the key concepts, attributes, and challenges of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Government and industry employees with an interest in NextGen, aviation stakeholders and members of the military transitioning to a career in civilian education should attend. The course will take place in Washington D.C. on April 21-22, 2015. Course fee is $750 per person or $675 per person with five or more people registering from the same group. For more information and to register, please visit us online at http://proed.erau.edu/programs/specialized-industry-training/nextgen-101- seminar/index.html" Back to Top Upcoming Events: Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) NTSB Training Center, Ashburn, VA March 10-11, 2015 www.acsf.aero/symposium ERAU NextGen 101 Seminar April 21-22, 2015. Washington D.C. http://proed.erau.edu/programs/specialized-industry-training/nextgen-101- seminar/index.html FAA Helicopter Safety Effort three-day safety forum April 21-23, 2015 Hurst, Texas eugene.trainor@faa.gov www.faahelisafety.org Curt Lewis