Flight Safety Information November 23, 2015 - No. 234 In This Issue FAA Task Force Recommends Requiring Registration for Most Drones Sick crew member interrupts search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Two aircraft passengers injured after nose gear collapses Turkish Airlines jet diverted to Halifax over bomb threat back in flight Southwest jet diverted over 'unruly' passengers Helicopter Crash Kills Hindu Pilgrims in Indian Kashmir Guyana, TSA Sign Cooperation Agreement on Aviation Security PROS 2015 TRAINING Airlines Charge Differently For On-Board Wi-Fi Mitsubishi First-Ever Passenger Jet Completes First Flight SpaceX wins NASA deal to fly astronauts to space station Graduate Research Survey Research Survey Upcoming Events JOBS AVAILABLE (New Positions) FAA Task Force Recommends Requiring Registration for Most Drones By Alan Levin Owners of all but the smallest toy drones will have to register them with the U.S. government before the end of the year if the Obama administration adopts proposals issued by a task force it appointed. Registration - designed to make it easier for authorities to track down the growing numbers of illegal flights - should be free, easy to complete online and permit multiple devices on an owner's filing, the task force is proposing, according to three people familiar with its recommendations who weren't authorized to speak about it. The recommendations were delivered Saturday, Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta said in a press release. "We will work quickly and flexibly to move toward the next steps for registration," he said in the statement. Now comes the hard part: The FAA must find a way to adapt the recommendations to existing laws that never contemplated widespread pilotless flights. And it will have to persuade skeptics that the public will comply with the law - all in time to begin registration before the Christmas holiday sales rush. "We have a very large number of unregistered drones out there and a very unsophisticated number of operators who have no idea what the FAA requirements are - or even what the FAA does," said Kenneth Quinn, the former chief counsel at the agency who advises drone companies as a lawyer at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Washington. "To expect widespread compliance anytime soon is highly unrealistic." Safety Incidents Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called for drone registration last month to help stem growing cases of drones flying near airliners and other aircraft. The FAA has been receiving more than 100 reports a month of pilot sightings and other drone safety incidents. Foxx and the FAA appointed the task force of 26 people representing drone manufacturers, retailers and aviation to recommend how registration would work. The FAA hopes to put rules in place before the end of the year, but may accept public input and alter the regulations later on, Huerta said Friday in a blog post. 250 Grams The task force members, some of whom are still uneasy about elements of the compromise, agreed to include anything weighing more than 250 grams (9 ounces) in the registration program, according to the people who asked not to be named. That's less than one-quarter the weight of the Phantom 3, a model produced by SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd., the China-based company that is the world's largest drone manufacturer. At the same time, the task force will recommend that online registration be as streamlined as possible. A drone owner should be able to register once for free and have it apply to multiple vehicles. While those elements were viewed as critical to ensure that consumers would participate in registration, some of the proposals may run afoul of existing U.S. law. The FAA believes that the law requires the agency to charge $5 to register an aircraft and there may be no way to exempt drone owners from the fee, according to one of the people familiar with the task force's debate. Daunting Challenge Another daunting challenge is how the FAA will apply the complex set of existing aircraft registration rules, which govern everything from how to apply a plane's identification number to the paper forms that must be used. "If they can go mandate registration and marking, they still have the problem of having to go and change all the regulations down-line," Terry Miller, owner and president of Transport Risk Management Inc., a Colorado aviation insurance company that has written thousands of policies on drones as well as traditional aircraft. U.S. law requires that an aircraft owner attach a metal plaque to a plane so it can be identified after an accident, Miller said. Such plaques are impractical for light-weight drones, he said. The law also specifies that an application to register an aircraft be made on a paper form, not in the streamlined online application envisioned by the task force. Existing Rules Instead of writing a new set of regulations for drone registration, the FAA is using the existing rules on the books governing all aircraft, the agency said in an explanation of the action on Oct. 22. If it relies on existing regulations, the agency may have to use its emergency powers to carve out exemptions for registering drones. That process has made some participants uneasy as the agency attempts to apply its rules to this new class of flying devices. "The FAA is going to have to explain to the public why it chooses to apply certain of the federal aviation regulations to model aircraft and not others," said E. Tazewell Ellett, another former FAA chief counsel who is co-chair of Hogan Lovells' drone practice. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2015/11/22/389711.htm Back to Top Sick crew member interrupts search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been interrupted for a second time this month after a crew member on board a search vessel fell ill, officials say. One vessel is continuing the search. (more) The Australian-led Joint Agency Coordination Center (JACC) said in a statement on Monday that a crew member on board the survey vessel Fugro Discovery was suffering from severe pain. As a result, the vessel's search operations were abandoned and the ship is now returning to port. "The vessel recovered the towfish on Saturday and is currently en route to Fremantle [in Western Australia]," the center said in an emailed statement. "The journey will take around six days." The full-time doctor on board the Fugro Discovery is attending to the crew member and is in consultation with doctors onshore. Details about the nature of the crew member's illness were not immediately disclosed. "As we have continued to emphasize, the safety and well-being of the crew is of the highest priority," JACC added. The second search vessel, the Fugro Equator, remains in the area to continue its part of the search. The medical emergency comes just weeks after another crew member on board the Fugro Discovery fell ill and was diagnosed with appendicitis, forcing the ship to abandon its search operations. That happened when the second search vessel was away for a resupply visit, putting the search for MH370 on hold for 10 days. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, was operating a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared from civilian radar in the early morning of March 8, 2014. Investigators believe that the aircraft continued to fly for nearly seven more hours before crashing in the southern Indian Ocean west of Perth. Wreckage from the aircraft washed up on Reunion Island earlier this year, which authorities said would be expected from a crash west of Perth. http://bnonews.com/news/index.php/news/id2710 Back to Top Two aircraft passengers injured after nose gear collapses ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) - Two passengers of a Beechcraft airplane were taken to St Peter's hospital after the plane's nose gear collapsed after it landed on Sunday. The plane was landing at Albany International after flying in from Islip Long Island. The couple injured on the plane is from Long Island and they were the only two on the plane. Authorities have not released their identities or the extent of their injuries. Authorities said the plane was badly damaged and there was also some minor damage to the pavement of the airport. http://news10.com/2015/11/22/two-aircraft-passengers-injured-after-nose-gear-collapses Back to Top Turkish Airlines jet diverted to Halifax over bomb threat back in flight The jet, originally from New York City, has resumed its flight to Istanbul after RCMP found no explosive device on the aircraft. A Turkish Airlines passenger jet resumed its flight to Istanbul from New York after a bomb scare late last night forced it to be diverted to Halifax. HALIFAX-A Turkish Airlines passenger jet that was diverted to Canada after a bomb threat departed for Istanbul on Sunday morning. Halifax Stanfield International Airport confirmed the departure on its Twitter feed. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the bomb threat was received at 10:50 p.m. local time Saturday. Flight tracking sites show the Istanbul-bound flight had already taken off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport by then. Turkish Airlines Flight 2, with 256 people aboard, landed safely just after midnight local time at the airport in Halifax. The RCMP said bomb-sniffing police dogs were brought in to search the plane and passengers' luggage, and no explosive device was found. The RCMP said it would not comment on the details of the threat and was looking to identify the person or persons responsible. A Turkish Airline jet takes off from Ataturk Airport in Istanbul in 2013. The airline diverted a flight to Halifax over a bomb scare late Saturday night. Police said bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to search the plane, but wouldn't comment further on the nature of the threat. A Turkish Airline jet takes off from Ataturk Airport in Istanbul in 2013. The airline diverted a flight to Halifax over a bomb scare late Saturday night. Police said bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to search the plane, but wouldn't comment further on the nature of the threat. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Sunday that Canadians need to be vigilant in the face of such security threats. "We need to trust in our security forces, from the police all the way to the military, and trust in our system to be able to manage the level of threats, as we're doing that on a daily basis," Sajjan said in Halifax at the conclusion of a three-day international security conference. Last Tuesday night, an Air France flight from Dulles International Airport outside Washington was diverted to Halifax after an anonymous bomb threat was phoned in after the plane had taken off. A second Air France flight from Los Angeles International Airport was diverted that same night to Salt Lake City, Utah, due to anonymous threats. Both flights continued on to Paris after being searched. The threats came after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed at least 130 people and heightened security concerns worldwide. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/11/22/turkish-airlines-jet-diverted-to-halifax-over-bomb- scare.html Back to Top Southwest jet diverted over 'unruly' passengers A Southwest Airlines flight from Indianapolis to Los Angeles was diverted to Kansas City on Sunday morning because of suspicious behavior by some passengers, according to Kansas City airport officials. "We are characterizing (the behavior) as unruly," airport spokesman Joe McBride told CNN in a statement. Several passengers did not follow "crew instruction upon takeoff and continued to exhibit suspicious behavior inflight," according to Southwest Airlines. The passengers were taken off the plane and questioned by law enforcement, according to the FBI. All other passengers deplaned as police dogs searched the plane as a safety measure, McBride said. The passengers reboarded and Flight 5929 continued to Los Angeles. After questioning, the three "unruly" passengers were rebooked on a later flight. Their nationality has not been released. http://wtvr.com/2015/11/22/southwest-jet-diverted-over-unruly-passengers/ Back to Top Helicopter Crash Kills Hindu Pilgrims in Indian Kashmir A helicopter flying pilgrims from a mountain temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess crashed Monday, killing seven people in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. Police officer Sameer Kotwal said the helicopter caught fire as it hit the ground near its landing site in Katra town. Rescuers recovered the bodies of the six pilgrims and the pilot, Kotwal said. The cause of the accident is being investigated. The helicopter belonged to a company that operates flights to Vaishno Devi temple, which is in a cave in the Himalayas at a height of 5,300 feet (1,600 meters). The helicopter trip is popular with pilgrims who find it difficult to trek to the temple. The area is 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Jammu, the winter capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state. Every year, more than 10 million people visit the temple, which is dedicated to goddess Mahalakshmi. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/helicopter-crash-kills-hindu-pilgrims-indian-kashmir- 35367001 Back to Top Guyana, TSA Sign Cooperation Agreement on Aviation Security The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority has secured an agreement with the United States of America Transportation Security Administration to engage in cooperation on civil aviation issues. The agreement's terms include the development and modernization of the civil aviation security infrastructure of Guyana in managerial, operational, and technical areas. Guyana Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson and US Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway, signed the Memorandum of Understanding this week. Patterson said Guyana's government sees aviation as a catalyst for the island's economic and social growth, and that to this end, the partnership between the two countries is essential for the sector, especially as a means of promoting connectivity between US destinations and Guyana. Holloway said that the agreement enhances the security capacity for passengers, employees, and other stakeholders involved in the airport transportation industry in Guyana and the US. In addition to the provision of technical and managerial expertise to assist the GCAA, the agreement also provides for training of GCAA personnel in the US or in Guyana and for the provision of resources, logistical support, and equipment for facilities. Patterson asked the TSA to include Ogle International Airport in their assessment on their next visit, in addition to Cheddi Jagan International Airport, with which the organization has already begun to work. "I believe we have to have a holistic approach to the security and safety oversight of our aviation sector," Patterson said. He added that he has advocated for technical assistance from the USA-TSA since meeting with the US Charge d'Affaires Bryan Hunt in June, after the TSA expressed concerns with the pace at which the GCAA was handling aviation security matters. According to Holloway, only after the TSA conducts its next assessment of airport security in January 2016 will it be able to determine what further financial support is needed. Holloway also spoke to the commitment of the US to continuing to work with Guyana's government as a "friend and partner" on issues of civil aviation security as well as other critical areas. http://caribjournal.com/2015/11/22/guyana-tsa-sign-cooperation-agreement-on-aviation-security/# Back to Top Back to Top Airlines Charge Differently For On-Board Wi-Fi Southwest has Wi-Fi service for only $8 per day and also offers a cheaper messaging service to download on your smart phone. If you'll be doing any air travel this holiday season, you may have built in Wi-Fi on your flight... For a price. American Airlines has internet access available on almost all of it's domestic flights, but charges $16 for one-day use. $50 for a one month pass. Southwest has Wi-Fi service for only $8 per day and also offers a cheaper messaging service to download on your smart phone. Road Warrior website says United Airline's Wi-Fi service is the most confusing and charges vary depending on which service provides access. Jet Blue offers free Wi-Fi on it's planes and plans to have Wi-Fi services on all of it's plans by fall 2016. http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Airlines--352962191.html Back to Top Mitsubishi First-Ever Passenger Jet Completes First Flight Earlier this month, Japan's Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), the country's first foray into commercial aviation in more than 50 years, completed its first flight. After years of delays, the MRJ completed a 1.5-hour flight from Nagoya Airport to officially start the test program for Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation's 100-seat regional jet. "The MRJ successfully took to the sky today thanks to ongoing cooperation and support from all members involved," said Hiromichi Morimoto, President, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. "We will make our utmost efforts towards type certificate acquisition, committing all our resources to develop and produce the finest regional jet aircraft to enter commercial service in 2017." According to a November 11 press release from Mitsubishi, the flight confirmed the jet's basic characteristics and functionality in ascent, descent and turning. According to Mitsubishi, the overall structure of the plane held up well. "Operational performance of the MRJ was far better than expected. We had a significantly comfortable flight," said Pilot Yasumura, the captain of the flight. Composites comprise roughly 10-15 percent of the jet, mainly around the tail. According to Mitsubishi, the carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) made with dry fabric and a resin transfer molding (RTM) process. From a business standpoint, Japan's entry into the large passenger jet market now means having to compete with Airbus and Boeing, both of whom rely on composites to comprise a significant percentage of their aircraft. According to a recent Op-Ed in the Japan Times, the current small size of the nation's aviation industry means that there is great room for growth. Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. must carry out more test flights and then pass the transport ministry's certification process before the first delivery of the aircraft can take place in April-June 2017. http://compositesmanufacturingmagazine.com/2015/11/mitsubishi-first-ever-passenger-jet-completes- first-flight/ Back to Top SpaceX wins NASA deal to fly astronauts to space station NASA's newest announcement formalizes the deal, in which SpaceX will load its Crew Dragon ship with crew before sending it into space. [Satnews] NASA took a significant step last Friday toward expanding research opportunities aboard the worldwide Space Station with the agency's first mission order from Hawthorne, California, based-company SpaceX to launch astronauts from US soil. According to NASA, the SpaceX and Boeing missions will be cheaper than paying the Russian Federal Space Agency to transport American astronauts to the worldwide Space Station. "It's really exciting to see SpaceX and Boeing with hardware in flow for their first crew rotation missions", said Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX has fought for years to break the joint venture's monopoly on launching Pentagon satellites, culminating in a lawsuit settled earlier this year, the newspaper said. Since the NASA space shuttle program stopped in 2011, there has been no other way except the Russians to get any nation's astronauts to the ISS. Musk also said his company had investigated the June 28 accident that destroyed a rocket and its payload and determined that a metal strut had failed, setting off a series of events that led to the explosion. She also added that it's important to have USA companies with healthy and robust capabilities to deliver astronauts and scientific experiments from Earth to the low-orbit space station. Both are still looking to be the first to launch a mission. SpaceX anticipates using the launch pad for its Crew Dragon spacecraft for missions to the worldwide Space Station in partnership with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX's crew transportation system, including the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, has advanced through several development and certification phases. Orders under the CCtCap contracts are made two to three years prior to actual mission dates in order to provide time for each company to manufacture and assemble the launch vehicle and spacecraft. The spacecraft is expected to stay at the ISS for up to 210 days to function as an option for emergency situations. SpaceX will carry out the mission with its Crew Dragon spacecraft. Shotwell says in 2017, NASA astronauts "will be riding one of the safest and most reliable spacecraft" they ever flown. However, there is still every chance of delaying the missions as planned; NASA administrator Charles Bolden had been vocal about the program's underfunding. http://rapidnewsnetwork.com/spacex-wins-nasa-deal-to-fly-astronauts-to-space-station/304206/ Back to Top Graduate Research Survey Dear Colleagues, I am a mature part time student at City University in London, in the final stages of completing my (self funded) Masters Degree in 'Air Safety Management'. As a part of my degree I have chosen to undertake a study on the constructs surrounding the current approach to 'Airworthiness and Safety orientated Expositions (AOC and Continuing Airworthiness), Repair Station Manuals, Processes, Procedures and Forms we all have to use, and show compliance with, in our day to day working lives. I appreciate that you will more than likely have been asked to take part in such surveys previously, and, as a consequence, are probably a little ambivalent to completing this one. However, my plan is to under take one-to-one' interviews with Business Leaders, consider ideas derived from the theories of and discussions with academics and, finally, my own forty plus years experience in the industry to establish if there is a case for the rationalisation and definition of a symbiotic relationship between commercial 'Business Management Systems' and 'Safety / Regulatory Governance'. Ultimately to see if there is a common Business Management System framework that can support both Safety and Commercial related needs without the need for multiple, oftentimes contradictory, documents. Something we all should find useful. If you would like to find out more about me, or have a particular interest in the subject and would like to discuss the matter further, please look for me on LinkedIn. Thanks Peter Gidlow https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PGidlow-MScSurvey1 Back to Top Research Survey Dear Aviation Colleagues, ***Survey Link https://purdue.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8nOzSNWYbDGqIsJ ***(copy directly into web browser if link does not work).*** My name is Tyler Spence. I am a PhD student at Purdue University working with Dr. Mary Johnson in the Purdue School of Aviation and Transportation Technology. In the survey that follows, we are seeking input on flight data analysis that may be derived from aircraft with flight data monitoring capabilities like the Garmin G1000, Avidyne Entegra, or Aspen Evolution 1000. We are seeking your input on how we can use metrics, methods, and prototype graphs to improve safety from GA pilots' perspectives. This effort is a part of an FAA-sponsored research project that is exploring ways to improve General Aviation safety performance using flight data. More specifically, our goal is to develop innovative techniques to analyze and present flight data in ways that are useful and meaningful to GA pilots and operators. We are seeking feedback from anyone who uses the GA system including pilots, maintenance personnel, flight instructors, pilot examiners, aircraft owners (individual or fleet), flight data analysts, and administrators. The survey comprises two main sections: 1) Opinions of flight data monitoring and the use of a national database. This part of the survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. 2) Potential flight analysis graphs and figures that could be included in the application tool. This part of the survey should take about 30 minutes to complete. You are free to not answer any questions, and stop participation in the survey at any time. No personally identifiable information will be collected. All answers reported in analysis will only be in aggregate without any connection to you on any response you may provide. Thank you very much for your participation on this survey. Your responses are greatly appreciated and will hopefully help the aviation industry improve the GA safety record. If you have any questions regarding this survey or the information contained within, please feel free to contact the researchers directly at either spence5@purdue.edu or mejohnson@purdue.edu. Back to Top Upcoming Events: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Seminar (ERAU) Dec. 8-10, 2015 Daytona Beach, FL www.erau.edu/uas Gulf Flight Safety Council(GFSC) - Safety Summit December 9-10, 2016 Dubai, UAE www.gfsc.aero New HFACS workshop Las Vegas December 15 & 16 www.hfacs.com 2016 DTI SMS/QA Symposium January 3, 4, & 5 2016 Disney World, FL 1-866-870-5490 www.dtiatlanta.com 6th European Business Aviation Safety Conference 2016 February 23-24, 2016 Frankfurt, Germany www.ebascon.eu 2016 Air Charter Safety Symposium | Safety: A Small Investment for a Rich Future March 8-9, 2016 | NTSB Training Center | Ashburn, VA http://www.acsf.aero/events/acsf-symposium/ CHC Safety & Quality Summit | Back to Basics: Prioritizing Safety in a Challenging Economy April 4-6, 2016 Vancouver, BC www.chcsafetyqualitysummit.com BARS Auditor Training Washington, DC Tuesday-Thursday 5-7 April http://flightsafety.org/bars/auditor-training Back to Top JOBS AVAILABLE: Position Available: Airline Safety Manager - Investigation (Engineering) Cathay Pacific https://career10.successfactors.com/career?_s.crb=Q%252ffWkAOt5SsrsXlBnG3GK%252bmGYsU%253d Auditors Needed Wyvern Consulting, Ltd James.nicoletti@wyvernltd.com Curt Lewis