Flight Safety Information December 9, 2015 - No. 246 In This Issue Incident: Delta A320 at Minneapolis on Dec 6th 2015, engine shut down in flight Pilot errors preceded US Airways flight 1702 crash: NTSB Report Exclusive: MH370 Was Crippled by Sudden Electrical Failure Records show doomed Akron jet consistently got routine maintenance and repairs Thai Aviation Officials Confident Thai Airlines Will Survive EU Audit (Thailand) Lawmakers question safety of foreign airports after Metrojet attack Canada Developing Child-safety Measures for Aircraft Aviation experts debate pilot exams after Germanwings crash UK CAA Unveils Performance-Based Regulation Maturity Assessment Tool. Egypt hosts General Assembly of the 25th African Civil Aviation Commission Chinese man dragged off New York bound flight after tantrum is an assistant professor at Penn State PROS 2015 TRAINING China Airlines named 'Best Airline in North Asia' FAA approval near, Honda's business jet about to hit market Are these your jumbo jets? Malaysian airport takes out newspaper ad to find owners Has China created the satellite of the future? US Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Wings Past 200 Days in Orbit Nasa wants to 'move out' of the International Space Station Engineering program unveils first turbo jet engine created by USM students Research Survey Upcoming Events Incident: Delta A320 at Minneapolis on Dec 6th 2015, engine shut down in flight A Delta Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration N327NW performing flight DL-947 from Tampa,FL to Minneapolis,MN (USA), was descending towards Minneapolis when the crew needed to shut the left hand engine (CFM56) down. The crew continued for a safe landing on runway 30L about 20 minutes later and vacated the runway. The crew requested emergency services to check out the left hand engine before the aircraft was towed to the apron. A passenger reported the captain had announced they had started their descent into Minneapolis about 5 minutes before there was a loud bang followed by severe vibrations for about 20 seconds. About 5 minutes after that bang the captain announced that the loud bang had been the left hand engine failing, the engine had been shut down. The aircraft vacated the runway and stopped, emergency services checked the left hand engine, about 20 minutes later the aircraft was towed to the apron. The passenger wrote: "I must mention that the Delta personnel were incredibly professional in handling the situation. The flight attendants were cool, calm and collected and continued to perform their landing duties as if nothing had happened. The captain kept us informed and made a beautiful landing. I was duly impressed with their professional and competent work." http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL947/history/20151206/1900Z/KTPA/KMSP ************* As reported by a Passenger (FSI Subscriber) on-board: "Delta Flight 947 from TPA to MSP (Airbus 320) experienced what seemed to be a contained Left engine failure five to ten minutes after top of descent this past Sunday afternoon, Dec 6th. Engine was promptly shut down and no visible fire ensued. The upper surface of the engine cowling looked normal and fully intact. Flight crew made a nice single-engine IMC approach into MSP. The engine failure occurred about 20 minutes prior to touchdown at MSP. I am a GA pilot and was a passenger sitting just above the Left engine and at the window. Some passengers reported seeing a "fireball" just aft of the L engine after a loud explosive noise was heard that vibrated the entire airframe. Thought you might be interested in learning more about the event and how nicely the flight crew handled the situation. I shook the Captain's hand after landing and congratulated him on an excellent single-engine IMC approach and landing. He replied, "Yes, I guess all my Air Force training has paid off." The aircraft was greeted at MSP by the usual Fire and Rescue equipment, but no smoke or fire was ever apparent and the fire equipment was not needed. The Airbus was towed to the gate for passenger de- boarding." Back to Top Pilot errors preceded US Airways flight 1702 crash: NTSB Report National Transportation Safety Board documents confirm that pilots of US Airways flight 1702 failed to enter required takeoff information into the aircraft's flight computer prior to a March 2014 crash in Philadelphia. The documents, released in recent weeks, also show that the carrier has since updated its pilot handbook to address issues highlighted by the safety regulator. The documents include only factual reports, and not a finding of probable cause, which will be included in the NTSB's final report. The pilots of the aircraft, an Airbus A320 registered N113UW, performed a high-speed rejected takeoff at about 18:30 local time, causing the nose gear to collapse. The aircraft skidded to a stop along the runway, and passengers exited via emergency slides, notes the NTSB. None of the 149 passengers or five crew sustained injuries, according to the NTSB. However, at least one passenger filed a suit against the carrier seeking damages for a shoulder injury. Documents trace the accident to the pilots' failure to enter correct takeoff information into the flight computer after they selected a new runway on the multi-purpose control and display unit (MCDU). American Airlines, which merged with US Airways, did not immediately comment. According to the NTSB, prior to the flight the first officer manually entered Philadelphia's Runway 27R into the flight management computer, even though they intended to takeoff from Runway 27L. The captain, who had nearly 4,500h in Airbus narrowbodies, noticed the discrepancy while taxiing, and the first officer corrected it, according to the NTSB. That change prompts the pilots to re-enter takeoff performance data, like V-speeds and flex temperature, which the computer uses to calculate engine thrust. The pilots, however, did not enter the figures despite a message reading "CHECK TAKE OFF DATA", according to the NTSB. Without those figures, the computer also does not display V-speeds on the primary flight display, documents show. Now on the runway, the captain advanced the throttles to the flex thrust setting, and the aircraft accelerated. At about 80kt, a computer voice warned "Retard", and the aircraft's computer issued the message "ENG THR LEVERS NOT SET". "Thrust is not set," said the first officer. "The thrust is set," replied the captain, continuing the takeoff roll. When the aircraft was travelling at 120kt, the pilots noticed V-speeds were absent from the flight display, but the captain continued the takeoff roll and rotated around 160kt, say NTSB documents. A moment later the captain aborted the takeoff, and the aircraft "hit hard", the first officer told investigators. The captain rejected the takeoff because he "felt like the airplane was totally unsafe to fly", he told the NTSB. Flight 1703's rejected takeoff was one of several similar incidents experienced by US Airways in recent years, documents released by the NTSB show. "Recently we have experienced a number of unnecessary rejected takeoffs because a flex temperate was omitted in the MCDU," says a June 2013 memo to pilots from US Airways fleet captain John Hope. The memo reminds pilots they can continue a takeoff without flex temperature by advancing the throttles to takeoff or go-around power. Several weeks after the accident, Hope sent a similar message to pilots in which he reminds them to ensure the correct takeoff data is entered into the computer following a change in runway. In September 2014, the carrier updated its pilot handbook, noting that failure to enter flex temperate can result in "the possibility to erroneously receive the auto call-out 'RETARD' during takeoff". https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pilot-errors-preceded-us-airways-flight-1702-crash-419808/ *************** Status: Preliminary - official Date: Thursday 13 March 2014 Time: ca 18:30 Type: Airbus A320-214 Operator: US Airways Registration: N113UW C/n / msn: 1141 First flight: 1999-11-22 (14 years 4 months) Engines: 2 CFMI CFM56-5B4/P Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 149 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 154 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: Philadelphia International Airport, PA (PHL) ( United States of America) Phase: Takeoff (TOF) Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Philadelphia International Airport, PA (PHL/KPHL), United States of America Destination airport: Fort Lauderdale International Airport, FL (FLL/KFLL), United States of America Flightnumber: 1702 Narrative: A US Airways Airbus A320 was involved in a takeoff accident at Philadelphia International Airport, PA (PHL). Flight US1702 to Fort Lauderdale International Airport, FL (FLL) rotated from runway 27L. At about 20- 70 feet agl, the captain decided to abort the takeoff. He moved the throttle to the idle position and the airplane sank back. The tail struck the runway, followed by the main gear. The nose gear impacted last and collapsed. The aircraft slid 2,000 feet (610 m) along the runway, stopping on the runway's left edge. An emergency evacuation was carried out, injuring two passengers. Initial FAA reports state that the captain noted prior to takeoff that the wrong runway, 27R instead of 27L, had been entered in the multifunction control display (MFCD). This was corrected by the co-pilot, but she did not re-enter the take-off V-speeds or a "flex temperature" after correcting the runway. The flight computer depends on those values to calculate takeoff power. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20140313-0 Back to Top Exclusive: MH370 Was Crippled by Sudden Electrical Failure New data reveals a runaway power outage doomed the 777, supporting the theory a fire in the cargo hold turned the jet into a flying zombie. The pilots of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 were suddenly confronted by a cascading loss of electrical power in which many of the airplane's vital systems shut down, placing an urgent demand on the crew to understand and deal with the failures. Before this loss of power occurred the crew had been able to make regular contact with air traffic controllers and the airplane was able automatically to transmit its position. After it, no word was ever heard again from the pilots. Its two automatic reporting systems, the transponder continually sending the airplane's position and a separate system reporting the condition of its critical systems at half-hourly intervals both stopped working. This new revelation of a serious technical problem and its immediate affects is buried in the arcane detail of a lengthy report issued last week by the Australian Transport Bureau who are directing the search for the Boeing 777. It is the first official acknowledgement of what had previously been only speculation - that there was a sudden loss of electrical power capable of disabling vital systems. As well as portraying a sudden crisis of control in the cockpit, the report greatly undercuts theories that the pilots themselves went rogue-far from harming the airplane it is much more likely that they were struggling to save it in a situation that most pilots would find hard to master. The purpose of the report was to reinforce confidence that the undersea search for the airplane is being carried out in the right part of the Indian Ocean and has a high chance of success. Flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 12:42 a.m. (Malaysia time) of March 8, 2014, bound for Beijing. Normally that flight would take around five and a half hours. In fact, it ended seven hours and 38 minutes later somewhere over the southern Indian Ocean, creating the greatest mystery in the history of modern aviation. The last voice contact with the flight came 37 minutes after takeoff, with the captain signing off with the air traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur, saying "Good night. Malaysian three seven zero." The airplane was then on course heading out over the South China Sea. Two minutes later the blip indicating the airplane's position on the Kuala Lumpur controllers' radar screens disappeared - indicating that the transponder was no longer working. At around the same time (as revealed later by military radar that had picked up the flight) the airplane made a sharp left turn, taking it back over Malaysia toward the Strait of Malacca. The new report is not precise about when the airplane suffered its loss of electrical power: it places the blackout inside a 56-minute window between the final scheduled transmission from the system monitoring the airplane's critical functions, the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, ACARS, and an unsuccessful attempt by the airline's dispatchers to contact the crew. But that window can actually be narrowed: the power loss must have occurred in the time between the attempt from the ground to contact the airplane and the last normal contact between the controllers and the captain, some 44 minutes, and very likely it happened very rapidly after the captain signed off - when the transponder failed. However, whatever the extent of the power loss, the report makes clear that, remarkably, at least one system was able on its own to recover power and continue functioning. The total search area is as long as the distance between New York City and Charleston, North Carolina, and about as wide as the I-95 corridor. Twenty-one minutes after the airline's dispatchers tried to contact the flight the airplane was able to transmit a scheduled electronic "handshake" to a satellite. Tracking the flight path of the Malaysian jet has always rested on one slender thread of data that was detected by the London-based satellite operator Inmarsat. An Inmarsat ground station in Australia recorded seven electronic "handshakes" transmitted automatically from the 777 beginning with one before takeoff. From those brief and impersonal pulses and after many hours of calculations the searchers were directed to an area deep in the southern Indian Ocean, called the seventh arc, between latitudes 40 and 50 and more than 1,500 miles from the nearest land mass, southwestern Australia. The handshakes, more commonly called pings, were sent at hourly intervals. Amazingly, though, the system used to transmit the hourly pings, the Satellite Data Unit, SDU, was able to reboot itself within 60 seconds of the power failure and was able to send the subsequent hourly pings for the rest of the flight, while the ACARS remained silent, as did the transponder. What caused the power loss? The Australian report gives four possible causes: One, a sudden failure that caused the airplane's Auxiliary Power Unit, APU, to kick-in to restore emergency power. Two, an action carried out in the cockpit using overhead switches. Three, someone accessing the Main Equipment Center below the flight deck, pulling out circuit breakers and, later, resetting them. Four, intermittent technical failures. Clearly, these possibilities suggest a choice between actions that required deliberate human intervention (using the overhead switches in the cockpit or someone gaining access to the Main Equipment Center, pulling out the circuit breakers and then later resetting them) or the sudden onset of technical failures that the airplane's backup systems were able to restore, at least in part. In making this range of possibilities clear the report demonstrates that there is no data that could make a persuasive argument for either scenario. That can only be settled when - or if - the remains of the airplane are found and recovered. However this new information seriously undermines one of the most persistent conspiracy theories: that the pilots did it. First, the theory widely advanced in the early days of the disaster that as a first step to make the airplane "vanish" the pilots switched off the transponder. Nobody switched off anything at that moment - it now appears that a power interruption or failure could have disabled the transponder. (A transponder only works for ground tracking within radar range, otherwise its signals can be picked up only by other airplanes that are nearby.) Second, that one of the pilots left his seat, opened a hatch in the floor, went down into the Main Equipment Center, pulled out the circuit breakers and later reset them. I asked an expert on the 777 and its systems to comment. He said that the idea that a pilot went below to pull one or more circuit breakers was extremely unlikely, even bordering on the absurd. He added: "Few airline pilots would even know how to get down to the lower deck while in flight. "And even if they tried, few would be familiar with the locations of avionics components, or be able to find the relevant circuit breakers to pull. That kind of information is not even contained in the typical pilot training or operating manuals." He also explained that the pilots would most likely need to be following "non-normal" procedures to use the overhead switches that control electrical power generation as part of coping with failure messages flashing on their instrument displays. Indeed, rather than this being an attempt to harm the airplane, the expert said, the pilots could very well have been implementing "a well-defined non-normal procedure" to respond what was a "very complex failure" - and that those actions were exactly what the pilots should have done. However, he added, if it was a failure that went beyond anything anticipated in their training - "like a severe uncontained fire" - the crew may not have fully understood the severity of what was happening. "They would simply have no way of knowing." Simultaneously, he said, "they would have been trying to decide whether to divert and get on the ground as fast as possible." The captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, was very experienced, with more than 18,000 hours flying time and 8,659 flying 777s. Fariqu Abdul Hamid, the co=pilot, had only 2,800 flying time experience and - this could well have been significant in a crisis, only 39 hours on the 777, no more than a few flights. Most of the power to run all the 777's systems and avionics comes from generators attached to each of the two engines. It is distributed throughout the airplane through multiple connections, many with backup systems and controlled by computers. The main concentration of computers, including those controlling the airplane's communications systems, is in the Main Equipment Center. In a Daily Beast special report, I examined a scenario in which a fire in the forward cargo hold of the 777, originating in a consignment of lithium-ion batteries that were being shipped on the airplane, could have breached a wall and reached the Main Equipment Center, seriously degrading the airplane's avionics and leading to the incapacitation of the crew and passengers. However, the avionics for the Satellite Data Unit, sending the pings, was located not in the Main Equipment Center but well clear of it, in the roof of the cabin behind the wings, because that is where the antenna to access the satellite is best positioned. The picture in the Australian report of an airplane stricken by a sudden and extensive loss of electrical power, while in no way definitive, is entirely consistent with this scenario. Indeed, the report gives dramatic new clarity to the "zombie flight" version of events in which the airplane, by then fatally crippled, makes one final change of course and then flies into the vast emptiness of the southern Indian Ocean without any sign of human direction or control. There is also much more detail about the airplane's final moments in the air. The report's account draws on a scenario followed by Boeing in an engineering simulator (first reported by The Daily Beast) that shows Flight 370 cruising at a constant altitude of 35,000 feet for more than 5 hours at which point the airplane begins to run out of fuel. The assumption is made that once Flight 370 made a left turn over the Straits of Malacca it was then being flown on autopilot. (The new report cautions: "The specific settings input into the autopilot are unknown. Furthermore, it is also unknown what changes (if any) were made to those settings throughout the accident flight.") Considering how little is known of what happened to turn the airplane "dark" the reconstruction of the flight and its conclusion is surprisingly graphic. As the 777 runs out of fuel the right engine flames out first, followed by the left engine 15 minutes later. The airplane then descends in a circling glide, covering as many as 100 nautical miles, hitting the water "uncontrolled but stable." As luck would have it, the final - seventh -- ping sent from the airplane and intercepted by the Inmarsat satellite ground station was sent about 10 minutes before the airplane hit the water. Within those 10 minutes the SDU had lost power from the engines, the APU had automatically started (taking about a minute to restore power) and the SDU, because power had been interrupted, began automatically to log on again with the Inmarsat satellite and completed that process within seconds of the airplane crashing - thereby providing the Inmarsat analysts with one more essential clue to the final position of the airplane. There can be no precise picture of how the airplane broke up on hitting the water. The only physical remnant from the crash appeared four months ago, washed up on the island of La Réunion near Madagascar in the western Indian Ocean. That piece of wreckage was a flaperon, a part of the airplane's flight controls. There is one flaperon on the rear of each wing close to the fuselage. Although it is relatively small, the flaperon is very busy throughout the whole flight. It is part flap, the control surface that is lowered in a series of phases to increase lift for takeoffs and landings, and part aileron, a separate surface that moves up or down to control "roll" - to keep the wings laterally level at all speeds and altitudes or to control the degree of banking in a turn. Because of its hyperactive role in the airplane's flight controls the value of the flaperon to investigators is far greater than its size would suggest. Given the final minutes of the flight as simulated by Boeing, its actions would have been essential to maintaining stability in the glide. For that reason its discovery could add some better understanding of how the airplane hit the water. The flaperon was in remarkably good condition, given that it had spent nearly 17 months in the water. In photographs the only visible sign of damage is that its thinnest part, the trailing edge, is badly shredded. The forward part, where it is hinged to the wing, appears to have made a clean break. Estimating the forces that produced that break would be an important part of what investigators would do in order to try assess what role the flaperon was performing right up to the moment of impact. And, by looking at that, the investigators could get clues to how violent - or otherwise - the final seconds of the flight were. The flaperon was taken from La Réunion to France, where it remains in the hands of the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses, BEA, having been examined there by experts who confirmed that it came from the Malaysian Boeing 777. (The BEA did not respond to a request from The Daily Beast for information on the examination of the flaperon.) Meanwhile, in Australia the investigators seized on the discovery of the flaperon as a chance to confirm that their search was being conducted in the right place. Was landfall on the island consistent with the path that any floating wreckage would have taken if it originated in the area being searched? A team at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, CSIRO, including oceanographers and weather experts, had been working for 16 months using a technology called drift modeling, to predict where, if any floating wreckage survived, it would wash up. Now they reverse- engineered the flaperon's path from La Réunion back to the search area at the other end of the Indian Ocean, based on the elapsed time, distance and oceanic conditions from July 2015 back to March 8, 1014, the day that the airplane disappeared. The result, was however, rather less than assured. Indeed, in describing the findings the CSIRO team leader, Dr. David Griffin, was careful to hedge the bets: the arrival of the piece of wreckage on La Reunion Island "does not cast doubt on the validity of the present MH370 search area" he said, but then added, "it is impossible to use the La Réunion finding to refine or shift the search area." It was wise of the scientists to be as careful as this because they had made an embarrassing error in a previous drift model. They originally predicted that the first wreckage would wash up on the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, by July 2014 - some 4,000 miles northeast of La Réunion. When this didn't happen they went back to the numbers and discovered that the data had been corrupted by a significant miscalculation of the effects of wind on the ocean. It's fair to say, then, that drift modeling, no matter how conscientiously conducted, is as yet far from being an exact science. However, the absence of any further floating wreckage since the flaperon was discovered in July lends credence to the idea that perhaps major parts of the 777 did remain intact after impact and then sank, possibly through wave action forcing water into the engines and empty fuel tanks. I discussed this possibility with the expert on the 777. He advised caution on reaching any firm conclusions on the basis of a single piece of physical evidence - particularly when the flaperon is visible only in photographs and not by way of a physical inspection. Nonetheless, he told me, "Even a pilotless jet could possibly get lucky and enter the water at a shallow angle and minimum sink rate that minimizes the impact. "Most of the structure could have remained intact, or at least separated into only a few big pieces. Not a lot of extraneous debris may have exited the fuselage, particularly if there was no attempt at opening doors or deploying rafts in the water evacuation." That would be encouraging for the undersea search because the larger the pieces of wreckage the more likely they are to be detected. Last week, when the new report was released, the Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said that he was "hopeful, indeed optimistic, that we will still locate the aircraft." The area being searched totals more than 46,000 square miles of which around 29,000 square miles have so far been covered. As a result of the new analysis of the flight path, priority has been given to the southern sector - the total search area is as long as the distance between New York City and Charleston, North Carolina, and about as wide as the I-95 corridor, little more than 60 miles. Using the new calculations, the length may be shortened as the width is expanded. And, as the area remaining to cover diminishes -- according to the math -- the chances of finding the Boeing 777 should increase exponentially. "We are anticipating that the search will take to around mid-2016 to be completed", the official spokesman for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Dan O'Malley, told The Daily Beast. The search has continued, operating 24 hours a day, during the southern hemisphere winter, even though the conditions were often appalling. "There have been times when the vessels were obliged to break off searching because of rough weather," said O'Malley. "The highest waves were 50 feet in a tropical cyclone. When the weather is really poor work becomes very difficult and obtaining adequate rest is difficult too, so it's also very fatiguing." On two occasions crewmembers fell ill and their ships had to break off and return to their home port of Fremantle, 1,700 miles away. "There is no helicopter with the range to fly out and recover a patient, and it's too risky to winch a person from a ship in rough conditions. It's at least 10 days sail for the round trip, so this delays progress on the search" said O'Malley. Before the flight disappeared this was one of the most remote stretches of ocean in the world and its floor had never been mapped. Some of the ocean is as much as 20,000 feet deep, with extremes of terrain. Now, after a bathymetric survey using state-of-the-art equipment, the Australians believe that they have an accurate and detailed map of every piece of the seabed. These extreme depths and challenging terrain call for the most advanced search equipment, an autonomous underwater vehicle, UAV. Since last May rough weather made it impossible to use this system. This week, with the financial help of the Chinese (153 of the passengers were Chinese), a third ship equipped with an UAV, will join the search. For months the search had been limited to two ships deploying torpedo-like towfish that scan the ocean bed with sonar. "The deep tow equipment is the most efficient method to search large swathes where the seafloor is relatively flat" explained O'Malley. "However some of the seafloor features have very steep gradients and maneuvering the towfish over them can leave 'terrain avoidance' gaps in the data. These are the areas we will search with the AUV." One thing is for sure among many that are not: should the searchers find the remains of an airplane that took 239 people to their deaths in such baffling circumstances it will be an unmatched achievement in the history of air crash investigations, and the only thing that can finally explain what really did happen. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/08/exclusive-mh370-was-crippled-by-sudden-electrical- failure.html Back to Top Records show doomed Akron jet consistently got routine maintenance and repairs Honorable T. Bella Dinh-Zarr_ NTSB Vice Chairman Federal investigators are continuing the long process of determining what caused a private business jet to crash into an Akron apartment last month, killing all nine people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board is keeping the wreckage in an undisclosed, "secure location" somewhere in Ohio, spokesman Terry Williams said. Federal officials say the entire investigation likely will take a year. Meanwhile, documents recently obtained by the Akron Beacon Journal and reviewed by aviation experts show the British Aerospace Hawker 127-700 jet had routine maintenance and repairs since it first flew in 1979. Records filed with the Federal Aviation Administration from 1979 through 2010 show the small jet regularly received routine maintenance, repairs and had other modifications to keep its air worthiness rating over that period. In addition to the newspaper's review, a local pilot and flight instructor who flies piston and jet engine aircraft and an employee of a school that teaches aircraft maintenance looked at the records at the request of the Beacon Journal. The pilot and the school employee said they did not see anything unusual in the documents. "Everything I saw there was pretty normal," said Tim Lanigan, a 37-year-old flight instructor based in Wadsworth. "It seems fairly standard stuff for an airplane of its age." The jet crashed shortly before 3 p.m. Nov. 10 in Akron's Ellet neighborhood, hitting a small apartment building off Mogadore Road on its way to land at Akron Fulton International Airport. The jet exploded on impact, killing all seven passengers, the pilot and copilot in Akron's deadliest crash in history; no one on the ground was hurt. The Hawker was flying to Akron Fulton from Dayton; the flight originated the day before in Florida and was carrying employees of a real estate firm that had property in Akron. Equipment updated The FAA records show the Hawker had computers and other electronic equipment replaced and updated over the years. But there was nothing in the records that showed a history of problems or questionable airworthiness. The FAA reports did not include private airframe and powerplant logbooks that aircraft owners keep, Lanigan said. The logbooks would show such things as whether the equipment on board, such as a ground proximity system, was working properly or awaiting repair, he said. For instance, the Hawker jet did have a ground proximity warning system that, if working properly, would tell the crew if the jet was too close to the ground. A logbook would show if the warning system was working or if it needed repair, Lanigan said. Aircraft can still be safely flown if the ground proximity warning system was not working, he said. An employee at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics who reviewed the Hawker's FAA records also called them "routine" and did not see anything amiss. The jet's logbooks likely would have better information on the state of the aircraft's equipment, he said. NTSB investigators will look at the logbooks. The documents eventually will become part of the investigation's public docket, the federal agency said last week. Pieces of the investigation will become part of the public docket as they are completed, said Williams, the NTSB spokesman. That is "several months down the road." The NTSB has refused to speculate on what caused the crash. Logbooks valuable In addition to their usefulness in a crash investigation, logbooks are considered highly valuable, key records, Lanigan said. The loss of a logbook can lop off as much as three-quarters of the value of an aircraft. The NTSB recently issued a preliminary report that noted the small jet was attempting to land at Akron Fulton airport in poor visibility, with light rain, fog and a low cloud ceiling. Investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder. In the poor quality recording, the two pilots discuss the upcoming landing and the low visibility weather before the sounds of the impact. In addition, the two engines were sent to manufacturer Honeywell for analysis. When investigators are finished with the wreckage, it will be turned over to the aircraft owner's insurance company, Williams said. http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/records-show-doomed-akron-jet-consistently-got-routine- maintenance-and-repairs-1.646215 Back to Top Thai Aviation Officials Confident Thai Airlines Will Survive EU Audit (Thailand) Airline executives and aviation officials expect the two Thai airlines serving Europe to escape unhurt when results of the European Aviation Safety Agency's audit are released Thursday. Both Chula Sukmanop, director of the Office of Civil Aviation, and a management source at Thai Airways International (THAI) said they expect that THAI and charter carrier MJets will continue to be allowed to fly to the continent after the European Commission publishes the EASA's findings online at 6pm Bangkok time Dec 10. "Regarding the latest inquiry, EASA indicated that there was not a reason to ban Thai-registered airlines and its audit was not based on the findings of the FAA," Mr Chula said, referring to this month's decision by the US Federal Aviation Administration to downgrade Thailand's aviation-safety rating. Even if the EASA downgrades Thailand's aviation system as a whole, THAI likely would be unaffected because it previously obtained the International Air Transport Association's Operational Safety Audit certification. The airline source said the EASA had earlier checked THAI's safety and maintenance standards and authorised THAI as a "third country operator", or TCO, allowing it to serve EU countries. That authorisation is open-ended, although the EASA can conduct random checks at will, the source said. MJets also has obtained TCO certification, the source added. Mr Chula noted that the EASA used different criteria than the FAA to assess safety. The EU agency emphasises measures to ensure enough personnel, while the FAA focuses on air-operator licence certification. The European agency also takes into consideration the government's intention to solve its air-safety shortcoming, he claimed. http://www.aviationpros.com/news/12146877/thai-aviation-officials-confident-thai-airlines-will-survive- eu-audit Back to Top Lawmakers question safety of foreign airports after Metrojet attack Lawmakers in the House questioned the security of foreign airports that are the last points of departure for flights to the U.S. on Tuesday after the recent crash of a Russian plane in Egypt. "The recent Metrojet crash over the Sinai Peninsula is tragically reminiscent of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which took down Pan Am Flight 103, killing all aboard, including 35 Syracuse University students traveling home for the holidays," said Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee's Transportation Security Committee. The comment came during a hearing about the Transportation Security Administration's efforts to secure flights to the U.S. from international airports on Tuesday that was scheduled after the crash of a Metrojet Airlines flight last month in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Katko said "it is deeply disturbing to me that innocent people from my district in Syracuse, as well as all of traveling public, may still be threatened today by the same type of bomb used over 27 years ago. "Even though this most recent attack was not targeted at American citizens or an American aircraft, we cannot and should not hesitate to learn from this tragedy and identify ways in which we can mitigate such threats from becoming successful again in the future," the GOP chairman said. "The international aviation system represents our modern, globalized world. However, with interconnected transportation systems comes interconnected risk." Democrats on the panel raised similar concerns about international flight security, saying the recent attack on the Russian jetliner is "alarming." "This terrible act, which multiple sources have now confirmed was indeed a bombing, renews concerns regarding international aviation cooperation, specifically at last point of departure airports," said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who is the top ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. "Although Sharm al-Sheikh is not a last-point-of-departure, it is alarming that someone was able to board this plane with an explosive device and successfully detonate it to destroy the aircraft," Thompson continued. "This latest incident is a stern reminder of how important coordination with foreign governments, international aviation organizations, and air carriers is to securing aircraft bound for the United States from Foreign Airports," he concluded. The downed flight was a Russian Airbus A321 that crashed after reportedly being attacked by terrorists, killing all 224 people on board. The plane broke up at 33,000 feet, out of range of anti-air weaponry, indicating a bomb may have been placed onboard before take-off. TSA officials told lawmakers on the panel that it works with international aviation groups to ensure the safety of flights that operating to the U.S. from foreign airports. "TSA's mission is to protect the nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce. Within TSA, OGS works proactively with international and domestic partners to reduce security risks to international transportation modes," said Joseph Terrell, who is the deputy assistant administrator of TSA's Office of Global Strategies. "When a new or potential threat or vulnerability emerges, OGS coordinates with foreign governments, air carriers, and international organizations to implement responses that will effectively mitigate the likelihood of a successful attack," he continued. Lawmakers on the panel gave TSA credit for its efforts to boost the security of flights foreign airports in recent weeks, but they said there is more work for the agency to do. "Since the Lockerbie terror attacks, we have seen a number of attempted attacks against U.S. aviation targets," the GOP's Katko said. "These plots, such as 9/11, the Christmas Day bomber, the printer cartridge bombs, and the shoe bomber, have each caused massive reevaluations in the way passengers are screened and security is maintained," he continued. "I am happy to see that TSA has taken steps to increase security at overseas airports in recent weeks, and I hope these efforts will be successful," the GOP chairman concluded. "However, there remain gaps in security which need to be addressed." http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/262514-lawmakers-question-safety-of-foreign-airports-after- russian-jet-attack Back to Top Canada Developing Child-safety Measures for Aircraft Transport Canada has responded to two recommendationscanada from the country's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) to improve the safety of children traveling on commercial aircraft, including on-demand and air-taxi operations using business aircraft. The first recommendation requires operators to report on a routine basis the number of infants (under two years old) and young children (two to 12 years old) traveling. Transport Canada said it is working to determine the best options for collecting this data, including a stakeholder consultation to be completed before March. The second recommendation calls for Transport Canada to develop infant and young-child restraint systems and mandate their use. Transport Canada said that, in the short term, it will explore ways to increase the range of infant/child restraint systems approved for use in aircraft. In the medium term, it is planning an awareness campaign focused on risks to children traveling on commercial aircraft. And in the long term, it will initiate an in-depth regulatory examination into these issues next year. These recommendations stem from the TSB's investigation into the crash of a Perimeter Aviation Fairchild Swearingen Metro III on Dec. 22, 2012, in which an infant was killed. The infant was held on the mother's lap without any restraint system. Although Transport Canada recommends that infants be restrained in an approved restraint system, it is not mandatory. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2015-12-08/canada-developing-child-safety- measures-aircraft Back to Top Aviation experts debate pilot exams after Germanwings crash Aviation experts meeting in Germany said they want to improve psychological and medical testing of pilots following the Germanwings crash in March that killed 144 passengers and six crewmembers. The proposals from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which met this week at a workshop for 150 aviation experts, including pilots, suggest mandatory psychological evaluation for all pilots at the start of their careers, strengthening regular medical exams and the creation of a database of medical information on pilots that countries could share. The European safety agency hopes to finalize its proposals in early 2016 so changes can be implemented next year. The proposals will also consider any information about the Germanwings crash released by French investigators, according to the agency. "We need to act quickly if we want to minimize the risk of a catastrophe such as the Germanwings accident to happen again," said Patrick Ky, executive director of EASA. Germanwings Flight 9525 slammed into the French Alps on March 24 while heading from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, Germany, killing all 150 people on board the Airbus A320. German prosecutors have said co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, 27, who had been treated for depression, locked the pilot out of the cockpit and intentionally crashed the plane. At the airline's parent company, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said after the crash that Lubitz was 100% qualified but that the airline did not require psychological testing. Lufthansa and other European airlines began requiring two crewmembers in the cockpit at all times, as U.S. airlines already did. In the U.S., airline pilots get medical tests every six months or a year, depending on their age. Pilots must report any physical or psychological conditions and medications, and doctors ask mental health questions. Crewmembers also meet before each flight to evaluate one another and ensure they are ready to fly. Besides psychological problems, fatigue and substance abuse would raise flags. Airline pilot suicides are exceedingly rare, with just a handful of cases suspected worldwide during the past 30 years. Pilots and medical experts have said it would be difficult to test for psychological problems that a pilot does not acknowledge. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/08/germanwings-crash-european-aviation-safety- agency-pilot-exams/76972108/ Back to Top UK CAA Unveils Performance-Based Regulation Maturity Assessment Tool The UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) has launched a first-of-its-kind, Performance-Based Regulation (PBR) Maturity Assessment, designed to help Aviation Regulators establish their readiness to adopt a performance-based approach. Available through CAA International (CAAi), a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK CAA, the Maturity Assessment involves a two-week, on-site "health-check" of a National Aviation Authority. Conducted by specially trained UK CAA Assessors, the assessment focuses on 16-core regulatory areas via a series of interviews, focus groups and surveys with Regulatory personnel at all seniority levels. UK CAA Analysts review the results and prepare a high-level report, highlighting strengths and areas that require further attention to support a performance-based approach. These areas could include what the UK CAA refers to as "essential elements" - items that must be resolved before PBR transformation can commence. John Clark, Safety Programme Manager for the UK CAA said, "Regulators looking to adopt PBR almost always start by asking "Where do I begin?". Regulators need a baseline to work from and nextstep priorities. The UK CAA Maturity Assessment allows Regulators to establish this in a matter of weeks - something that without guidance, took the UK almost two years to achieve". Since the transition to PBR in the UK, the CAA and Industry have seen safety information proactively used to promote an open and challenging risk-based discussion between the Regulator and the Regulated. A performance-based approach has allowed the UK CAA to make more informed decisions on how the aviation industry is managing risk. The adoption of PBR in the UK involved many transformational changes across the UK CAA involving people, processes, systems, industry, engagement and cultural mindsets. Regulators will benefit from establishing their PBR readiness as early as possible and by utilising the UK CAA's experiences and lessons learnt, will be able to plan an effective PBR transformation programme. The UK CAA advocates that all Regulators can start adopting PBR principles, regardless of their maturity, industry size or level of Effective Implementation with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). Inevitably every Regulator will face unique opportunities and challenges. The UK CAA recognises there is no "right" or "wrong" way to implement PBR but hopes by sharing its experiences, know-how and lesson learnt, the UK can help fellow aviation Regulators commence their journey to PBR and ultimately, benefit from the safety and efficiency improvements seen from PBR in the UK. For more information, please visit www.caainternational.com/pbr or email Javier.ColleDeLaTorre@caainternational.com Media Contact: Stuart Coates stuart.coates@caainternational.com Back to Top Egypt hosts General Assembly of the 25th African Civil Aviation Commission Cairo is ready to exchange airport safety experiences with other African countries, says Egypt's civil aviation minister Civil aviation minister Hossam Kamal gave an opening speech at the 25th General Assembly of the 25th African Civil Aviation Commission (Photo courtesy of the Civil Aviation ministry) Egypt's civil aviation minister said Cairo welcomes an exchange of experiences with all African countries regarding airport security "to reach the highest aviation safety standards applied by all Egyptian airports." Minister Hossam Kamal made the comments in his opening speech at the 25th African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) General Assembly, held from 8pm to 10pm, hosted by Cairo for the first time. Kamal said that such standards are reached through regular audits on safety and security measures through the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority in addition to inspection bodies and the International Civil Aviation Organisations as well as other international organisations. Egypt has stepped up security measures at its airports following the downing of a Russian airliner in October in central Sinai which killed 224 people. The flight had departed from Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport. Kamal also said that Egypt is ready to support civil aviation in Africa and to offer experience in terms of air navigation in addition to building and managing airports. A number of 250 international and African personalities, ministers, international organisation representatives and experts on civil aviation are attending the General Assembly, which is held under the auspices of Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Kamal also stressed the importance of civil aviation for Africa. "The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation also welcomes any initiative that would strengthen the fruitful and effective cooperation ties with the African countries, and I would like to stress our determination to participate in supporting the African economy and contributing to all the projects that would achieve the aspirations of the African peoples through mutual cooperation," Kamal said. The minister also called for the establishing of a unified African aviation market. "The civil aviation sector is a major catalyst for development, investment and work opportunities, and all of us can touch the role of civil aviation in economic development, trade and human communications," Kamal said. The aviation sector in Egypt contributes over $2 billion, which is 1.2 percent of the GDP, and provides more than 197,000 jobs. Kamal also pointed out the main challenges that the civil aviation faces, saying the security challenge is the most important, "especially with the upsurge of terrorism at the international level." "Airports around the world spend around $1 billion on a single item of aviation security, like security screening equipment at airports, while we know fully that the cost of airport security is much less than the cost of lack of security," the minister said. Kamal presented other challenges such as the congestion of flight routes and the lack of direct flights connecting major cities on the continent as well as "important world capitals." Non-African airlines carry out 80 percent of the traffic to and from Africa. The minister also listed environmental challenges as another important aspect. Civil aviation's global share of carbon emissions is a maximum of 2 percent. Egypt is establishing its first environmentally-friendly terminal at Borg El-Arab Airport, the minister said. The minister also presented Egypt's vision for the sector's growth, its main points being infrastructure, managing airspace, providing training and using digital technology in the operation of flight procedures. The minister also announced that the ministry will offer 20 scholarships for 2016 at the Egyptian Aviation Academy, the candidates for which would be nominated by the AFCAC. The General Assembly comes as Egypt has been stepping up diplomatic efforts in Africa since El-Sisi came to office. Egypt had been suspended from the African Union following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi as the overthrow in July 2013 was deemed "unconstitutional," but the freeze was removed in June 2014. Under El-Sisi, Egypt has undertaken major economic and infrastructure projects in the continent, especially in the shipping and transport sectors. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/172992/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-hosts-General-Assembly- of-the-th-African-Civ.aspx Back to Top Chinese man dragged off New York bound flight after tantrum is an assistant professor at Penn State On Monday, we reported on a video shot by a passenger aboard a United Airlines flight from Shanghai bound for New York that starred a Chinese man throwing an epic tantrum and eventually being literally dragged, kicking and screaming, from the airplane by police. Well, turns out that the guy is a professor at an American university. Tencent reports that before takeoff in Shanghai, Lu Yong asked flight staff for an upgrade to first class for the long trip to New York. After his request was denied, Lu decided to just take matters into his own hands and sneak into first class and take a free seat. When he was found out, Lu was eventually forced to retreat back into the economy section, but snatched a bottle of champagne on the way and caused quite the commotion, so much so that the pilot asked him to leave the plane. Lu refused. Some 30 minutes later, police arrived to escort Lu off the plane. However, he had other ideas, choosing instead to lie down in the middle of the aisle, refusing to be budged. According to a Shanghaiist reader who was on the flight and uploaded the video onto YouTube, the police said that they weren't allowed to cuff someone that was "mentally ill" and they were completely unable to get control of the crazed man. The crew then came to the rescue with some plastic zip-tie style cuffs which were snapped around Lu's hand and feet. After that, police were able to successfully drag Lu off the plane with the help of some fellow passengers. In the process, he injured three of the officers with some kicks and was immediately detained for "disrupting public service," a charge that can result in a maximum of three years in jail. Initial speculation online was that Lu was a well-known professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu. Turns out, that was only partially true. Lu did hold a position as a guest lecturer at the university since August -- which he was fired from on Tuesday -- but his other gig is as an assistant professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State University. An online resume belonging to Yong Lu, also known as Eric Lu, reveals that the man has been an assistant professor on track for tenure at Penn State University since 2007. Lu received a B.A. in economics from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in 1994, and later received a Doctor of Philosophy from Ohio University in 2006. Belying his image as a crazed individual, Lu's resume is quite lengthy, and contains a long list of professional experiences, publications, grants and awards. He also enjoys a respectable 3.7 score on Rate My Professor, though he wasn't rated as "hot." While he was being escorted off the plane, Lu was also heard shouting to police that he is an American citizen, not Chinese. Either way, Lu joins the ranks of other infamous Chinese travelers in recent years who have gained notoriety for acting out while traveling. Starting back in April, Beijing began to crackdown on misbehaving tourists by putting them on a travel blacklist. We'll have to wait and see what lies in store for Lu. http://shanghaiist.com/2015/12/09/tantrum_guy_is_american_professor.php Back to Top Back to Top China Airlines named 'Best Airline in North Asia' Los Angeles, Dec. 8 (CNA) China Airlines, Taiwan's largest carrier, has been named the "Best Airline in North Asia" excluding China in 2015 in an annual survey by Global Traveler magazine. It was the third year in a row that the Taiwanese airline emerged as the winner in the category, according to the results of Global Traveler's "Tested Reader Survey" that asks frequent business and luxury travelers to name the best in a variety of travel-related categories. China Airlines also won the nod for "Best Business-Class Seat Design" and "Best Flight Attendant Uniforms." Taiwan's other major international airline, EVA Airways, was honored for "Best Airport Staff/Gate Agents" and as the "Best Airline for New Service Launch" for its route between Taipei and Houston that started service in June. Singapore Airlines was named the world's best airline and the best airline for business class. United Airlines was named the best trans-Pacific airline. In the Global Traveler's survey conducted annually since 2004, the magazine's readers vote for their favorites in the world of travel in an open-ended survey running in the magazine and online from January to August each year, the magazine said. The results are announced in December. http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201512090015.aspx Back to Top FAA approval near, Honda's business jet about to hit market In this April 23, 2015 photo, a HondaJet is displayed at the venue of a press conference at Haneda international airport in Tokyo. Nearly 30 years after development began, and after more than a dozen years of testing, Honda, a company best known for its cars and motorcycles, is about to start delivering its first aircraft: a HondaJet. Japan-based Honda is expected to receive a crucial Federal Aviation Administration certification in December of its first business jet. That's the last step before launching full production from its manufacturing hub and headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, where it employs more than 1,000. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File) RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Nearly 30 years after Honda's founder started developing the product and after more than a dozen years of testing, the company best known for its cars and motorcycles is about to start delivering its first aircraft. The Japan-based company this week is expected to receive a crucial Federal Aviation Administration certification of its first HondaJet, the last step before launching full production from its manufacturing hub and headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, where it employs more than 1,000. A company announcement is expected Wednesday. The business jet, which can seat up to seven and lists for about $4.5 million, will be reaching customers at least five years behind schedule. Honda says it has received more than 100 orders, primarily from customers in North America and Europe. Michael Whalen, a hospitality industry executive, says he placed a deposit for a HondaJet in 2007 to replace his slower, propeller-driven King Air. Whalen is founder and CEO of a company that runs hotels and restaurants in a half dozen Midwestern states from Moline, Illinois, a city with few direct flights. Now his Heart of America Group is expanding into Wyoming, Colorado and Texas. "In the last year or so it certainly would have been coming in handy, so I've been inquiring quite regularly as to when they thought it was coming," said Whalen, who now expects delivery in March. HondaJet's model HA-420 is expected to be the first in a line of Honda aircraft. That could make the quality-conscious, price-competitive company a player in aviation since "anywhere Honda gets into, they tend to grab a significant market share fairly quickly," said Wayne Plucker, who heads aerospace industry research at the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. Honda touts its plane as lighter, faster and more fuel-efficient than competitors that include U.S.-based Cessna and Embraer of Brazil. Just as Honda did when it introduced its cars into North America decades ago, its aircraft subsidiary has stayed low-key, careful and methodical for an industry that tends toward hoopla and splashy sales announcements at air shows, Plucker said. The HondaJet reaches the market after sales of similar light jets have struggled to rebound from the global financial crisis, Alud Davies, who covers the business aviation industry for the London-based online publication Corporate Jet Investor, wrote in an email. Up to 9,200 new business jets worth $270 billion will be delivered worldwide in the next decade, according to Honeywell International, which produces aerospace components and an annual industry forecast. About a quarter of those sales will be small-cabin aircraft like the HondaJet, and about 60 percent of the demand in the next five years will be in North America, the report said. Entering the aviation market was a goal of founder Soichiro Honda, and HondaJet's development began several years before his death in 1991. Honda sent engineer Michimasa Fujino to the United States to design an experimental aircraft. Fujino, now Honda Aircraft Co.'s CEO, brought innovation by positioning the engines above the wings rather than beneath them and drew inspiration for the porpoise-nose body design from a Salvatore Ferragamo high-heel shoe. The prototype flew in 2003. Fujino did not respond to requests for an interview. Along the way, Honda formed a joint venture with GE Aviation to build the engines in nearby Burlington. Those engines also are being sold to retrofit jets by other aircraft-makers. While the HondaJet should attract owners just entering the business jet market, much as the Honda Civic drew new car buyers when the company was new to the U.S. market, its comfort and features make it more comparable to Honda's Acura-branded cars, Plucker said. The prototypical buyer is likely to be an entrepreneur who sees the jet as an expression of innovation, he said. "I think it's a flying piece of art," Whalen said. "It's the revolutionary plane that they promised when they first announced it." http://news.yahoo.com/faa-approval-near-hondas-business-jet-hit-market-181440772.html Back to Top Are these your jumbo jets? Malaysian airport takes out newspaper ad to find owners of three abandoned Boeing 747s * Airport authorities have been trying to contact the last-known owners * They warned the planes will be auctioned or sold for scrap if unclaimed * Planes were registered to an Icelandic company, but were sold in 2008 Malaysian authorities have taken out a newspaper advert to find the owner or owners of three jumbo jets that have apparently been abandoned at the country's main international airport. Officials were forced to take the unusual step after growing tired of seeing the unclaimed Boeing 747- 200F planes sitting idle on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for more than a year. They warned that the double-decker planes will be auctioned or sold for scrap if they are not claimed within 14 days. Malaysia Airports took out a newspaper ad in their final effort to identify the owner or owners of the planes According to the advert posted in yesterday's Star newspaper, Malaysia Airports has been unable to identify the owner or owners of the jumbo jets. The ad stated: 'If you fail to collect the aircraft within 14 days of the date of this notice, we reserve the right to sell or otherwise dispose of the aircraft.' Zainol Mohd Isa, general manager of Malaysia Airports, told Free Malaysia Today the airport has attempted to contact the last-known owners of the planes - two passenger aircraft and a single cargo jet. He told the website the last-known owners are 'international' and not Malaysian. Authorities warned that the planes will be auctioned off or sold for scrap if no one claims them (file photo) He added: 'I don't know why they are not responding. There could be many reasons. Sometimes it could be because they have no money to continue operations.' According to online searches of the plane's registration numbers, TF-ARM, TF-ARN, and TF- ARH, the aircraft belong to Air Atlanta Icelandic. However, the company told CNN it no longer owns the planes after selling them in 2008. The newspaper advert features a photo of each plane and asks the owner or owners to call Malaysian Airports. If they are claimed before the December 21 deadline, the owner or owners won't be able to escape without penalty. Officials are seeking payment for landing and parking fees and other charges, Free Malaysia Today reported. If the planes aren't claimed they will be sold to recoup the charges. Zainol told Free Malaysia Today that planes have been abandoned at the country's main airport before, including one that was bought and transformed into a restaurant. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3351006/Malaysia-airport-looks-owners-three- abandoned-Boeing-747-jets.html#ixzz3toEkYHhD Back to Top Has China created the satellite of the future? Test of nation's first near-space aircraft is a success after solar-powered blimp floats at 65,000 feet for 22 hours * 'Yuanmeng' craft lifted into space with helium and can carry up to 660lbs * Satellite used to carry out data communication and high-res imaging * China spends up to $2 billion annually on pursuing its space programme China's dream of leading the way in space technologies took a giant leap forward as its revolutionary 'near-space' airship successfully took to the skies for the first time over Inner Mongolia. The blimp, called 'Yuanmeng', is billed by the Chinese media as the world's first airship to be built equipped with sustainable energy panels and whose flight can be controlled remotely, according to a report by People's Daily Online. The ship, which will be able to carry out data relay, communication, high-def observation and spatial imaging functions, flew for 22 hours at a peak of 65,000ft during its first test flight in mid-October before returning to earth. Innovation: China's near-space blimp, called 'Yuanmeng' could serve a range of functions including data relay Ready for take off: The 60,000 cubic feet juggernaut had its first successful test flight in mid-October The project to design and launch the 60,000 cubic feet behemoth - the same volume as ten professional swimming pools - was jointly developed by Nanjiang Space and Beijing University of Astronautics and Aeronautics (BeiHang). The bright silver craft, which was lifted into the skies using helium, runs on the solar energy it generates through its panels during orbit and can carry up to around 660 lbs of weight on board. 'Near-space' is a region of the Earth's atmosphere between 65,000 ft and 328,000 ft, and is too high for traditional aircraft to penetrate safely. 'The biggest challenge for the near-space airship is the big temperature difference in the day and night,' said Yu Quan, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Engineering - an issue that the new craft is trying to solve. Uncharted territory: Tapping into the near-space region of the atmosphere interests China and the US greatly Years of work: Scientists and researchers from BeiHang University helped to make the dream a reality Liu Dongxu, associate manager of Nanjiang Space, said: 'Near space offers a bridge between aviation and space exploration.' 'We had little previous experience to draw upon in terms of the environment we are dealing with. It has very specific requirements for the material and the overall performance of the aircraft.' Finding precisely the right material to allow the craft to reach near-space has been a challenge for scientists over recent years, but it appears that the problem is nearing a solution. Interestingly, given China's recent history of purely designing space technologies for military uses, it has been announced that the new craft will be used for civilian purposes as well. China has made no secret of its desire to innovate in the field of space exploration, crystallised in the promise made by President Xi Jinping to pursue to 'space dream of the Chinese nation' in 2013. Masterplan: Liu Dongxu of joint designers Nanjiang Space said called the ship 'a bridge to space exploration' Eco-friendly: The ship is entirely powered by its solar panels, here being affixed to it by the ship's constructors Expert scientists have previously estimated that China spends over $1 billion dollars (roughly $6 billion yuan) on its space programme every year. The first portion of China's long awaited space station, Tiangong 2, could be launched as early as next year, as well plans for three more blimp test flights to be sent into near space during 2016. The purported success of the appropriately-named 'Yuanmeng' - which translates as 'to fulfill a dream' in English - may come as a surprise to NASA, which launched a contest to design and build a similar craft at the end of 2014. Entries for the agency's '20-20-20 Airship contest' were meant to be submitted by January this year, but no results or updates from the contest's organisers have so far been announced. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3351193/China-s-near-space-aircraft-test- success-solar-powered-blimp-floats-65-000-feet-22-hours.html Back to Top US Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Wings Past 200 Days in Orbit X-37B Space Plane Still circling Earth after 200 days in orbit. Mum's the word: The U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane has winged its way past the 200 day mark, carrying out a classified agenda for the American military. The unmanned X-37B space plane rocketed into orbit on May 20 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launching from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station back. The reusable robotic space plane mission, also dubbed OTV-4 (short for Orbital Test Vehicle-4), is the fourth spacecraft of its kind for the U.S. Air Force. OTV-4 also marks the second flight of the second X-37B vehicle built for the Air Force by Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems. Only two reusable X-37B vehicles have been confirmed as constituting the fleet. [See photos from the X-37B space plane's OTV-4 mission] Mini-shuttle X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Processing at Vandenberg Pin It Recovery crew members process the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle at Vandenberg Air Force Base after the program's third mission complete. The X-37B space plane looks like a miniature version of NASA's now-retired space shuttle orbiter. The military space plane is 29 feet (8.8 meters) long and 9.5 feet (2.9 m) tall, and has a wingspan of nearly 15 feet (4.6 m). The spacecraft sports a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed. The Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO) runs the X-37B program. While the overall duties of the space plane remain secretive, it was previously announced that this craft carries a NASA advanced materials experiment and an experimental propulsion system developed by the Air Force. Track record The first OTV mission began April 22, 2010 and concluded on Dec. 3, 2010, after 224 days in orbit. The second OTV mission began March 5, 2011, and concluded on June 16, 2012, chalking up a mission of 469 days. The X-37B program completed its third mission on Oct. 17, 2014 following 674 days in orbit after its Dec. 3, 2012 launch. This last flight extended the total number of days spent on-orbit for X-37B craft to 1,367. Florida landing? To date, all flights of the X-37B touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. When and where OTV-4 will return to Earth is not known. In 2014, it was announced that Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems had consolidated its space plane operations by making use of NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida as a landing site for the X- 37B. According to Boeing, a former KSC space-shuttle facility known as Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-1) has being converted into a structure that will enable the Air Force "to efficiently land, recover, refurbish and relaunch the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV)." http://www.space.com/31308-air-force-space-plane-200-days-orbit.html Back to Top Nasa wants to 'move out' of the International Space Station: Bosses say the focus is now on the moon and Mars * Nasa wants to focus on its goal of taking humans to moon's orbit * This is ahead of a manned mission to the red planet in the 2030s * The space agency says it will only fund the ISS until 2028, at the latest The International Space Station may have its days numbered. Nasa says it will only fund the ISS until 2028, at the latest, so that it can focus its resources elsewhere. Among other things, the space agency says it wants to focus on its goal of taking humans to moon's orbit - which is also known as cislunar space - ahead of going to Mars in the 2030s. 'We're going to get out of ISS as quickly as we can,' said William Gerstenmaier (pictured), Nasa's chief of human spaceflight, last week. 'Whether it gets filled in by the private sector or not, Nasa's vision is we're trying to move out.' Gerstenmaier made the comments during a meeting at the Johnson Space Center 'We're going to get out of ISS as quickly as we can,' said William Gerstenmaier, Nasa's chief of human spaceflight, last week. 'Whether it gets filled in by the private sector or not, Nasa's vision is we're trying to move out.' Gerstenmaier made those comments during a meeting of Nasa's advisory council at Johnson Space Center, according to an in-depth report by Ars Technia. Nasa's budget, now about $3 billion annually, is expected to rise to about $4 billion by 2020. But this still isn't enough to keep both projects going, and the agency hopes private companies will take over its role. But because Nasa can't guarantee private groups will built an ISS 2.0, it's now encouraging companies to take advantage of microgravity research, according to Engadget. The International Space Station may have its days numbered. Nasa says it will only fund the ISS until 2028, at the latest, so that it can focus resources elsewhere. Among other things, it says it wants to focus on its goal of taking humans to moon's orbit - which is also known as cislunar space - ahead of going to Mars. The International Space Station may have its days numbered. Nasa says it will only fund the ISS until 2028, at the latest, so that it can focus resources elsewhere. Among other things, it says it wants to focus on its goal of taking humans to moon's orbit - which is also known as cislunar space - ahead of going to Mars. Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden has also asked the government to give tax incentives to companies testing in zero-g to help bolster the research. Nasa has already begun to develop the technologies to send astronauts back into cislunar space in the late 2020s. Nasa appears to be heeding the advice of a report by the National Research Council (NRC) in June 2014. The extensive 286-page report said Nasa would be 'doomed to fail' if it didn't alter its proposed method to get to Mars. The scathing assessment claimed that without sufficient funding, a clear goal, or help from nations such as China, Nasa will not be capable of making the next giant leap for mankind. In its report the NRC examined three options for getting to Mars, and said two that included a return to the moon first to test key technologies were favourable. One idea on the table is that, after the ISS has been decommissioned, Nasa would create a 'gateway spacecraft' in lunar orbit. Wish you were here? Nasa has made no secret of its desire to get to Mars, but the steps it will take to get there are not yet known. Several experts have said that the agency should consider returning to the moon (illustration shown) before making the 'giant leap' to the red planet Astronauts would be able to visit this station, and carry out sorties to the moon. It could potentially also be used as a stopping off point, for fuel and resources, on the way to Mars. During the advisory council meeting, Gerstenmaier said Nasa doesn't need the ISS to go into deep space. 'We gave industry a 10-year horizon,' he said, adding he's not sure industry will be ready to take on the ISS. 'The chances of this are low, but it's worth a try.' THE GREAT DEBATE: SHOULD WE GO TO THE MOON OR MARS? STRAIGHT TO MARS Perhaps there is no greater name than President Obama himself who has endorsed going to Mars, without going back to the moon first. 'I just have to say pretty bluntly here, we've been there before,' the President said in a speech at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2010. Nasa chief Charlie Bolden, meanwhile, has repeatedly stated his desire to head straight for Mars, without mounting costly and time-consuming missions elsewhere. 'If we step away now, my belief is it will be generations before we get back to where we are now,' he said in a talk at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London. 'We are way down the road. 'With Mars as our focus, we are steadily building the capability to enable human missions to the red planet.' And backing up his plans, recently The Planetary Society said that a mission to orbit the Martian moon Phobos in 2033, leading up to a crewed landing on the Red Planet in 2039, was feasible. 'We believe we now have an example of a long-term, cost-constrained, executable humans-to-Mars program,' said Scott Hubbard, a professor in the Stanford University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of The Planetary Society's board of directors. And Buzz Aldrin also wants to see us return straight to Mars - albeit without Nasa's planned mission to go to an asteroid. 'I rather strongly object to the asteroid retrieval mission,' he told MailOnline exclusively in October 2014. BACK TO THE MOON According to former astronaut Chris Hadfield, we should be looking to go back to the moon before making the giant leap to the red planet. He says we don't yet have the technology or capabilities to safely make the trip to the Mars and should instead aim to live on the moon for 'generations' before. 'The next logical destination? It's obviously the moon as its just three days away,' Hadfield told MailOnline in October. Former astronaut Ron Garan, who authored the book The Orbital Perspective, also thought we should go back to the moon before Mars. 'The most logical and important step [to get to Mars] will be to build an infrastructure between Earth and the moon, and have a permanent human presence on the Moon,' he told MailOnline. And in March this year Theoretical physicist Dr Orfeu Bertolami from the University of Porto completed a study that found there was no feasible way of getting to Mars any time soon. 'Despite what people say, we are a long way from reaching Mars,' he told MailOnline. 'I see no way of reaching Mars in five decades.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3351611/Nasa-wants-International-Space-Station- Bosses-say-focus-moon-Mars.html#ixzz3toBbY682 Back to Top Engineering program unveils first turbo jet engine created by USM students USM Engineering students Ryker Turcotte and Dave Stevens with jet engine they built The high pitched whistle of a gas turbine shattered the quiet of the Gorham campus Monday as a pair of mechanical engineering majors unveiled their senior project, the first turbo jet engine created by students at the University of Southern Maine. Ryker Turcotte and Dave Stevens designed and built the noisy, propane-powered machine, working out the physics and applying for the funding before purchasing and fabricating the needed parts. They bolted, drilled, soldered and welded. Then they wheeled the finished engine into a parking lot behind the School of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology's John Mitchell Center. The engine whined to start perfectly. MORE: Watch a video of the jet engine powering up. "I was so relieved," said Stevens, who led the construction of the project. Though they used a donated turbo charger, most of the engine was built by hand. The toughest part was the combustion chamber, where a spark plug ignites the fast-moving propane, Stevens said. "It's exposed to a lot of heat," he said. "The inner parts can be exposed to up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Making sure that my welds were sound and convincing myself that there wasn't going to be a failure took a lot of work. That was definitely the hardest piece." USM Engineering student Ryker Turcotte shows off jet engine he helped build They first tested the engine on Nov. 25. Twelve days later, on Dec. 7, they unveiled it to the USM community and family. Among a crowd of 30 people were students, Stevens' girlfriend and Turcotte's grandparents. Soon the engine started. Turcotte used a leaf blower to jump-start the flow of air. Once the engine began to breathe on its own, Stevens turned a valve on the propane tank. Soon, the turbo charger whistled to life and noise resembled the taxiway of a modern airport. To Turcotte, it was music. Building a jet engine was his idea. "I took my first flight lesson when I was eight," Turcotte said. "I started working at a private airport in Sanford when I was 14. I did some minor maintenance on jet engines and fell in love with aviation and every aspect of it." He began doing the math and enlisting Stevens' help. They quickly partnered. "He's got miles of spreadsheet calculations that supported this project," Stevens said. "I wouldn't have known what to build if he wasn't doing the calculations." Together, they were awarded $7,500 from the Maine Economic Improvement Fund for the project. White & Bradstreet, a heavy truck parts seller from Augusta, donated the turbo charger. Douglas Bros. of Portland fabricated some parts. Peregrine Turbine Technologies in Wiscasset advised. USM Engineering students discuss jet engine they built"This demonstrates what USM has to offer and what it can do," said Terry Shehata, USM's administrator of the Maine Economic Improvement Fund and the coordinator for institutional research and grant development. The engine has already been demonstrated for a pair of visiting high school classes. It is expected to be used as an example of what can be accomplished within the engineering program. "It's been driven by the students," Shehata said. "They're very passionate about what they're doing, and that's what the university is all about." The jet engine will likely be used by the engineering school to illustrate principles in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer, said Lin Lin, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. "Most people think jet engines are huge things from far away that you don't get to see," she said. For both USM students and visiting students, it is a tangible, practical machine. "Now you have something you can see and you can touch and you can hear." Stevens, who is scheduled to graduate in December, said he plans to use what he learned in his new job, working for Peregrine Turbine Technologies. And Turcotte, who is slated to graduate in May 2016, plans to keep tinkering. He is working on a list of possible design changes, he said. The engine's parts were built and bolted onto their steel frame in a way will allow them to be moved or swapped out. Future students will be able to work on their own jet designs. "We won't be the last ones," Turcotte said. http://usm.maine.edu/publicaffairs/engineering-program-unveils-first-turbo-jet-engine-created-usm- students 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: 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: Deputy Director of Flight Operations & Technical Services Helicopter Association International https://www.rotor.org/AboutHAI/Employment.aspx Position Available: Airline Safety Manager - Investigation (Engineering) Cathay Pacific https://career10.successfactors.com/career?_s.crb=Q%252ffWkAOt5SsrsXlBnG3GK%252bmGYsU%253d Curt Lewis