Flight Safety Information July 20, 2016 - No. 141 In This Issue Cessna 208B Strikes Bridge (China) Fire reported aboard regional jet leaving Jacksonville airport Mitsubishi To Complete Flutter Testing Before MRJ Ferry Flight Inquiry finds engine fault after fatal An-12 overrun FAA Extension Targets Number of Safety, Security Issues Pilots: Firing of Allegiant Air pilot for St. Pete-Clearwater emergency landing endangers public EU Moves to Broaden Air-Safety Responsibilities New Technology Aims to Track Hypoxia-Like Symptoms in Fighter Pilots Nigeria's worsening jet fuel shortage now a serious threat Asiana Airlines was storing bank info and thousands of passports on its website 328 Type Certificate holder breathes new life into aircraft The threat of China's space station crashing into a city is part of a more interesting development ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland...17 to 20 October, 2016 (ISASI) DFW Regional Chapter (DFRC) Summer Meeting, September 8, 2016 Graduate Research Request Graduate Research Survey Cessna 208B Strikes Bridge (China) Status: Preliminary Date: Wednesday 20 July 2016 Time: ca 12:15 Type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX Operator: Joy General Aviation Registration: B-10FW C/n / msn: 208B-5222 First flight: 2015 Engines: 1 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140 Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 8 Total: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 10 Airplane damage: Damaged beyond repair Location: off Jinshan City Beach ( China) Phase: Takeoff (TOF) Nature: Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Jinshan City Beach, China Destination airport: ? Narrative: A float-equipped Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX impacted a bridge near Shanghai, China, destroying the forward fuselage. The aircraft hit the No. 7835 Bridge along the Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway some 10 minutes after it took off from the Jinshan City Beach. Chinese media report the flight was a trial flight for an intended shuttle service between Zhoushan Island and Jinshan. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20160720-0 Back to Top Fire reported aboard regional jet leaving Jacksonville airport Delta Flight 5231 that took off for LaGuardia Airport in New York City Tuesday afternoon Tuesday afternoon had to return to Jacksonville International Airport when the pilot reported an engine fire, according to the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. The Canadair regional jet, with 27 people onboard, landed safety. Firefighters had staged in case they were needed to put out the fire. There was no information on the status of the plane. The flight took off at 4:36 p.m. and was scheduled to land in New York at 8:09. News4Jax has a crew at the airport trying to learn more information. This article will update as soon as details are available. http://www.news4jax.com/news/local/jacksonville/fire-reported-aboard-regional-jet- leaving-jacksonville-airport Back to Top Mitsubishi To Complete Flutter Testing Before MRJ Ferry Flight FARNBOROUGH-Mitsubishi has hired more expatriate experts to support its Seattle-based engineering center as well for as certification work at its Nagoya, Japan, headquarters, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. President Hiromichi Morimoto said. The hiring campaign started four months ago, and some ex-Boeing workers have now been transferred to Nagoya. "Our biggest challenge is to control the program schedule. We lack experience with commercial jet aircraft," Morimoto told Aviation Daily here at the Farnborough International Airshow. Following a series of long delays, entry into service of the MRJ90 is now planned for the middle of 2018, around four years later than originally scheduled. The aircraft flew for the first time in November 2015. In addition to the need for major redesigns including, but not limited to, the wings, flawed documentation was the other major reason for delays. "Our credibility has been affected by the delays," Morimoto said. "We have to show that we are passing our milestones." The next major milestone is the transfer of four test aircraft to the Moses Lake facility in Washington state, which will be used as the base for the MRJ flight-test campaign. Morimoto is optimistic that the first aircraft can be ferried in August to Moses Lake as planned, having accumulated more than 100 flight-hours. Flutter tests remain to be completed, however, before the aircraft is cleared to make the long trip. Separately, Mitsubishi is slowly preparing for production. The company plans to build one aircraft per month in 2017 in preparation for deliveries from mid-2018. The rate is foreseen to go up to 10 aircraft per month in 2020-21. Fuselage parts of the first customer aircraft for All Nippon Airways are being built. The aircraft is to be equipped with Pratt & Whitney's PW1200G engine. Morimoto said that version of the geared turbofan is not affected by the extended start-up times caused by engine cooling that affected the market introduction of the AirbusA320neo. "We don't see the issue on our engine," he stressed. www.aviationweek.com Back to Top Inquiry finds engine fault after fatal An-12 overrun Russian investigators have disclosed findings of a technical problem in one of the engines on a Silk Way Airlines Antonov An-12 which crashed on take-off in Afghanistan. The aircraft (4K-AZ25) had been leased for cargo transport and had been attempting departure from Camp Dwyer, with six crew and three passengers, on 18 May. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee says the take-off was conducted with a "faulty" inboard right-hand Ivchenko Progress AI-20 engine. The propeller, it says, switched to "negative thrust" during the take-off roll, preventing the powerplants from delivering the acceleration necessary to become airborne. As a result, the aircraft travelled the entire 2,400m length of the runway, in about 70s, and overran at around 119kt. It cross rough ground and sustained substantial damage, with the outbreak of fire which destroyed the airframe. None of the six crew members survived. One of the passengers was also fatally injured. www.flightglobal.com Back to Top FAA Extension Targets Number of Safety, Security Issues President Obama's signature of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 on July 15 ensured the continuity of the FAA's operations through Sept. 30, 2017. But it also set in motion a number of safety, security and other measures that have received far less attention. The underlying purpose of the bill was to ensure the FAA's operating authority did not expire on July 15. The short-term bill, however, provided a venue to address pressing safety and security measures, the authors of the bill maintain. In fact, Senate Commerce Committee chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) has called the bill "the most significant airport security reform bill in over a decade," and said the reforms "will help ensure that attacks like those in Brussels and Istanbul do not happen in American airports." These reforms include mandating security assessments for overseas airports; facilitating an increase of training and screening for overseas airports; expanding TSA PreCheck; "optimizing" TSA personnel staffing allocations; tightening access for aviation workers in sterile areas of airports and seeking a comprehensive strategy on cyber security. Some security measures, such as background checks for maintenance workers, are drawing concern from the repair station community. The bill has a number of provisions of note to general aviation interests, such as the third- class aeromedical reform trumpeted by AOPA and the Experimental Aircraft Association. But it also calls for marking certain towers so they are more visible to low-flying aircraft, and it calls on the FAA to update standards for crash-resistant helicopter fuel systems. Others are aimed at safety or stem from past accidents. The measures seek to expedite completion of a pilot records database, streamline the controller hiring process, strengthen mental health screening for pilots, step up monitoring of laser pointer incidents and ensure pilots are sufficiently trained on manual flying skills and monitoring cockpit automation systems. Unmanned aircraft systems again were the subject of a number of measures, which call for better interagency cooperation on their use during an emergency and seek to ensure that they don't interfere with other emergency response activities. The bill establishes processes for monitoring and mitigating unauthorized UAS operation around airports and critical infrastructure. And one measure pulls flight attendants into the law enforcement realm, calling for training so they can recognize and respond to potential victims of human trafficking. While the bill was designed to address a number of measures, lawmakers carefully left out others that they said would be picked up in a more comprehensive bill, such as certification and regulatory reform. This provides an important chip that would increase the urgency for passing a more comprehensive bill. Also left out is the proposal to create a user funded, independent air traffic control organization. Many expect debate surrounding that proposal to renew once talks on a longer-term bill restart. In a recent message to members, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen reminded, "The FAA reauthorization debate is far from over, and much work remains. First and foremost, we must remain fit for the fight on ATC privatization, when it reemerges. Those supporting privatization proposals will continue to push their agenda. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2016-07-19/faa-extension- targets-number-safety-security-issues Back to Top Pilots: Firing of Allegiant Air pilot for St. Pete-Clearwater emergency landing endangers public William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer The firing over the evacuation was a warning to pilots, who were in contract talks with the airline, some Allegiant pilots say. Allegiant Air's termination of a pilot who ordered the evacuation of an aircraft last year at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport endangers the public because other pilots might hesitate in an emergency for fear of being second-guessed. That is according to pretrial testimony of Allegiant pilots, made public late Monday, in the lawsuit against Allegiant filed by the fired pilot, Jason Kinzer, in Nevada state court. Pilots also said they would have done the same as Kinzer if presented with the same circumstances - evacuate the airplane. Pilot Cameron Graff testified that Kinzer's dismissal was a warning by the Las Vegas- based airline to its pilots, who were then engaged through their union in bitter contract negotiations with Allegiant. "It's my opinion that Capt. Kinzer was terminated to quell the pilot group, to silence the pilot group, to ... keep the pilots from reporting safety events, emergencies, those type of events," said Graff, a pilots' union leader. "That type of message I would say is dangerous to the public safety because it puts pilots in a position where they don't report safety issues, they don't report mechanical issues. They may even hesitate at a time they need to evacuate ... and having more on their minds that, 'Am I going to be second-guessed for getting these people off the airplane safely? And will I be terminated?' " That had real world implications last August, according to testimony, when an Allegiant aircraft's elevator - a critical control surface on the plane's tail - jammed during a flight's take-off roll, causing the aircraft's nose to rise prematurely at a speed of more than 130 mph. The pilot successfully aborted takeoff, later reporting that the aircraft probably would have crashed if it had become airborne. Allegiant pilot Michael Bastianelli testified in the Kinzer case that he spoke to the pilot who aborted that takeoff. "He told us his first thought (was) ... 'If I initiate this abort, I'm going to get called in for another meeting,' " Bastianelli said. "And he said - he's very upset about that because he lost three to four seconds of time as that thought went through his head, and that ate up an extra thousand foot of runway or so." Excerpts of testimony by Graff and several other Allegiant pilots are attached as exhibits in a motion filed by Kinzer's attorneys opposing Allegiant's motion to dismiss the case. No trial date is yet set in the lawsuit that argues Kinzer was unjustly fired. Allegiant says Kinzer displayed poor judgment and did not need to evacuate the plane. Allegiant officials did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment by the Tampa Bay Times. Kinzer, then 43, was flying Flight 864 that departed the Pinellas County airport with 141 passengers on June 8, 2015, bound for Hagerstown, Md., when flight attendants reported acrid smoke in the cabin. The pilot declared an emergency and returned to the airport. Evacuation chutes were deployed upon landing. Eight people suffered minor injuries in the evacuation. The most serious injury was a broken wrist. The motion said pilots were told by someone in airport fire rescue upon landing, "I'm showing smoke on the No. 1 engine." Allegiant's operating manual for pilots mandates an evacuation even with just the "possibility of a fire," the motion said. The motion said confusion among fire rescue personnel also contributed to the decision to evacuate. An unidentified person with fire rescue told the crew not to evacuate, but then fire rescue failed to respond when Kinzer tried repeatedly to contact them, the motion said. The pilots worried they did not respond because they were too busy fighting a fire, the motion said. Greg Baden, a pilot who was Allegiant's vice president of operations when Kinzer was fired, acknowledged that he believed Kinzer's motivation in evacuating the aircraft was passenger safety. Referring to the older, MD-80 Kinzer was flying, Baden said, "It's a 40-year-old airplane and the tolerances aren't as tight as they should be." Several Allegiant pilots deposed in the case said they would have evacuated the aircraft just as Kinzer had. "Given the same information he had at the time, I probably would have made the exact same decision," said pilot Gary Hasterok. He attended an Allegiant review board meeting investigating the emergency landing. He said that during Allegiant's formal review of the case that its "agenda was to transfer blame from the company to the pilot, and they weren't really interested in what Capt. Kinzer had to say. It seemed they already made up their mind" to fire him. http://web.tampabay.com/news/business/airlines/pilots-firing-of-allegiant-air-pilot-for-st- pete-clearwater-emergency/2286012 Back to Top EU Moves to Broaden Air-Safety Responsibilities Agency stands to gain additional powers to police drones; Brexit unlikely to affect timetable A surveillance drone flies over the beach of Biscarrosse, France, during a demonstration of a rescue operation. By ANDY PASZTOR LONDON-European Union leaders are moving to expand their air-safety authority over national regulators, despite turmoil stemming from the Brexit vote and widespread public dissatisfaction with top-down mandates from Brussels. Changes proposed months before June's referendum in which British voters opted to leave the EU would update and modestly enhance the European Aviation Safety Agency's oversight role. The agency stands to gain additional powers to police small unmanned aircraft and regulate a few other air-safety functions now typically handled primarily by national authorities. The moves weren't seen as controversial when they were unveiled, but rather as the natural evolution of the 14-year old pan-European safety organization that has been growing in size and expertise. From its creation by EU members, the idea was to shift air- safety authority to EASA from individual countries. Patrick Ky, the agency's executive director, said the pending changes involve technical and procedural issues, rather than political principles, and haven't been affected by the Brexit vote. Industry officials concur with that view. Mr. Ky, who has held his job for less than two years, has been pushing for greater power over areas ranging from cyberprotection to airport security, on the grounds that such issues affect passenger safety. As the former head of Europe's air-traffic modernization program, Mr. Ky is trusted by EU leaders. But he has a mixed record of success in expanding EASA's purview. He has said he expects the latest revisions to be approved by EU leaders around the beginning of 2017. An EASA spokesman on Thursday said the Brexit vote doesn't appear to have altered that timetable. At an international safety conference in Washington before the vote, Mr. Ky said the prospective changes to EASA's role largely amount to a consolidation and adjustment of powers previously granted to the agency. Through a spokesman on Thursday, Mr. Ky said work on the changes "continues as planned." Brexit negotiations "will be held at a political level," he said, adding that "at our technical level, the revision to EASA regulation is on track and scheduled to be adopted by the EU early next year." When EASA was formed, unmanned aircraft weren't a major issue for aviation regulators. Now that they are a top-priority safety item, Mr. Ky said, he and his staff are asking for explicit authority to regulate operation of smaller categories of drones weighing less than 150 kilograms, or about 331 pounds. Enforcement of common European standards, however, would be the responsibility of individual countries. Larger drones already are mostly under EASA's purview. The overall changes will "prepare the agency for the next 10 to 15 years," he told the conference, calling them "a major event in the life of this agency." Craig Liggett, chairman of the leading trade association representing drone users throughout the U.K., said discussions with British transportation officials have convinced him fallout from last month's vote isn't expected to block proposed revisions to EASA's basic legal framework. "I don't think Brexit will really affect the path of regulatory changes," he said in an interview on Thursday at the Farnborough International Airshow, outside London. Britain has been a major participant in shaping EASA policies and rules. Mr. Liggett and other industry officials don't expect that to change as a result of Brexit; some currently active EASA members don't belong to the EU. At the same time, Mr. Ky has been pushing to enhance EASA's stature in the international aviation community. The agency, for example, has been working with the aviation arm of the United Nations to eliminate procedural and legal hurdles related to agency-issued pilot licenses. Depending on an aviator's nationality, job history and the corporate home of the airline he or she is serving, pilots sometimes hold several different licenses, issued by different authorities including EASA and a number of national regulators. The issue is how to ensure such licenses are deemed valid throughout Europe. But in an interview during June's conference, Mr. Ky said the problem is purely "an administrative issue, it's not a safety-related issue." EASA licenses technically aren't recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the U.N.'s aviation arm, because the agency isn't a member of ICAO. It has only observer status, which also can restrict the agency's ability to participate in some advisory panels or other ICAO activities. The proposed short-term fix to legitimize EASA-issued licenses, according to people involved in the deliberations, calls for the agency to formally certify to ICAO that all national and EASA licenses entail common standards and are deemed valid across European borders, therefore complying with ICAO's legal requirements. The debate became public recently when Mr. Ky revealed his discussions with ICAO officials. But for the long run, Mr. Ky has revived the controversial notion of having EASA assume a larger role in ICAO-something that has been a diplomatic flop before and is likely to be strenuously opposed again by representatives of many countries. EASA isn't bucking for full ICAO membership. Still, even European countries probably would balk at giving EASA significantly more influence inside ICAO. "I'm not sure they would like to see" someone from EASA or the EU "appointed to represent all of them," Mr. Ky said. http://www.wsj.com/articles/european-union-moves-to-broaden-air-safety- responsibilities-1468578273 Back to Top New Technology Aims to Track Hypoxia-Like Symptoms in Fighter Pilots FARNBOROUGH, England -- A British company is teaming up with the Air Force to design a system that could assess and even treat hypoxia-like symptoms in pilots before they become a threat. Executives with Cobham Plc said the company is in the early stages of development with a system that could monitor a pilot's breathing, metabolic and physiological state and more by means of unobtrusive sensors mounted onto the pilot's breathing hose and mask. Rob Schaeffer, product director for environmental systems at Cobham, told Military.com that the product development was in response to a request for proposals from the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Cobham already builds the on-board oxygen generation systems used in F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and other fighter aircraft. The request for proposals follows a troubling series of incidents in recent years. In 2011, the Air Force grounded its fleet of F-22 Raptors in order to investigate a pattern of pilot blackouts and other hypoxia-like symptoms. The force ultimately installed automatic oxygen backups in the aircraft. More recently, Breaking Defense reported an uptick in "physiological events" indicative of oxygen deprivation symptoms for Navy F/A-18 Hornet pilots over the last five years. Schaeffer emphasized that the root causes of these problems is not known, and hypoxia is only a hypothesis. The system now under development, he said, could isolate the root causes and generate data to help researchers determine when the problem occurs and how best to fix it. While the current model of the system is platform-agnostic, linking in to a pilot's breathing apparatus, Cobham is also evaluating a platform-specific design that would be built into the aircraft. "If you have a sensor like this, what we'd like to do is integrate this into the aircraft and make this an automated backup oxygen system," said Stuart Buckley, Cobham's senior director of business development and sales. Cobham plans to deliver airworthy hardware to the Air Force by April 2017 for testing according to the service's flight protocols that would demonstrate the sensors' ability to collect pilot data and download it at the end of flight. While there is no formal agreement with the Navy regarding the project, Schaeffer said the service is aware of it. "We have participated in many briefings with [U.S. Naval Air Systems Command] and the Office of Naval Research, and there is a high degree of interest," he said. The final solution could analyze pilot health in flight far beyond oxygen levels: Schaeffer said the company was looking at building in electrocardiogram capability and assessing factors like Gs pulled, climbing altitude, temperature, humidity and pressure to isolate causes of hypoxia-like incidents in order to solve the problem. "If I can help the government find the root cause, I've got a better chance to solve the problem," Buckley said. http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/07/15/new-technology-aims-track-hypoxia- like-symptoms-fighter-pilots.html Back to Top Nigeria's worsening jet fuel shortage now a serious threat Over the past week or so, several Nigerian commercial operators have issued statements warning the government, and the country at large, that a worsening shortage of aviation fuel could lead to a grounding of all flights if not properly addressed. Air Peace (APK, Lagos) and Arik Air (W3, Lagos) last week said in separate statements that a recent spate of cancellations would only get worse given the protracted scarcity of Jet A1. "The situation is critical in Lagos and Abuja, the operational hubs of Arik Air, and the airline has warned that if the situation is not addressed as a priority by the marketers, more flights could be delayed or cancelled," airline spokesman, Adebanji Ola, said in a statement. Though Africa's largest oil producer, Nigeria, ironically, has to import its Jet A1. But, given the collapse in the value of the Nigerian naira in recent months and given a tight scarcity of available foreign currency, importers have struggled to source enough product to satiate local demand. "For quite some time now, there has been a general scarcity of Jet-A1 fuel in the country. Since the development, we have resorted to different alternative sources to secure the product to ensure that flight delays did not disrupt the programmes of our numerous loyal customers," Air Peace's Chief Operating Officer (COO), Oluwatoyin Olajide, said. "Although this has proved very costly for us to manage, we have spared nothing in our bid to source aviation fuel for our operations. We, however, regret that despite our huge efforts, we have not been able to secure enough fuel to run our operations without some hitches." The scarcity of foreign currency has also affected local operators' regional West African flights. Unable to source enough US dollars at a competitive rate to pay its Ghanaian operating costs, Dana Air (9J, Lagos) and Aero Contractors (NG, Lagos) recently suspended their respective Accra flights. http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/47930-nigerias-worsening-jet-fuel-shortage- now-a-serious-threat Back to Top Asiana Airlines was storing bank info and thousands of passports on its website Asiana Airlines was found to be storing roughly 47,000 documents containing scanned passports, bank account information, home addresses, and other sensitive customer details on its website. Victims include those who have traveled or plan to travel on Korea's second-largest airline or one of its affiliate partners, such as United, Air Canada, Air China, Lufthansa, and Thai Airways. The breach was first reported by The Korea Times, which was able to easily access a number of scanned documents right on its website, to include a flight ticket invoice from Sep. 2014. The Times reported the airline had shut down its Frequently Asked Questions section after it was notified of the compromise. The airline said it was investigating in a statement posted to its website, but said the breach was limited only to customers who uploaded or attached documents when using the "Contact Us" feature on its website. "According to our internal report, we ascertained the possibility of exposed documents on our website's 'Contact Us' section," the airline wrote. "Asiana Airlines is still investigating this potential breach and will continue to monitor its security system to determine which, if any, customers' personal information was compromised. Once the investigation is complete, Asiana Airlines will immediately contact customers whose personal information has been compromised." http://www.techinsider.io/koreas-asiana-airlines-customer-database-leaked-2016-7 Back to Top 328 Type Certificate holder breathes new life into aircraft Germany's 328 Support Services has taken the next step towards reinstating 328 Series production, with key supplier deals announced at last week's Farnborough Airshow. The 328 Series - the only aircraft of its kind certified with both a jet and turboprop variation - evolved under Dornier, Fairchild Dornier and AvCraft ownership before fading from production in the early 2000s. For almost nine years, 328 Support Services - which holds the Type Certificate - has maintained, supported and modified in-service Dornier 328 turboprops and 328JETs. But the Sierra Nevada Corporation subsidiary sees potential in producing sister types that extend beyond the 32-seat regional airliner role for which they were originally marketed. It believes the aircraft are ideal for a wide variety of uses spanning surveillance and rescue missions to passenger and VIP jets. Now work is underway to establish a new production line in Turkey, producing the modernised TRJ328 jet and TRP328 turboprop under the brand TRJet. The forward right decal gave a look into the 328 in regional airliner configuration, with 32 seats. This isn't the first attempt to transform these regional airliners. Fairchild Dornier toyed with the so-called Envoy 328JET business aircraft before bankruptcy ended production, but the type had little opportunity to impress the market. According to Ray Mosses, director of sales at 328 Support Services, when the company acquired the 328 Type Certificate, the Envoy interior was already dated. But the aircraft's 2m-wide cabin also offers 2m of headroom, which is space enough for a high-end VIP completion. When a handful of customers wanted conversions from 328JET airliner configurations, "we brought it up to the latest spec, with LED lighting, satcom and Wi-Fi, 36in TV, new seats and one-piece sidewalls. We sold eight or nine based on second hand aircraft," says Mosses. The majority of business aircraft flights are two to three hours in length, falling exactly into the 328JET's range capability and sufficiently short that its reduced speed compared to a 'conventional' bizjet makes as little as 10 minute's difference in flying time. There are further advantages in the aircraft's unusual performance, which includes short and rough- field capability - Mosses says a 328 operator could choose to operate from a beach, for example, a capability proven by the 328 in US military service and carried over to the VIP and airliner versions. satcom bizav SDThe straight-winged 328JET lacks the ramp presence of a Challenger or Global - types Mosses considers prime competitors, but combined with the ability to use short airstrips, this anonymity could be extremely valuable to some customers, just as it suits US government operations around the world. Its pricing is also attractive: "You might pay $50 million for a Global, but I could probably do a new-build VIP 328JET for around $20 million, available from 2019/20," he says. In its engineering and design, the 328 was already technologically advanced, with 25% composites in its structure. But the company chose the Farnborough Airshow to announce Rockwell Collins' Fusion as the avionics for new production aircraft, replacing the original Honeywell Primus. "We selected it for its current and add-on capability. It's easily adaptable for the special missions market because of its open architecture," says Mosses. Another major change concerns maximum take-off weight, with the turboprop and jet both certified at 15,660kg, an increase of 1,670kg for the former. "It means we're keeping the existing engine for the jet, but we've chosen the PW127 for the turboprop," explains Mosses. "It's a good, robust regional aircraft engine and has the additional power we need for the increased weight. We're aiming to keep all the capabilities and performance of the original 328 across all its variants, but with the increased take-off weight." With extensive commonality across the jet and turboprop, operators will have the possibility of operating mixed fleets with minimal impact on maintenance and pilot training. Mixed-role fleets are also a possibility and the potential for true VIP transport onto austere strips a reality. During the airshow, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) committed to the purchase of 10 TRJ328 aircraft and Sentinel Aerospace Group of Singapore confirmed five TRP328 turboprop aircraft for special mission use. New-build 328s will feature a 54in cargo door, here superimposed over the legacy door as a white outline. Luggage stowage is already generous, while possibilities for mixed cargo/passenger interiors will be available in the new aircraft. https://www.runwaygirlnetwork.com/2016/07/19/328-type-certificate-holder-breathes- new-life-into-aircraft/ Back to Top The threat of China's space station crashing into a city is part of a more interesting development Daniel Brown, The Conversation China's first space station, Tiangong-1, has hit the headlines after satellite trackers suggested it might be out of control and about to crash to Earth - potentially into a populated area. So should we worry? If China had indeed lost control of the module, it is not certain that it would end up in a trajectory that would make it crash into Earth anytime soon. But even if it does, it will not create an enormous fireball and is unlikely to cause widespread damage. The event is nevertheless extremely interesting as it demonstrates the increasing role of amateur astronomers in keeping an eye on space missions - even the most secretive ones. China is just one of many nations exploring space using manned and unmanned space probes. China successfully deployed Tiangong into orbit around Earth in 2011 at an altitude of 350 to 400 kilometers. This space laboratory module weighs 8.5 tonnes and is 12 meters long with a diameter of 3 meters. That is fairly small; in fact it is smaller than the American Skylab station launched in 1973. Tiangong had an estimated lifetime of two years. Its main purpose was to test important docking maneuvers for resupplying and operating a space station. During its lifetime, two Chinese Shenzhou missions (9 and 10) visited the space station, each consisting of three crew members including a female "taikonaut." Status of Tiangong Just like the International Space Station, Tiangong can be easily observed from Earth, as it is very bright and moves quickly across the sky. Amateur astronomers therefore regularly observe it and other such objects. Even though Tiangong is a fraction of the size of the ISS and cannot be easily be seen in high resolution, the path and its brightness can still be measured reliably. This information can help determine its orbit and rotation, giving an indication of the health of the space station. Amateur astronomer Thomas Dorman, an experienced satellite tracker from Texas, suggested that the Chinese had lost control of Tiangong when he noticed that the space station was rotating a certain way. Tiangong was in sleep mode, as it was never intended to be revisited beyond 2013. In fact, the China Manned Space Engineering office said the space station had ended its mission and had terminated data services in March. The organization also reported that its telemetry service had failed, making its space station effectively impossible to contact. The latest reports from some satellite trackers suggest that it might now be on a trajectory to crash into Earth. Dorman also suggested, however, that China could still awaken Tiangong for a coordinated reentry and may be saving its remaining fuel for this. The lack of a statement from the China Manned Space Engineering office has been interpreted by some as an additional indication that the space station is indeed about to burn up in our atmosphere. But this doesn't mean that it is. T.S. Kelso, a senior research astrodynamicist at the Center for Space Standards & Innovation in the US, stated that the station was shifted into a higher orbit at the start of this year and that its altitude is decreasing much more slowly than before. As a result, Tiangong might have a fairly long life span, possibly not burning up until 2017. And we should not forget the political dimension to coverage of Tiangong by Western media. As an anonymous source told the Global Times, suggesting that the Tiangong situation is different in nature from the uncontrolled reentry of the US Skyab in 1979 over the Indian Ocean is basically a way of making China look threatening. We have survived even greater objects than Skylab reentering Earth's atmosphere. In 2001, the 150-tonne Mir space station burnt up during planned reentry - but the event resulted only in a few holiday snaps of the fragments, taken by tourists on the remote Fiji Islands. After all, most of our planet is covered by ocean or wilderness, so even if some fragments did hit the Earth, they are extremely unlikely to hit a populated area. Lessons learned? We survived Mir crashing ... and it was way bigger! NASA NASA It is interesting that the coverage has been triggered by amateur astronomers' observations of Tiangong. Everyone can observe and monitor the existence of satellites in orbit, keeping tabs on what goes on up there. It therefore becomes a lot harder to keep thing secretly in orbit, as demonstrated by the regular tracking of the US X-37B Space Plane. The details of the mission, launched by the US Air Force, are mostly classified. The Chinese space agency is faced with an interesting situation of global impact. Can it prove that it has an open and responsible space policy, as outlined by Dean Cheng, a senior research fellow at the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation? This might be achieved by publishing a reentry trajectory, including times and a location. This would be an important positive signal given China's increasingly active space program as well as its track record including the intentional destruction of one of its satellites in 2011, which caused a vast cloud of space debris. Some 900 objects are now part of the ever-increasing cloud of space junk that is becoming more and more of a problem for satellites and future space stations, including Tiangong-2, which will be launched in September. What is becoming increasingly evident is that we need globally recognized and enforceable space legislation that ensures safe and responsible operations in space - specifically around the Earth. But Space Law is still in its infancy, as exemplified by the Outer Space and Moon Treaty. This was created in the 1960s but has still not been recognized by all states. Nevertheless, the coverage of Tiangong makes it apparent that we do not have to rely on a specific monitoring organisation with custom-made observatories, directly or indirectly funded by the space industry, and therefore not really independent, for an insight into what is going on around the Earth. We, the people, are now able to do this by ourselves. So we are turning the tables on space agencies and industries around the world: We are watching them. Daniel Brown, Lecturer in Astronomy, Nottingham Trent University http://www.businessinsider.com/china-space-station-tiangong-1-may-impact-land-2016-7 Back to Top ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland 17 to 20 October, 2016 The International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) will hold their 47th annual seminar at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik, Iceland, from the 17 to 20 October 2016. The seminar theme is: "Every link is important" Papers will address this theme in conjunction with other contemporary matters on aviation safety investigation, including recent case studies, new investigation methods and aviation safety trends or developments. Registration and details of the main seminar, tutorial and companion programmes are available at www.esasi.eu/isasi-2016. We look forward to seeing you in Iceland Back to Top RSVP by contacting Erin Carroll, DFRC President by September 1 Email: erin.carroll@wnco.com or Telephone: (214) 792-5089 Back to Top Graduate Research Request You are being invited to consider taking part in a research survey on the influence of the psychological contract (the unwritten expectations between an employee and their employer) on a pilot's safety behaviours. I am seeking to understand if this part of the employment relationship has an influence on the safety behaviours of pilots. My focus is primarily on the European aviation environment. This survey is being undertaken as part of my Master of Science (MSc) in Air Safety Management at City University, London. I am undertaking this research in a purely independent capacity for my own personally funded studies. The results of this survey will only be used to support my dissertation. All data will be kept anonymous. No personally identifiable information will be collected. All answers reported in the analysis of the survey will be made without any connection to you. If you have experience working as a pilot, preferably for a European commercial air transport operator, and wish to take part please click on the link below. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/pilotspsycon Thank you for your support Kathryn Jones Back to Top Graduate Research Survey Helicopter Pilot Trust in Automation Study My name is Nick Currie and I am a helicopter pilot currently working towards my Masters of Aviation Safety at Florida Institute of Technology. Part of my program requires me to research a topic related to my field of expertise in order to satisfy the requirements of a Master's level thesis. My thesis is focused on the topic of trust in automation. More specifically, how much helicopter pilots trust two types of Enhanced Flight Vision Systems(EFVS): Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) and Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS). The most common type of EVS technology is Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR), and the most common type of SVS technology is a 3D moving map display. I am interested in gathering responses from any helicopter pilot regarding their trust in each of these system's capabilities. If you have used one, both, or neither of the systems, I am still very interested in gaining your input in this study. Ultimately, by completing this research, I hope to develop a list of recommendations to improve EFVS automation to aid the pilot in accomplishing their primary tasks. The survey (see link below) takes no more than 10 minutes, and it asks a series of 12 questions on each display. Please consider taking a few minutes of your time to help improve this growing field of cockpit automation. Thank you for your time and consideration. Survey Link - https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2788023/Enhanced-Flight-Vision- Systems Nick Currie Curt Lewis