Flight Safety Information April 19, 2017 - No. 079 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft grounded in Delhi due to hydraulic failure Malaysia Airlines to track planes with satellites Are ultra-long airplane flights bad for your health? Air Wisconsin hiring more than 400 pilots as it returns to United Express Poland orders Boeing 737 VIP jets seven years after tragedy Fire broke out at a factory of jet manufacturer Embry-Riddle Executive Master of Science in Safety Science Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Graduate Research Survey Graduate Research Survey Request SAFE Encourages Pilot Input on GA Runway Incursions (Survey) Research Survey Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft grounded in Delhi due to hydraulic failure Engineers are working on the plane and it is expected to be airworthy soon; the same aircraft is scheduled for flying to New York at 5 pm. AI flight grounded before its departure for New York due to problem in the engine. (Photo: File) New Delhi: An Air India flight with around 300 passengers on board was grounded in New Delhi on Wednesday before its departure for New York due to hydraulic failure in one of the aircraft engines. All the passengers have been accommodated in a nearby hotel and the flight has been rescheduled for 5 PM on Wednesday, an Air India spokesperson said. The Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft had to be grounded due a hydraulic failure in one of the aircraft engines, the spokesperson said. Air India flight AI 101 (New Delhi-New York) was scheduled to depart from the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi at 0140 hours. "All passengers had boarded the aircraft and it was ready for departure when problem in the engine was detected," said a stranded flyer. The engineers were called in to fix the glitch and make the aircraft airworthy but to no avail, the passenger said. "We remained seated in the plane till around 6 am. Later, the airline staff shifted us to a hotel," the passenger said. Air India tried to arrange another aircraft to ferry the stranded passengers but it could not be made available, the spokesperson said. The engineers are working on the plane and it is expected to be airworthy soon, the spokesperson said, adding, the same aircraft will fly to New York at 5 pm. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/190417/boeing-777-300-er-aircraft-grounded-in- delhi-due-to-hydraulic-failure.html Back to Top Malaysia Airlines to track planes with satellites A file picture dated 17 July 2016 shows a passenger walking past a Malaysia Airlines aircraft within a viewing gallery of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia Airlines has become the first carrier to sign up to a new satellite flight tracking system for its fleet. It comes three years after its MH370 flight bound for Beijing disappeared with 239 people on board. Using a soon-to-be-launched satellite network, the airline will be able to monitor its planes in areas where there is currently no surveillance. They include polar regions and remote areas of oceans not covered by existing systems. Path change The airline reached a deal for the service provided by US-based Aireon, FlightAware and SITAONAIR. The new system can also provide more regular updates on a plane's location, especially when travelling over oceans and other remote areas, said SITAONAIR's portfolio director Paul Gibson. Aircrafts deviating from a flight path could be identified more quickly as a result, he said. "With access to up-to-the-minute reporting, Malaysia Airlines will know the location, heading, speed and altitude of all aircraft in its fleet, at all times, and be alerted to any exceptions." But it is unclear if the additional tracking ability would have had any impact on the MH370 disappearance. All tracking systems monitor a plane's location using its on-board transmitter. When the Kuala Lumpur- Beijing flight vanished in March 2014, the transmitter signal was lost, with some suspicions it was done deliberately. Customer confidence Most flights currently transmit their position using signals tracked from both the ground and space. The new service, available in 2018, will add to that coverage, using the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation which was launched earlier this year. Families criticise MH370 search halt The fate of MH370 remains one of the world's greatest aviation mystery. More than 120,000 sq km (46,300 miles) of the Indian Ocean has been searched with no sign of the aircraft. Some pieces of debris have been found on African islands including Madagascar. The deep-water search for the flight was called off earlier this year. Malaysian Airlines has been trying to win back customers' confidence, by offering travel discounts and flight promotions. The carrier's chief operating officer, Izham Ismail, said the firm was "proud" to be the first airline to sign up for the system. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39637974 Back to Top Are ultra-long airplane flights bad for your health? Flying comes with a few health risks-but the biggest one might not be felt by passengers Commercial flights are getting longer and longer. Currently, the world's longest commercial flight takes seventeen and a half hours. It connects Auckland, New Zealand to Doha, Qatar, and was only introduced in February. It probably won't be long, though, before this record is usurped. Nineteen-hour flights from Singapore to New York and twenty-hour treks from Sydney to London are expected to join the fray soon. These ultra long-haul flights are becoming more efficient and economically viable. They're also a slog for passengers. But is there a point where a super-long flight becomes a public health risk? There are a few health risks linked to flying (yes, aside from being dragged off the plane. Or stung by falling scorpions). Tacking on a few more hours probably won't have much of an impact, though. "If it's one seventeenth of the trip, it's not that big of a deal," says Fanancy Anzalone, an aerospace medicine physician and past president of the Aerospace Medical Association. Still, he says, "There's a multitude of things that you need to be concerned about when you do go on a long-haul flight." Sitting still in a cramped seat for hours isn't just unpleasant-it can lead to deep vein thrombosis, when blood clots form in the legs because of poor blood flow. The longer you don't move, the greater your risk. Worst case scenario, the clot can break free and lodge in the lungs. Fortunately, this is rare. And you can cut down on your risk by getting up and walking around or flexing your legs. Passengers "really need to think about getting up anywhere between three to four hours and walk around," Anzalone says. "But by sitting on your chair and just pumping your legs-in essence pressing down on your heels and up with your toes-that little bit can make a big difference in whether somebody is going to have a [deep vein thrombosis]." It also helps to stay hydrated-which means avoiding the very drinks you're most likely to reach for on a flight. Soft drinks, booze, and coffee are all diuretics, meaning that they make you pee more. "If you are going on a long haul it's recommended that you start [hydrating] the day before," Anzalone says. The superdry air on a plane can make it easier to get dehydrated. It also dries out your mucus membranes, which keeps them from trapping germs. Which is unfortunate, because there is always chance you'll catch a cold or worse from your fellow passengers. "As each hour goes by you have a little more exposure, and so therefore the probability of catching a cold on a flight like that grows," Anzalone says. So you might be out of luck if you're seated next to someone who is already ill. However, the idea that the recirculating air on a plane abets disease transmission is a myth. "Airflow and circulation of cabin air is quite sophisticated technically, so there is usually no high risk of getting infected even if you have someone [sick] sitting two rows before," says Jochen Hinkelbein, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Cologne in Germany and president of the German Society of Aerospace Medicine . You should be more concerned about the tray tables, bathrooms, and other germ-gathering surfaces you're likely to come into contact with. They do get wiped down after flights. "The major airlines that are flying long-haul in my experience do extremely well in making sure that he airplane is as clean...as possible," Anzalone says. But he does recommend traveling with hand wipes or sanitizer. Really, it's best to touch as little as possible. There's not much you can do about the cosmic rays, though. Each time a passenger flies, they are exposed to a tiny amount of radiation from space. "The more time you're on the plane, the more radiation exposure you'll get," says Steven Barrett, an aerospace engineer at MIT. However, the radiation most travelers are exposed to in a given year falls comfortably within the recommended radiation exposure for a member of the public. "The very frequent travelers who are flying on long-haul flights could potentially go above the recommended limits of radiation exposure," says Barrett, who has calculated how much radiation flyers are exposed to. "But that's not within the region where you'd have any real health concerns." It's unclear how harmful these still-low levels of radiation exposure are, or if they are harmful at all, he says. Pilots and other flight crewmembers do spend enough time in the air that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers them radiation workers. The agency recommends they try to limit their time on flights that are very long, fly at high altitudes, or fly over the poles. Another concern is that the air pressure is also lower on a plane than it is at sea level. This doesn't bother most people. However, the thin air can cause problems for those who are old or have heart conditions or other pre-existing illnesses. Ultimately, the longer a flight is, the more time you have for something to go wrong. And planes have become larger in recent years, which also increases the probability that someone on board will have a medical emergency. "Traveling itself is becoming more and more popular, more and more convenient even for the old ones with...pre-existing diseases," Hinkelbein says. "So we have an...unhappy triad which is the setting is not ideal for unhealthy persons, the persons are older and older and having more pre existing diseases, and not moving within the aircraft cabin, drinking only a little bit." There's no specific amount of time that is unsafe, and it depends on the individual traveler. "But my feeling is below 12 [or] 14 hours, you can nearly send everyone, if it's longer you should be a little careful," Hinkelbein says. About half of the medical issues that do crop up on planes are cardiovascular troubles such as fainting or dizziness. Estimates for how often people have in-flight medical emergencies vary, ranging from one passenger in 10,000 to one in 40,000. For these crises, planes come equipped with medical kits and equipment such as defibrillators. "Every one of the long-haul flights have a way by radio to connect to physicians that are available around the world to talk to them," Anzalone says. "I have talked to pilots about medical issues that are on board and how to handle it, do you divert or not divert." However, very few airlines have forms to document when passengers do get sick, Hinkelbein says. He'd like to see standardized forms and an international registry where all inflight medical problems are reported. "Then you can try to figure out what are really the most [frequent] causes of inflight medical problems." For the vast majority of people, though, even the longest flights will pass uneventfully. "The flying public on major airlines is very safe," Anzalone says. In fact, a plane's most profound influence probably isn't on the passengers-it turns out that airplanes cruising miles above the Earth's surface can cause problems down below. "The main health impact is probably emissions that come from them and the health impacts for people for the ground," Barrett says. He and his colleagues have estimated that 16,000 people globally die each year because of air pollution caused by planes. These emissions, which are linked to lung cancer and cardiopulmonary disease, came from planes at cruising height as well as those in the midst of takeoff and landing. But ultra long-haul flights may actually spew less harmful pollution than routes that include stopovers. "From a human health perspective the direct flight would be better," Barrett says. "Even though the high- altitude emissions do affect human health on the ground, the low altitude emissions at airports when the airplanes take off and land and taxi are still more impactful because they're closer to where people live." One of the more radical ideas to cut down on plane-related pollution is to use electric aircraft, which would release no emissions while flying. Unfortunately, however, the longest flights are unlikely to be good candidates for this technology. "Electric aircraft might be possible for shorter ranges, maybe up to 1000 or so miles, but it looks much less likely that electric aircraft could contribute in a meaningful way for ultra long-haul flights," Barrett says. "That's where there's no obvious or no real solution on the horizon." http://www.popsci.com/are-long-airplane-flights-bad-for-your-health Back to Top Air Wisconsin hiring more than 400 pilots as it returns to United Express * United Airlines adding or expanding service for 31 destinations * United Airlines adds low-cost fares to compete with Frontier, others Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. in Appleton is offering hiring bonuses of $33,000 as it seeks to ramp up its pilot ranks to fulfill new business as a regional carrier for United Airlines. The airlines, which already flies as a regional American Airlines carrier, expects to hire more than 400 pilots over the next two years with starting pay that has been increased to $35 an hour. The airline also raised its retention bonuses for its current first officers to $20,000, with half payable in May and half in October of this year. In September, Air Wisconsin will return to flying United Express regional flights for United Airlines. Air Wisconsin, which operates short-haul flights for large carriers, has signed a new agreement to operate as a United Express carrier beginning in September. By March 2018, Air Wisconsin will be operating exclusively as a United Express carrier with hubs at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, according to Air Wisconsin's website. The United contract, announced Feb. 28, ensures ongoing business for Air Wisconsin as it approaches the expiration of its American Airlines contract in early 2018, according to AviationTribune.com. Air Wisconsin announced the enhancements to its starting pay and signing and retention bonuses in February, but did not announce its new agreement with Chicago-based United Airlines at the time. United said Monday that the agreement calls for Air Wisconsin to operate 50 regional jets under the United Express brand. "This enhanced bonus and retention program is designed to retain our current base of quality pilots and quickly build that base in order to meet our growth plans," Bob Frisch, Air Wisconsin's chief operating officer, said in February. "We expect to hire over 400 pilots in the next two years, and this program secures our ability to recruit and retain experienced pilots capable of quickly progressing from first officer to captain." Air Wisconsin has a long history as a United Express carrier but has not flown for United for about a decade. That previous partnership had stretched back to the 1980s. Air Wisconsin, founded in 1965, now operates nearly 350 departures per day systemwide to 26 states and three Canadian provinces in partnership with American Airlines. http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2017/04/18/air-wisconsin-hiring-more-than-400-pilots-as- it.html Back to Top Poland orders Boeing 737 VIP jets seven years after tragedy 737 Max-9 jet is so quiet Boeing's webcasters didn't know it was on The government of Poland has ordered three 737 Next-Generation jets to be outfitted for top Polish politicians and bureaucrats. The order includes two new Boeing Business Jet 2 airplanes and a 737-800, which will serve as head-of- state aircraft for the European nation's president and top government officials. Poland ordered three aircraft to be made at Boeing's sprawling 737 factory complex in Renton. Chicago-based Boeing makes all BBJ and 737 aircraft at its sprawling factory complex in Renton. Deliveries are scheduled to start in late 2017 and run through 2020. Neither side disclosed the value of the deal, worth $262 million at list prices before special features and other equipment is added during the VIP customization process. "We have a great airplane, which will be very well equipped. This airplane can run the country from the air," Polish Deputy Defense Minister Bartosz Kownackisaid said in a Boeing news release. Boeing Business Jets offer a complete portfolio of ultra-large-cabin, long-range airplanes suited for VIP government and head of state flight operations. The BBJ 2 is a high performance derivative of the 737-800 jet that Boeing said is capable of flying nonstop from Warsaw to New York with 30 passengers. "We are proud that the government of Poland selected Boeing Business Jets as their new head-of-state aircraft," said Greg Laxton, vice president of Boeing Business Jets ."Boeing is committed to Poland and we look forward to continuing our long and successful partnership." Poland leased Embraer 170s for flights by government VIPs, which were flown by civilian pilots flown from LOT Polish Airlines, following the 2010 crash of Poland's presidential jet that killed then-President Lech Kaczy?ski and 95 others on board. Operated by the Polish Air Force, the Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154 jet crashed while trying to land in fog in the western Russia city of Smolensk. Russians blamed the crash on a series of pilot errors and poor training. More than a dozen Polish military officers were sacked. But in Poland, some political leaders have called it an outright assassination, while others who led a recent government commission speculated that it was caused by a mid-air collision hidden by the Russians. Conspiracy theories abound even to this day, with nearly one-third of Polish survey respondents blaming the crash on an attack or assassination. Despite years of requests, Russian authorities have not handed over airplane wreckage of the plane to Poland so it could make its own investigations and inquiries, only fueling the conspiracies. Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said Poland plans to hire foreign lawyers to force Russia to surrender the wreckage, Radio Poland reported. http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2017/04/17/poland-boeing-737-bbj2-order-crash.html Back to Top Fire broke out at a factory of jet manufacturer A factory building of the manufacturer of China's domestically developed narrow-body passenger jet in engulfed in fire today. -- Web photo A FIRE broke out in Pudong's Zhuqiao Town today at a factory building of the manufacturer of China's first domestically developed narrow-body passenger jet. The blaze was put out soon and there were no reports of injury, according to Pudong's fire department. The fire broke out around noon when workers were installing facilities in the under-construction factory building of the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co under the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), a press officer with the corporation said. Photos of the scene showed thick black smoke rising from the company's base on Shangfei Road. Smoke could be seen from the Pudong International Airport, according to witnesses. The COMAC is developing the single-aisle C919 aircraft, which passed the last expert assessment yesterday and is about to take off for its maiden flight soon, the COMAC announced. "The fire has no influence to the operation of the company, which is focusing on the preparations for the maiden flight of C919," the officer told Shanghai Daily. http://www.shanghaidaily.com/metro/Fire-broke-out-at-a-factory-of-jet-manufacturer/shdaily.shtml Back to Top Back to Top Back to Top Graduate Research Survey Dear colleagues, The flight crew of an airliner is expected to exhibit very high levels of decision making, all the time. Disasters are often attributed to poor decision making skills that are rigorously scrutinised after the event but a good decision never faces similar depth of review. I am doing a research on this very topic and need your help with a short anonymous survey. The primary objectives of this survey are to evaluate: 1. How pilots make decisions in a time and safety critical situation. 2. Whether there are any comparisons with other professionals facing similar time and safety pressures. The survey can be completed here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7TKJ66K Can you spare a few moments to take my survey? www.surveymonkey.co.uk Please take the survey titled "Anonymous Survey- Decision making in a time and safety critical environment.City University of London naveed.kapadia@city.ac.uk". Your feedback is important! Thank you for your help and support with this research. Naveed MSc student at City University of London Back to Top Graduate Research Survey Request My name is Mohamed Sheryenna. I'm a student at the University of South wales (UK), MSc. Aircraft Maintenance System. I'm conducting this research about Importance of Implementation SMS to Aircraft Maintenance: For reducing accidents. This study would look to understand the approaches and benefits of implementation SMS in Aircraft maintenance organization to reduce risk of accidents or at least mitigate it by identify and manage risks in predictive phase. Moreover, the study sought to determine the influence of the organizational culture and its effective on maintenance. In addition, to assess some tools used by SMS to support maintenance and engineering to obtain optimal aircraft maintenance. Ultimately, the effectiveness of an SMS implementation means the organization can manage the complexity of these mechanisms to defend against risk incubation. All the information will be treated confidentially and reported in the aggregate. The resultant data will be analyzed as part of my master degree's thesis. I will strictly respect the confidentiality of all participants' input. If you are a participant, and if you desire, I will provide you with a copy of the outcomes of my study. Please return the survey with your business card or contact information to indicate your interest in receiving a copy of the results. I would greatly appreciate your input to my survey. I realize that you are very busy; and completion of the survey should require not more than 10 minutes of your time. These questionnaires are intended to explore SMS in Aircraft maintenance and are purely for academic purpose. Your participation in this research will be highly appreciated. please click the link below to go through the survey http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/8YYUA/ Thank you very much for your cooperation. Sincerely yours, Mohamed Sheryenna 15050033@students.southwales.ac.uk Tel. 00447459876975 Back to Top SAFE Encourages Pilot Input on GA Runway Incursions (Survey) Active general aviation (GA) pilots are being asked to help an ongoing study of GA runway incursions by completing a new online questionnaire. The FAA has said that runway incursions - a vehicle or aircraft on the ground endangering aircraft landing or taking off - average three per day and are a "serious safety concern." GA pilots are involved in about 80 percent of runway incursions. "The question is, what are GA pilots doing, or not doing, that results in so many runway incursions?" said Professor Donna F. Wilt of the Florida Institute of Technology College of Aeronautics. "By analyzing such occurrences we can help mitigate those dangerous situations." The study is being conducted by the FIT College of Aeronautics, Hampton University Department of Aviation and Purdue University Department of Aviation Technology. It is funded through the Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS), and the FAA Center of Excellence for GA. SAFE is a partner of PEGASAS. The questionnaire will be available from April 1 through April 30, 2017. To take the new questionnaire, click here or click on or copy and past the URL below. The questionnaire is also available on the SAFE web site at www.SAFEPilots.org and will be available at the SAFE booth at Sun 'n Fun. SAFE is encouraging its members to participate in the project. Direct Link URL: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeiJFFh52kh_afnEN7qoBRoliQvqLSUhksMQAGDGbO- EcDweg/viewform?usp=sf_link For more information, contact the project's Principal Investigator, Dr. Scott Winter. SAFE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting aviation education at all levels of learning. SAFE is a recognized leader in pilot training reform, safety education, and the mentoring of aviation educators. For information on free resource materials and membership, go to www.safepilots.org. Scott Winter Assistant Professor of Aviation Science College of Aeronautics, Florida Institute of Technology 321-674-7639 (Office) 218-269-9376 (Cell) Back to Top Research Survey Dear Aviation Colleague, my name is Arjun Rao. I am research associate at the Center for Aviation Studies at the Ohio State University. My colleagues and I would greatly appreciate your response to a short survey to better understand pilots's use of weather information products during flight. Participation in this survey is voluntary. All answers reported in the analysis will not bear any connection to you or any response that you might provide. Thank you very much in advance for your participation on this survey. Your responses are greatly appreciated and will help our efforts to improve GA safety. The link to the survey is : https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3yJ3oNLMYh4lO17 Please let me know if you have any questions/would like me to provide additional information. Once again, we appreciate your help. Regards, Arjun ************************************************** Arjun H. Rao, Ph.D. Research Specialist The Ohio State University Center for Aviation Studies Room 125, 140 West 19th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210 614-688-2634 rao.119@osu.edu https://aviation.osu.edu/ Curt Lewis