Flight Safety Information September 26, 2017 - No. 192 In This Issue Incident: Atlas B748 at Hong Kong on Sep 24th 2017, immediate wrong turn after takeoff Incident: Seoul A321 near Okinawa on Sep 25th 2017, engine shut down in flight Accident: Badr B735 at Khartoum on Sep 24th 2017, bird strike Passenger jet has emergency at California airport EVAS - Cockpit Smoke Protection Vistara passes IATA safety audit Volocopter flying taxi takes unmanned flight over Dubai Marine Aviation Deaths Are Six Times Navy's Some call for better pilot hypoxia training Korean airlines to hire 3,000 pilots by 2022 Qatar Air Mulls New Boeing 747 Freighter Order as Cargo Booms British Airways pushes planes with remote-controlled vehicles TODAY'S PHOTO Incident: Atlas B748 at Hong Kong on Sep 24th 2017, immediate wrong turn after takeoff An Atlas Air Boeing 747-800 freighter on behalf of Cathay Pacific, registration N856GT performing freight flight CX-86 from Hong Kong (China) to Anchorage,AK (USA), was in the initial climb out of Hong Kong's runway 07R around 23:45L (15:45Z) being handed off from tower to departure when the crew initiated a premature right hand turn towards Lantau Island climbing over terrain rising up to 1500 feet MSL below safe altitude. The aircraft subsequently turned onto a heading parallel to the runway already past the island, then joined the departure route again and continued to Anchorage for a landing without further incident. Residents on Lantau Island reported, just before midnight they were shaken out of bed by a low flying aircraft, that came very close to hit the mountains near the Discovery Bay Tunnel (DB tunnel) connecting the north and south of Lantau Island. http://avherald.com/h?article=4aede2af&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Seoul A321 near Okinawa on Sep 25th 2017, engine shut down in flight An Air Seoul Airbus A321-200, registration HL8281 performing flight RS-101 from Guam (Guam) to Seoul (South Korea) with 104 people on board, was enroute at FL340 about 360nm east of Okinawa (Japan) when the crew needed to shut the right hand engine (V2533) down. The aircraft drifted down to FL180 and diverted to Okinawa for a safe landing on runway 36 about 90 minutes later. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Okinawa about 23 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4aeddc76&opt=0 Back to Top Accident: Badr B735 at Khartoum on Sep 24th 2017, bird strike A Badr Airlines Boeing 737-500, registration C5-BDB performing flight J4-341 from Damazin to Khartoum (Sudan), was on final approach to Khartoum when a falcon impacted the aircraft's radome with the remains coming to rest inside the aircraft's nose causing internal structural damage. The aircraft continued for a safe landing. The damage to the nose: http://avherald.com/h?article=4aeda980&opt=0 Back to Top Passenger jet has emergency at California airport This frame from mobile phone video shows smoke inside an Allegiant Air jet after it landed at Fresno Yosemite International Airport in Californias Central Valley, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017. Smoke filled the cabin of an Allegiant Air jet after it landedThe Associated Press Smoke filled the cabin of an Allegiant Air jet after it landed at a California airport on Monday, forcing coughing passengers to cover their faces with shirts and firefighters to board the plane, authorities said. None of the 150 passengers or six crew members was injured when the plane from Las Vegas landed at Fresno International Airport, Allegiant Air said. As the plane was taxiing in Fresno, it came to an abrupt stop and smoke started to fill the cabin from the front of the aircraft, said passenger Estevan Moreno, 34, a Fresno police officer. "We used our shirts to mask our faces from the smoke," he said. "I was coughing pretty good from it." At one point, the flight crew said they would pass out wet napkins to help passengers cover their mouths, Moreno said, but that didn't happen. After firefighters boarded the aircraft, crew members asked passengers to collect their carry-on items and exit the plane down a set of rear stairs, he said. The airline sent Moreno a $50 voucher for another flight, he said. Allegiant Air blamed the situation on a mechanical problem and said having passengers exit the plane before it reached a gate was done out of an abundance of caution. Federal Aviation Administration officials called it an emergency. Federal officials say passengers were escorted to the terminal. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/passenger-jet-emergency-california-airport-50091561 Back to Top Back to Top Vistara passes IATA safety audit 25 September 2017 The Indian airline Vistara passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). The airline was founded as a a joint venture between the Indian company Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines It commenced operations in 2015. The fleet currently consists of thirteen Airbus A320's and three Airbus A320neo's, used to serve 21 cities in India. The IOSA programme is an evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognised quality audit principles and is designed to conduct audits in a standardised and consistent manner. It was created in 2003 by IATA. All IATA members are IOSA registered and must remain registered to maintain IATA membership. https://news.aviation-safety.net/2017/09/25/vistara-passes-iata-safety-audit/ Back to Top Volocopter flying taxi takes unmanned flight over Dubai Dubai is moving full steam ahead toward a future skyline dotted with modern skyscrapers and flying taxis Dubai is moving full steam ahead toward a futuristic skyline dotted with modern skyscrapers and flying taxis by kicking off trials of the Volocopter two-seater aircraft. The all-electric 18-rotor vehicle took to the skies for the first time over the city on Monday as the city looks to establish what would be world's first self-flying taxi service. The Volocopter first emerged in 2013 as an audacious electric aircraft, and has gathered quite a bit of momentum in the subsequent years through a series of successful test flights and, more recently, a US$29 million investment from Daimler. Designed to autonomously carry two passengers from point A to point B without a pilot, the Volocopter in its current form can fly for 30 minutes at a time with a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Dubai announced its plans to trial the Volocopter back in June, and has rebranded it as the Autonomous Air Taxi (AAT) for its purposes. It is hoped the aircraft will play a role in having autonomous vehicles handle a quarter of all passenger journeys in the city by 2030. "The Autonomous Air Taxi has a variety of unique features that include top security and safety standards, and multiple redundancies in all critical components such as propellers, motors, power source, electronics and flight controls," says HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai's Road and Transport Authority. "It is also fitted with optional emergency parachutes, nine independent battery systems, and a battery quick-charge and plug-in system, which takes two hours to reach full charge in the prototype version, a time that will be significantly reduced in the production version." Nobody was in the vehicle as it made its maiden flight over Dubai, near Jumeirah Beach Park. The Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan, was on hand to press the launch button and kick off the autonomous test flight, and watch on as it beamed back live shots from the sky. He also received a briefing on how the air taxi will be integrated with other public transport systems and how the public will be able to book flights and track its flight paths through a smartphone app. The trials of Dubai's Autonomous Air Taxi will take place over five years. Source: Government of Dubai http://newatlas.com/volocopter-flying-taxi-dubai/51492/ Back to Top Marine Aviation Deaths Are Six Times Navy's Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. graphic from Navy & Marine Corps data Does not include foreign personnel killed aboard US aircraft. WASHINGTON: If you know a young person who dreams of flying for their country over land and sea, tell them they're a lot safer in the Navy than in the Marines. The MV-22 tilt-rotor that crashed in August, killing three, and the KC-130T transport that crashed in July, killing 16, are just the tip of a very ugly iceberg. According to data obtained by Breaking Defense, aircraft accidents have killed 62 Marines in the last six years, compared to just 10 personnel from the much larger Navy. The other metrics aren't much better. Marine Corps aircraft suffer more so-called Class A Mishaps, involving loss of life or $1 million in damage, at consistently and significantly higher rates per 100,000 hours flown. (Non-fatal accidents are up, as well). If you look at the services' mainstay combat aircraft, the F-18 Hornet fighter family, which both services operate and are struggling with, the Marines' single-seater F-18As and Cs are twice as dangerous as the comparable Navy models. What's going on? Breaking Defense requested this data from the Navy and Marine Corps after this summer's deadly accidents prompted Marine Commandant Robert Neller to order rolling stand- downs across all the service's aviation units. The chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, Rep. Mac Thornberry and Sen. John McCain, said the aviation accidents - and the two deadly collisions at sea that killed 17 sailors - were symptoms of a wider readiness crisis, in which years of insufficient and inconsistent funding have forced dangerous cutbacks to training and maintenance. There's truth to that story, but it's not the whole story. First, it's essential to understand that mishap rates may look precise and unambiguous, but they reflect a messy reality. Even when no enemy is involved, military operations are inherently risky, as is training for those operations. As Clausewitz wrote 200 years ago, chance is a major factor, and thus both accident rates and death rolls can vary dramatically from year to year. Particularly for a small fleet of aircraft that don't fly many hours, a single bad accident can cause statistics to spike. For example, the KC-130T that crashed this summer was the only one to suffer a Class A mishap in five years, but it single-handledly pushed the type's mishap rate from zero to 4.1. All that said, however, something appears to be happening here that is more than just chance. Navy photo KC-130 landing. One systemic difference between the Marine Corps and the Navy is that most Marines are ground troops, which means a lot of Marine aircraft are troop carriers. That can have a dramatic impact on death rates. If a single-seat fighter jet goes down, only a single pilot goes down with it, and he or she has an ejection seat to get out. If a fully loaded transport crashes, there can be 20 people or more aboard, none of them with the option to eject. So even though the Marines lost six times more people over the last six years of accidents, they actually lost fewer aircraft. Some 47 Marine aircraft were destroyed or damaged in Class A mishaps, compared to 55 Navy aircraft (16 of them in a single annus horribilis, 2014, which was incidentally the year after sequestration cuts and, ironically, the Marines' best year). But none of those Navy aircraft went down with a lot of passengers aboard. Even if we set aside the tragic death toll, however, the Marines are losing aircraft at a disturbingly high rate. Yes, 47 Marine planes and helicopters destroyed or damaged since 2012 is smaller than 55 Navy aircraft - but not by much, and the Marine Corps is much smaller than the Navy. If a smaller group is having almost as many accidents as a larger one, the smaller one is having accidents at a much higher rate. MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor And that's exactly what we find. The Marine Corps' rate of Class A mishaps per 100,000 flying hours varies a lot from year to year, as does the Navy's. But in the very best year for the Marines, their rate is still 10 percent higher than the Navy's. In most years, it varies between 100 and 300 percent higher. In the worst year, it's 670 percent higher. Part of the reason is that the Marines operate a lot of older aircraft. If you look at individual aircraft types, the highest rate of mishaps belongs to the Navy C-20s, basically Gulfstream business jets converted to military transports in the 1980s and 1990s: It's a relatively old fleet, and it's also tiny - just six planes - so a single mishap in 2014 has an outsize effect. If you look at the next highest aircraft, three of them are aging Marine Corps platforms: * early-model F-18 Hornets that the Marines decided not to replace, while the Navy phased out its oldest F-18s in favor of new Super Hornets; * the AV-8 Harrier jump jet, whose vertical takeoffs and landings made it risky to fly even when new; * the CH-53E helicopter, which is being rebuilt and upgraded into the K-model; * and the KC-130T transport, a small fleet where this summer's crash has a huge effect on the statistics. The remaining plane in this high-risk category is the Navy's geriatric EA-6B Prowler; the Marines' remaining Prowlers actually do much better, for some reason, possibly pure luck. Interestingly, the mishap rate for the Marines' prized MV-22 Osprey is also fairly high. (It's the 8th highest on the combined Navy-Marine list of 29 aircraft types). That's a relatively young aircraft, but its unique tilt-rotor mechanism makes it especially complex and has contributed to at least some accidents. The age factor is probably the reason the Marines' Hornet fighters are doing so much worse than their Navy equivalents. First of all, the Navy has a lot of the newer Super Hornet models, the F- 18Es and Fs, as well as the radar-jamming variant, the EA-18G Growler; the Marines have none. Both services operate the original "Legacy Hornets," the single-seater F-18As and Cs: The Marine A and Cs suffer mishaps at more than double the rate of their Navy counterparts. Surprisingly, the Marines' two-seater F-18Ds are safer than any Navy Hornets, perhaps because they're chiefly used for training with an experienced instructor in the back to oversee the new pilot. Navy photo A Navy F-18C Hornet. Rather than join the Navy in buying Super Hornets, the Marines made a decision 20 years ago to keep their legacy Hornet fleet and wait for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. After many delays, the first squadron of F-35Bs was declared war-ready in 2015, and it combines the strike fighter capabilities of the Hornet with the jump-jet, small-deck operations of the Harrier. But in the meantime the Hornets and Harriers have aged badly, in part due to design shortcuts taken in the 1970s. To a great degree, today's young Marines may be suffering because of decisions made before they were born. Given the magnitude of the task at hand, it may take another generation to solve the problem. http://breakingdefense.com/2017/09/marine-aviation-deaths-are-six-times-navys/ Back to Top Some call for better pilot hypoxia training Hypoxia training in an altitude simulator. (Source: 3TV/CBS 5 News) Hypoxia is essentially the starvation of oxygen in the body. It can lead to feelings of euphoria and eventually disorientation and loss of consciousness. The National Transportation Safety Board says there have been several hypoxia-related crashes in the U.S. involving private aircraft. Hypoxia training is mostly done in the classroom and not in the real world. In fact, the Federal Aviation Administration only requires pilots to learn about hypoxia. One of the most effective means of teaching hypoxia is to actually experience it in a safe environment. This involves the use of a high-altitude chamber, where you can experience hypoxia while safely on the ground. Military aviators are required to test their reactions within one of these chambers, but civilian pilots aren't. In a high-altitude chamber at ASU, pilots are given the chance to experience the symptoms first- hand. The chamber can simulate a person being at upward of 90,000 feet or more. However, regular airline pilots only experience attitudes of 30,000 to 45,000 feet. So, in most cases, the pilots will go up to around 25,000 to 30,000 feet while wearing an oxygen mask and then take them off to see how they react. Trevor Cardey has been going to pilot training and has tried out the chamber on several occasions. "I get kinda tingly in my fingers and then it will spread up my arms, legs," Cardey said. "Then I'll start to get tunnel vision and then I will generally just start to feel bad. I just don't feel good at all." Experiencing hypoxia isn't the same for everybody. Some can have an immediate reaction and pass out, others might feel a bit drunk or happy. Cardey has seen several different reactions from others using the chamber. "It only took about 10 to 15 seconds, from the time he was off oxygen to when he starts doing this convulsing motion, that was a little freaky," Cardey said. Hypoxia has led to several deadly crashes in the U.S., all privately owned aircrafts. The highest- profile took place on October 25, 1999. Golfer Payne Steward's Learjet lost cabin pressure, which led to everyone onboard losing consciousness. The plane had left Florida and was bound for Texas, but ended up in a field in the Midwest. Everyone on board died. Outside the U.S. a major incident involving hypoxia occurred in 2005 when a 737 Helios Flight 522 lost cabin pressure, which led the crew and passengers to pass out. The plane flew for a good distance and then crashed, killing all 121 on board. While there hasn't been a major commercial airline disaster in the U.S. involving hypoxia, some, like Capt. Ron Diedrichs, would argue that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. He has years of flying experience in the military and has been involved in more than 20 major airline crash investigations. Diedrichs says one of the biggest issues to get pilots to use a high-altitude chamber is the cost. Some chambers can run as much as $4,000 per person or if you go with a large group it could be cut down to just $200. This is why high-altitude chambers might be seen by some as simply not cost effective. "In order for the pilots to go through training, they have to pull them off service, from the flightline and I've got to pay them to come to this training as well as pay for their wages and the training," Capt. Ron Diedrichs said. The FAA has its own mobile high-altitude chamber. It's taken to air shows and events to allow pilots the experience of hypoxia and to spread awareness of the dangers. However, hypoxia training could be better. Possibly requiring all airline pilots to take part in the training would be a good step forward. It might avert a disaster. "Until we have one that takes an airliner down in the United States, you're politically not able to get the industry to start insisting on the training," Diedrichs said. http://www.azfamily.com/story/36441941/some-call-for-better-pilot-hypoxia-training Back to Top Korean airlines to hire 3,000 pilots by 2022 Local South Korean airline carriers plan to train and hire 3,000 pilots by 2022 to meet growing demand, the transport ministry said Monday. The move is designed to help meet rising demand for airline service as an increasing number of Koreans opt to travel abroad. Currently, low-cost carriers offer flights mainly on Asian routes at reasonable prices, driving up overseas travel demand. As the country's eight airlines plan to add 152 planes to their fleets during the 2018-2022 period, they need at least 1,800 additional pilots to operate the new planes, industry people said. Currently, the eight airlines employ a combined 5,711 pilots. They are Korean Air Lines Co., Asiana Airlines Inc., and six budget carriers -- Jin Air, Jeju Air, Air Busan Co., Air Seoul Inc., Eastar Jet and T'way Air Co. For the next five years, 400 pilots are expected to retire and 500 are expected to quit domestic carriers to work at overseas rivals seeking higher pay, they said. (Yonhap) http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170926000266 Back to Top Qatar Air Mulls New Boeing 747 Freighter Order as Cargo Booms * Embargo provides an unexpected boost to carrier's air freight * CEO doesn't expect any Boeing, Airbus orders to be deferred Qatar Airways Ltd. is considering whether to order more Boeing Co. 747 jumbo freighters as global air cargo rebounds and the Persian Gulf carrier responds to a blockade of its home country. Akbar Al Baker, center, holds purchase orders at a Boeing facility on Sept. 25. Photographer: David Ryder/Bloomberg The jets, featuring a hinged nose that flips open to load oversize equipment, would help the Doha- based carrier make good on its ambition to become the largest international cargo operator in the world, Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker told reporters Monday during a visit to Seattle to take delivery of the first of Qatar Air's two 747-8 freighters. Boeing has been scrambling to land additional orders needed to extend the commercial life of its iconic hump-backed jet into the next decade. The Chicago-based planemaker had 20 unfilled orders for its 747 as of the end of August, including the two jets currently bound for Qatar Air. That is the equivalent of about three years of production at its current six-jets-a-year pace. Qatar Air's cargo division is flourishing as air freight emerges from a lengthy slump. Worldwide loads are up 11 percent this year through July, according to the International Air Transport Association, a trade group. The flight embargo imposed in June by neighboring nations to penalize Qatar actually has provided a benefit, Al Baker said. Air-freight deliveries have climbed 160 percent from a year ago as Qatar Air has airlifted in fresh food, medical equipment and other supplies. Four Arab nations severed diplomatic and transport links with Qatar as punishment for allegedly backing Islamic militants, a charge the Gulf nation denies. Unintended Boon "I'm pleased to tell you today that in fact the blockade has quite the opposite impact on our business to the one intended," Al Baker said. "Our adversaries thought they would bring us to our knees and we would capitulate, but this didn't happen." He dismissed any suggestion that Qatar Air might delay aircraft orders because of the blockade or slowing travel growth in the Middle East. "We are not studying any deferrals because Qatar Airways' aircraft orders are not all growth airplanes," Al Baker said. "They are also fleet replacement." The carrier plans to take all 110 of the Boeing 777X planes that it has committed to buy from Boeing through orders or options. And it expanded a previous order for 44 of Boeing's 777-300ER by four aircraft, a deal previously recorded on Boeing's backlog without disclosing the buyer. Combined with the two jumbos, the aircraft are worth $2.16 billion at list prices before the customary discounts. Qatar Air has decided to take all of the Airbus SE A350 aircraft it has on order, reversing an earlier plan to cancel four deliveries, Al Baker said. As to Qatar Air's ongoing war of words with U.S. carriers over access to the U.S. market, Al Baker advised its rivals to "shut up and mind their own business." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-25/qatar-air-mulls-new-boeing-747-freighter- order-as-cargo-booms Back to Top British Airways pushes planes with remote-controlled vehicles From renewable fuels to eco-friendly airplane tugs -- British Airways is interested in decreasing its ecological footprint. The airline has just announced the roll out of five new Molotok remote- controlled electric vehicles that can push back aircraft from the gate. These eco-friendly vehicles replace the standard diesel tugs that you typically see at airports so that a single ramp agent can push an aircraft out with a little control device worn on their belt. British Airways claims that it is the "first airline worldwide" to implement these tugs. The five new electric airplane tugs are in operation at 25 gates at Terminal 5 in Heathrow Airport. The Molotoks are able to move planes with more precision than traditional driven vehicles. The Mototok website claims that the electric vehicles can park up to 40 percent more airlines in the same amount of parking space. They hold their charge for up to three days and will be charged at stations at each of the 25 gates at Heathrow. "British Airways is the most punctual, major short-haul airline in London," said British Airway's COO Klaus Goersch in a statement. "The introduction of the Mototok will help us to stay at the top of the league and keep our flights departing on time. This major step to modernize our operation is a first in the airline industry, and part of wider investment in new technology that will enhance the experience our customers have." https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/british-airways-pushes-planes-remote-010200759.html Curt Lewis