Flight Safety Information February 24, 2020 - No. 039 In This Issue Incident: PIA AT42 at Sukkur on Feb 23rd 2020, emergency exit opened upon touch down Incident: Lufthansa Cityline CRJ9 near Frankfurt on Feb 21st 2020, cracked windshield Incident: Laudamotion A320 at Vienna on Feb 21st 2020, hail and lightning strikes de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Vazar Turbine Otter - Collision (Canada) Animation reveals Bek Air Fokker 100 crash sequence Pilot in crash that killed Kobe Bryant violated weather-related flight rules in 2015, FAA records JETSTAR PILOTS EXCEEDED SAFETY LIMITS AFTER GETTING SUMS WRONG Alaska Needs Broad Review of Aviation Safety, Officials Say Fokker 50 crash crew ignored multiple alerts during take-off roll Air traffic controllers tired, overworked, unsafe, says union (Australia) Reconstruction of MH17 reveals final moments of doomed flight Etihad unit gets nod to train Boeing 777, 787 pilots in Europe Airlines Offer Signing Bonuses To Tech Students American Airlines mishandled and lost more luggage than any carrier last year China wants to build a new space station. A planned launch in April will set the stage Drones Near Airports: A Real Hazard...By Dave Hughes ERAU Short-Course on Structural Failure Identification in Aircraft Accident Investigation Call for Papers for the Military Tutorial at ISASI 2020 Attention Aviation Safety Managers Incident: PIA AT42 at Sukkur on Feb 23rd 2020, emergency exit opened upon touch down A PIA Pakistan International Airlines Avions de Transport ATR-42-500, registration AP-BHM performing flight PK-631 from Ialamabad to Sukkur (Pakistan), touched down on Sukkur's runway when immediately upon touchdown the forward left emergency exit door fell into the aircraft. The aircraft rolled out without further incident and taxied to the apron. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 2:45 hours, then performed the return flight to Islamabad. The airline confirmed the incident stating an investigation is underway why the door opened. http://avherald.com/h?article=4d3b2a41&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Lufthansa Cityline CRJ9 near Frankfurt on Feb 21st 2020, cracked windshield A Lufthansa Cityline Canadair CRJ-900, registration D-ACNG performing flight LH-1982 from Munich to Cologne (Germany), was enroute at FL240 about 25nm southeast of Frankfurt/Main (Germany) when the crew decided to return to Munich due to a cracked windshield. The aircraft descended to FL220 and landed safely back in Munich about 30 minutes after the decision to turn around. The flight was cancelled. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 30 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4d3a87dc&opt=0 Back to Top Incident: Laudamotion A320 at Vienna on Feb 21st 2020, hail and lightning strikes A Laudamotion Airbus A320-200, registration OE-IHD performing flight OE-183 from Sofia (Bulgaria) to Vienna (Austria), was on final approach to Vienna's runway 29 when the aircraft flew through hail of a fast moving thunderstorm, in addition the aircraft received a number of lightning strikes. The weather radar failed. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on runway 29. The aircraft was unable to continue its schedule due to hail damage to the radome and lightning strike damage. The aircraft is still on the ground about 12.5 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4d39d48d&opt=0 Back to Top de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Vazar Turbine Otter - Collision (Canada) Date: Friday 21 February 2020 Time: 03:30 Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Vazar Turbine Otter Operator: Harbour Air Registration: C-FIUZ C/n / msn: 135 First flight: 1956 Engines: 1 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-135A Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: Vancouver-Coal Harbour SPB, BC (CXH) ( Canada) Phase: Standing (STD) Nature: - Departure airport: - Destination airport: - Narrative: A float-equipped Seair Seaplanes de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver was stolen when moored at Vancouver-Coal Harbour Seaplane Base, Canada. The Beaver impacted a float-equipped Harbour Air DHC-3T Vazar Turbine Otter (C-FIUZ) that was also moored in the harbour. It appears that the right-hand wing of the Beaver separated in the accident. The right-hand wing of the Turbine Otter suffered a serious fracture. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20200221-0 Back to Top Animation reveals Bek Air Fokker 100 crash sequence Kazakhstan's government has released an animation detailing the take-off sequence of the Bek Air Fokker 100 involved in a fatal accident at Almaty. The sequence clearly shows the difficulties the crew experienced in controlling the aircraft as it rotated from runway 05R while departing for Nur-Sultan on 27 December. It oscillates on lift-off but fails to gain altitude, striking the runway several times before overrunning and veering into a building. Видео визуализации крушения самолета Bek Air Source: Kazakhstan ministry of industry Icing remains the primary suspect after the Bek Air aircraft failed to become airborne at Almaty Bek Air was grounded after the accident and has repeatedly appealed to authorities to allow the airline to restart operations. The airline recently issued, extraordinarily, purported audio conversations between accident investigators and the first officer of the flight, who initially survived the accident but subsequently passed away on 28 January, shortly after the discussion. Bek Air says the recordings were captured by the airline's employees who were present at the time. The transcript of the discussion includes question on how the crew checked the surface of the wings for ice, following suggestions that no check was conducted. But the first officer apparently replies that he made a tactile check in three places, pointing out that he was able to check the front of the wing - which was "clean and dry" - more easily because he was taller than the captain. He says the de-icing of the stabiliser - and only the stabiliser - was the captain's decision, because it could not be checked from the ground. The first officer also says that the aircraft was able to track the runway centreline during the departure but had passed the V1 decision speed when problems emerged, and the crew therefore did not consider aborting the take-off roll. Control difficulties began, he says, after the nose-wheel lifted. He retracted the landing-gear, but only on the second attempt - and after a second call from the captain - because the aircraft was rolling sharply. https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/animation-reveals-bek-air-fokker-100-crash-sequence/136872.article Back to Top Pilot in crash that killed Kobe Bryant violated weather-related flight rules in 2015, FAA records indicate Los Angeles (CNN)Ara Zobayan, the pilot of the helicopter that crashed in California, killing NBA legend Kobe Bryant, violated weather-related flight rules in 2015, according to Federal Aviation Administration enforcement records obtained by CNN. Bryant, Zobayan and seven other people died when the helicopter crashed as it headed to a youth basketball game on a foggy morning on January 26. The Los Angeles Times was first to report the alleged violation. While operating an Island Express helicopter in May 2015, Zobayan was denied clearance through Los Angeles International Airport due to reduced visibility from weather conditions. An air traffic controller informed him the airfield was reporting less than basic visual flight rules (VFR) minimums, but Zobayan violated the rules and flew into the airspace, according to the enforcement records. Records state that Zobayan admitted his error. He "took responsibility for his action, and was willing to take any other necessary steps toward compliance." "Mr. Zobayan was counseled on operating in Class B airspace, special VFR weather minimums, proper planning, reviewing weather and anticipating required action. He was cooperative and receptive to the counseling," the report adds. The underlying root cause of the violation was "human factor > aircrew > proper planning," according to the report. The records state that had Zobayan properly planned and reviewed current weather conditions at LAX, he would have been able to anticipate the required action to get clearance to fly. In doing so, he would have had "proper coordination, a proper request, and elimination of confusing terminology." "Proper coordination should have included an earlier initiation of communication to allow time for receiving a clearance," the report adds. It also says: "There are no indications that this is a repeated incident and there are no signs that this incident is a trend with Mr. Zobayan." Before Bryant's helicopter crashed into a mountainside near Calabasas on January 26, it had operated under "special visual flight rules (SVFR)," according to an air traffic control conversation with the pilot, captured by website LiveATC.net. The SVFR was for an earlier part of the flight through Burbank Airport airspace. An SVFR clearance allows a pilot to fly in weather conditions worse than those allowed for regular visual flight rules. Pilots can request SVFR clearance before takeoff or midflight, especially if conditions suddenly change, CNN transportation analyst Peter Goelz said after the crash. https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/21/us/kobe-bryant-pilot-2015-violation/index.html Back to Top JETSTAR PILOTS EXCEEDED SAFETY LIMITS AFTER GETTING SUMS WRONG A Jetstar A320. A problem with an electronic system prompted a Jetstar flight crew to make flawed manual calculations and exceed safety limits as they took off from Sydney. They also failed to retract the landing gear when required, doing so after realizing it was the source of a buffeting noise. A newly-released report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that a Jetstar crew was preparing for a flight from Sydney to Melbourne in September 2018 when they experienced problems with the electronic system used to calculate take-off performance. They reverted to a back-up procedure and calculated the information manually but in doing so inadvertently calculated take-off speeds that were too high and failed to identify them by independent verification and cross-checking. This resulted in an incorrect pitch rate and acceleration that was higher than anticipated. This result was a flap overspeed, an event where the aircraft exceeds a speed safety limit that could result in damage to the flap system. "The aircraft did not rotate to the correct pitch attitude and the pilot monitoring did not alert the pilot flying of this,'' the report said. "However, he called 'speed, speed' in an attempt to assist the pilot flying manage the airspeed, to which the pilot flying reduced the engine power in response, rather than increasing the aircraft pitch. "The action of reducing the engine power was taken when the aircraft was below the safe altitude above ground. "The landing gear would normally be retracted by the flight crew as soon as the aircraft had a positive rate of climb. "In this case, the crew did not retract the landing gear when required. "Climbing through 2,800 ft, they identified that the landing gear was still extended while troubleshooting the source of a buffeting noise. "They then immediately selected the gear to 'UP' without first checking the aircraft speed, resulting in a landing gear retraction overspeed event." Jetstar subsequently distributed a safety summary of the event to the wider pilot community and highlighted the importance of "reasonability and accuracy checks" as well as consulting the company procedure manuals in the event of issues with electronic systems. "This incident highlights the importance of independent validation and cross-check by the flight crew, in particular for performance speeds and aircraft weight," the ATSB said in its safety message. https://www.airlineratings.com/news/jetstar-pilots-exceeded-safety-limits-getting-sums-wrong/ Back to Top Alaska Needs Broad Review of Aviation Safety, Officials Say ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska needs a comprehensive review effort to improve aviation safety because its aviation fatal and non fatal accident rates are far higher than the national average, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. The NTSB issued a safety recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration calling for the formation of a group focused on safety to better review, rank and integrate Alaska's unique aviation needs into the FAA safety enhancement process. "We need to marshal the resources of the FAA to tackle aviation safety in Alaska in a comprehensive way," NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt said in a prepared statement. "The status quo is, frankly, unacceptable." Alaska's aviation accident rate was 2.35 times higher than the rest of the nation from 2008 to 2017, the NTSB said. The fatal accident rate in the Alaska was 1.34 times higher than the national average, according to NTSB statistics. The latest fatal crash occurred Feb. 6. A pilot and four passengers died when a Yute Commuter airplane crashed near Tuntutuliak in southwest Alaska. Aviation safety in Alaska has been an ongoing concern for the NTSB. The board in August 2017 met in Anchorage in a rare investigative hearing outside Washington, D.C., to increase awareness of "controlled flight into terrain" accidents, in which an airworthy aircraft is flown unintentionally into ground or water. The hearing focused on an Oct. 2 , 2016, crash of a Hageland Aviation Services airplane into a mountain between the southwest Alaska villages of Quinhagak and Togiak, two tiny communities off the road system. The crash killed two pilots and a passenger. The two villages. like dozens of other Alaska communities, are not connected to the state road system. Flying is a way of life to reach such destinations. The challenge is increased by the need to cross mountain ranges, open water or regions where weather changes quickly. Alaska also lacks infrastructure that is routine in other parts of the country, including technology that can provide certified weather information. Without certified weather information, flying under instrument flight rules is prohibited and must be conducted under visual flight rules. Flying at an altitude of 500 feet (150 meters) is allowed under visual rules. Testimony at the 2017 hearing indicated that pilots sometimes turn off an airplane's Terrain Avoidance and Warning System to avoid repeated alerts or hard warnings when an aircraft drops to 700 feet (215 meters). The FAA has initiatives to improve Alaska aviation safety. But the "silo-like" nature of the FAA's sprawling organization makes it difficult to develop a comprehensive plan for a statesuch asAlaska, Sumwalt said. The FAA in statement provided by spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the agency has a long history of promoting safety initiatives in Alaska and strongly supports bringing together stakeholders to identify safety risk areas and potential solutions. "The FAA will carefully review the recommendation that the NTSB issued today," the agency said. The NTSB recommendation was prompted in part by a September meeting in Anchorage in which aviation groups discussed how flying safety could be improved. The September discussion focused on aviation regulations that cover charter and business flights. Participants discussed improving pilot training and consistently managing weather risks. But the challenges apply to all aviation operations, the NTSB said. "All pilots must deal with Alaska's challenging geography and weather," Sumwalt said. "We need to give them all the tools and resources to do so safely." The FAA in its response said it holds pre- and post-season discussions with air tour operators to discuss safety lessons learned from recent operations. The FAA has deployed 230 weather cameras throughout Alaska, providing pilots with visual weather information and updates every 10 minutes. The FAA continues to work with the National Weather Service to increase coverage of Automated Weather Observing Stations and forecast programs for 157 Alaska airports, the agency said. https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/west/2020/02/23/295640.htm Back to Top Fokker 50 crash crew ignored multiple alerts during take-off roll Kenyan investigators have disclosed that the crew of a Fokker 50 continued a take-off roll, despite multiple alerts apparently warning of a serious engine problem, before the aircraft crashed some 50s after becoming airborne. The inquiry into the accident, involving a Skyward International Aviation turboprop departing Nairobi's main international airport, found that 27 high-level 'triple-chime' alerts had sounded as the aircraft rolled along runway 06. Aural alerts had commenced as early as 8s after the take-off was initiated but, while the aircraft was well below the V1 decision speed, the crew did not act to abort the take-off roll. Flight-data recorder information indicates the left-hand Pratt & Whitney Canada PW125 engine was exhibiting problems, with increasing torque but declining propeller speed compared with the right-hand engine. "On [its] ground roll for take-off, the aircraft seemed to take [more] runway than anticipated before attaining the take-off speed," the Kenyan air accident investigation department states, indicating that the roll lasted over 90s. The aircraft lifted off from the high-elevation airport at about 100kt but "barely climbing", the inquiry says, reaching no more than 50ft above ground after about 20s while continually deviating to the left of the extended centreline. It subsequently collided with a building 2,100m north-north-east of the runway end. None of the four occupants - two pilots, an engineer and a loadmaster - survived. None of the four occupants survived after the Fokker 50 struck a building The aircraft had been conducting a cargo service to Mogadishu, in darkness, on 2 July 2014. Investigators found discrepancies in the loadsheet for the aircraft and analysis of the cargo, including a shipment of the mild narcotic qat, indicated that the aircraft was 500-1,500kg above its maximum certified gross weight at take-off. The captain, who had been flying, had logged over 6,800h in command of Fokker 50s, although the inquiry says it was "unable to determine" whether either pilot had demonstrated an ability to fly the turboprop with one engine inoperable. Analysis of recordings from the previous positioning flight by the aircraft (5Y-CET) showed a 'three-chime' alert had occurred, and that the crew spent time trying to diagnose the problem. Despite the evidence from the cockpit-voice recorder, the monitoring pilot for the flight "denied knowledge" of any anomalies, says the inquiry. Investigators could not obtain any evidence that any problem was recorded in the technical log, nor that any maintenance was conducted in relation to the apparent anomaly. At least one of the crew members - possibly the captain - from the positioning flight was among those fatally injured during the subsequent accident. While the 'three-chime' alert sounded repeatedly during the ill-fated flight's take-off roll, the inquiry says "it is not clear" why the crew continued to proceed with the flight, particularly given that Fokker documentation requires an abort under such circumstances. Cirium fleets data shows the aircraft was originally delivered to Lufthansa CityLine in 1992 and served with Air Nostrum and Avianca Brazil before being transferred to Skyward from Dutch operator Denim in May 2014. It had been operated in Kenya for just 92h before the crash. Although the accident occurred in 2014, the inquiry was only signed off at the end of November last year and published by the transport ministry in January. https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/fokker-50-crash-crew-ignored-multiple-alerts-during-take-off-roll/136871.article Back to Top Air traffic controllers tired, overworked, unsafe, says union (Australia) The air traffic controllers' union says that Australia's air traffic controllers are being placed in an "unsafe work environment" because of critical staffing shortages. The concern over staffing levels comes as overseas-based controllers tell of how they had job offers from Airservices Australia rescinded at the last minute in 2017 after the federal government removed air traffic controllers from the 457 temporary skilled migrant visa list. Airservices Australia's union says its staff are overworked. An October 2019 bulletin from Civil Air, the controller's union, reported "a number of locations around Australia are experiencing critical staffing levels". The bulletin said controllers were being called in on days off, not having annual leave approved and threatened with the cancellation of approved leave. "The cumulative effect of these issues occurring over a sustained period of time with no end in sight creates an unsafe work environment," the bulletin warned. "If you do perform operational duty and a serious incident occurs, you will be held to account with potential disciplinary, civil and criminal sanctions." The bulletin focused on a recent episode at Sydney airport's tower when two controllers were absent and a third leaving due to illness. A decision by the shift supervisor to initiate a contingency plan to reduce traffic volumes was allegedly over-ruled by an acting manager, the document claimed. "Traffic remained unchanged creating an extreme risk upon controllers. One of the controllers worked for four hours without a break. Safety can never be put second," the bulletin stated. Normally, air traffic controllers are permitted to work no more than two hours without a break. This can be extended to three hours only in "extraordinary circumstances". A spokesman for Airservices, the federal agency responsible for ensuring safe air navigation over Australia, said there was an appropriate number of controllers to operate the air traffic management system safely and efficiently. "Like any organisation that operates 24/7, from time to time short-term unexpected absences mean that some controllers are asked to work longer shifts when it is safe to do so. This is standard procedure for air navigation service providers around the world," he said. Changes by the federal government in 2017 to the 457 skilled visa program meant Airservices was no longer able to employ controllers born overseas. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have been contacted by overseas-born air traffic controllers who had been accepted for employment by Airservices Australia, the federal agency responsible for ensuring safe navigation of the skies. One man was about to have his belongings shipped to Australia in 2017 when he was informed in writing by Airservices that the government's changes to the temporary skilled 457 visa program meant he could no longer be employed. "This business sponsorship program has been abolished by the Australian Government effective 18 April, 2017 and Air Traffic Controllers are no longer listed as an occupation with a skills shortage on the Consolidated Skilled Occupation List," the Airservices letter said. "As a result of the changes made by the Australian Government, we are no longer able to employ you." Airservices chief executive Jason Harnfield told Senate estimates that the 2017 visa changes would affect about 38 controllers. He was adamant there would be no adverse effect on the safety or operation of Australia's air navigation system because of the visa changes. The workplace culture at Airservices Australia is being reviewed by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, with numerous complaints about sexual harassment and bullying. A report by former Federal Court judge Tony North QC last year concluded the working environment at Airservices was so problematic that it was a potential risk to the safety of the travelling public. Airservices Australia has strongly rejected Mr North's view about safety. https://www.smh.com.au/national/air-traffic-controllers-tired-overworked-unsafe-says-union-20200221-p5431i.html Back to Top Reconstruction of MH17 reveals final moments of doomed flight Part of the plane that was carrying 298 people on MH17 has been pieced together again after it was shot out of the sky in 2014. It's given investigators a clear look at how the flight was shot down. Investigators have rebuilt the front end of Malaysia Flight 17 in a Dutch hangar from some of the 8,000 fragments recovered from its crash site. The Boeing 777, 20 feet wide and 200 feet long, was shot down by a warhead in July 2014 as it flew over Ukraine, killing 298 people. This week, 60 Minutes reports on the disaster. • The long pursuit of justice for victims of MH17, the passenger jet shot down over Ukraine • How Bellingcat tracked a Russian missile system in Ukraine • 60 Minutes producer Henry Schuster explains the evolution of the story on MH17 The warhead detonated ten feet to the left of Captain Eugene Choo's windscreen, projecting an estimated 800 pieces of shrapnel, each the size of a bullet. The Dutch Safety Board says the greatest density of holes, 102, is through the pilot's window. Shrapnel tore through the cockpit and out the other side. The cockpit sheared away. And the rest of the plane flew another minute and a half, leaving debris scattered over a wide area. Passengers were thrashed by explosive decompression and a 500 mile an hour wind at 40 degrees below zero. One passenger was found wearing his oxygen mask. "We were able to identify, from the 298 casualties, 296. So, for two people we didn't find any remains," Fred Westerbeke, the chief prosecutor investigating the tragedy, said. MH17 pushed back from gate G3 at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at 12:31pm local time. It flew east over Germany and Poland, making a course adjustment over Ukraine to avoid possible thunderstorms. The Boeing 777 was almost three hours into a 12-hour route, on its way from to Kuala Lumpur, when a missile warhead exploded feet from the cockpit. The plane was crossing over an area that was in the midst of a war started by Ukrainian rebels and their Russian backers. Russia moved into Crimea, which was part of Ukraine, and annexed it in early 2014. Then separatists in eastern Ukraine, supplied by Moscow, took the area of eastern Ukraine along the Russian border. It was the beginning of a bloody conflict that has left more than 13,000 dead. Ukraine had air superiority and used it to stop the rebel advance, until Russia began supplying the rebels with anti-aircraft missiles. In the days before MH17 met its end, two Ukrainian military planes were shot down in the area. Ukraine closed the airspace to civilian traffic below 32,000 feet but despite that, the day Flight 17 entered the airspace, 160 airliners crossed above that flight ceiling in eastern Ukraine. It was cloudy and the last words heard from the crew came when Flight 17, at 33,000 feet, responded to a Ukrainian flight controller's direction towards its next waypoint, repeating the coordinates: ROMEO NOVEMBER DELTA, Malaysian one seven. The Ukrainian tower repeated its call four times over the next two minutes, but MH17 had already disappeared from radar and was falling through the clouds, scattering bodies, luggage and parts of the plane, along with shrapnel from the missile, over 20 square miles of rebel-controlled territory. No one took responsibility for the shootdown, and 350 investigators from five countries began almost six years of work figuring out what happened. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/reconstruction-of-mh17-reveals-final-moments-of-doomed-flight-60-minutes-2020-02-23/ Back to Top Etihad unit gets nod to train Boeing 777, 787 pilots in Europe Etihad Aviation Training, a division of Etihad Aviation Group, has become the first in the Middle East to gain approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency The approval to train pilots for these two wide-bodied Boeing aircraft types expands the global capabilities of Etihad Aviation Training. Etihad Aviation Training, a division of Etihad Aviation Group, has become the first aviation company in the Middle East to gain approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to train Boeing 777 and 787 pilots for European carriers. The approval to train pilots for these two wide-bodied Boeing aircraft types expands the global capabilities of Etihad Aviation Training, which in 2018 also gained approval for pilots of Airbus A320, A330 and A340 aircraft. Paolo La Cava, vice president and managing director of Etihad Aviation Training, said continuing growth in global demand for air travel was driving increased requirements for pilot training. "Some operators have insufficient capacity to conduct training in their own facilities while others do not have in-house capabilities," said La Cava. "In addition to training pilots for Etihad Airways, Etihad Aviation Training also supports the requirements of many other operators for a range of aircraft types." Etihad Aviation Training has 11 full motion training simulators, including five for Boeing 777 and 787 training, as well as fixed base devices, and training teams include senior pilots actively flying for Etihad Airways. La Cava said the Boeing 777 and 787 were two of the most in-demand aircraft in service today, and as their deployment increased so too did demand for pilot training. He said Etihad Aviation Training soon would also add training capability for the newest wide-body aircraft in airline service, the Airbus A350. https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/438252-etihad-unit-gets-nod-to-train-boeing-777-787-pilots-in-europe Back to Top Airlines Offer Signing Bonuses To Tech Students Airlines are employing tactics used by professional sports teams to find and attract new talent for their businesses, according to a South Carolina technical college. While the pilot shortage tends to hog the headlines, an equally crippling deficit of maintenance techs is forcing airlines to be much more proactive in keeping their hangars humming, according to the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. "Employers are traveling to PIA to begin the recruiting process as early as first semester and even partnering to raise career awareness prior to enrollment which is indicative of high demand," PIA's Myrtle Beach Campus Director Peg Skalican said. "Once enrolled, employers are more frequently following students' progress to graduation, and it's becoming more common for a student to receive an employment offer prior to graduation contingent on successfully completing the federal exam often with signing bonuses ranging from $2,500 to as high as $18,000." The Myrtle Beach campus held a public open house last Saturday to attract potential students to its programs and a full slate of future employers were also on hand. The school said 97 percent of graduates of its 16-month A&P program got jobs in the industry last year. Endeavor Air, the regional subsidiary of Delta, conducted interviews with prospective students at the open house. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/airlines-offer-signing-bonuses-to-tech-students/ Back to Top American Airlines mishandled and lost more luggage than any carrier last year American and its partners lost or mishandled more than a million bags in 2019. Matt Murphy (right) picked up his luggage at Terminal C during the busiest day ever at DFW International Airport, on Dec. 1, 2019. U.S. airlines lost or mishandled almost 3 million pieces of luggage in 2019, and nearly a third of those were on American Airlines flights. Fort Worth-based American fell to last in 2019 in the U.S. Department of Transportation's rankings for mishandled and lost luggage, botching delivery on 8.48 of every 1,000 pieces of baggage. To compare, Southwest Airlines' mishandled baggage rate was about half that. The data includes numbers for American and its branded codeshare partners, which captures its own mainline and Envoy regional flights and those operated by its regional affiliates, including Mesa and SkyWest airlines. Ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant was the best at delivering luggage and Frontier, another low-cost carrier, ranked second. Dallas-based Southwest was the third-best for handling baggage after ranking second-to-last in 2018 among carriers excluding regional airlines. American blamed its bad year for baggage on the airline's troubles, including clashes with union mechanics and the grounding of Boeing's 737 Max. "Last year, we faced significant operational challenges that impacted our results, including the grounding of the Max, and, most significantly, a higher number of aircraft out of service," said a statement from American spokesman Ross Feinstein. "A big contributor to our high [aircraft out of service] numbers was the illegal [union mechanics] slowdown, which disrupted our operation during the peak period." Feinstein said the company's operational performance has improved since a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order in August in the work slowdown case. The court also threatened harsh punishments if there weren't improvements, and the sides came to a tentative contract agreement in January. American is still without the 737 Max and will likely be until at least August. Even though American's baggage handling statistics improved after the busy and problem-plagued summer months in 2019, it still ranked last among the major carriers every month between September and December. Luggage circles a baggage claim at Gate C at DFW international Airport in Dallas. Southwest improved its baggage handling results even though it also clashed with union mechanics and lost planes because of the 737 Max crisis. Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish said the company started using more digital tracking on luggage last year, which aided in locating bags that didn't arrive on the same flight. That helped Southwest to its best luggage handling statistics in company history, he said. Southwest checked more bags than any other airline with 121 million in 2019, almost 2 million more than American. The government's airline luggage handling rankings came out just ahead of what could be another round of baggage fee hikes for passengers. On Friday, United said it would increase bag fees by $5 to $35 for the first bag and $45 for the second. JetBlue made a similar increase. American Airlines was already on pace in 2019 to collect record revenues for bag fees. American collected more than $1 billion in bag fees through the first three quarters of 2019 and is on pace to finish the year with more than $1.3 billion in revenue from luggage. In late 2018, American followed Delta and United by increasing fees from $25 for the first checked bag to $30, and from $35 to $40 for the second bag. Delta collected $783 million in bag fees through the first three quarters and United made $772 million. Southwest collected $38 million in fees. https://www.dallasnews.com/business/airlines/2020/02/21/american-airlines-mishandled-and-lost-more-luggage-than-any-carrier-last-year/ Back to Top China wants to build a new space station. A planned launch in April will set the stage. Two Chinese astronauts as seen on the space station Tiangong-2 on Oct. 19, 2016. China's space program is planning a launch in April to prepare for building the country's next space station. A Long March 5B rocket will carry a "trial version" of China's new spaceship, which is designed to carry crews of up to six people, state media source Xinhua said. Previous Chinese spaceships carried up to three taikonauts, the term used to describe Chinese astronauts. While the April mission will carry neither people nor pieces of the future space station, it is expected to prepare Chinese officials for space station construction, the report added. The Long March 5B is a modified version of China's heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket, which began flying in 2016. The China Manned Space Agency designed the 5B for the space station and large crewed spacecraft, Xinhua said. China plans to finish the space station by 2022, after more than 10 missions for construction and in-orbit assembly. The station will be shaped like a T, with a core module, called Tianhe, at the center and one lab capsule on either side of that. All told, the station will offer up to 5,650 cubic feet (160 cubic meters) of living space across the three modules. That's a little more than one-third of the space on the International Space Station, which has 13,696 cubic feet (388 cubic meters) of room, not including temporary expansions from visiting spaceships. Unlike previous Chinese space stations, which required water launched from Earth, water on the new space station will be recovered from water vapor the astronauts exhale and from urine that is recycled and purified, Xinhua said. This space station will also carry machinery that can produce supplemental oxygen, Xinhua added. The Chinese space complex will also have room for science experiments in fields ranging from astronomy to basic physics to life science, using more than a dozen experiment racks. China also plans to launch an optical telescope on a capsule flying "in the same orbit," Xinhua said. China's first space station, the one-room Tiangong-1, launched in 2011 and burned up in Earth's atmosphere seven years later. The vehicle helped China master the technologies and procedures needed to build bigger stations. A successor, Tiangong-2, launched in 2016 to support longer-duration missions. China's most recent crewed launch, in October 2016, sent two taikonauts to Tiangong-2 for 33 days, a record for consecutive time spent in space for China. https://www.space.com/china-space-station-april-launch-will-prepare.html Back to Top Drones Near Airports: A Real Hazard By Dave Hughes When a pilot flies a general aviation aircraft to the airfield where an avionics shop is located for service, he or she may have passed within a few miles of a drone flown by a hobbyist near the airport and not even know it. Recent research studies by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, including one funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, show that it is clearly possible. The studies find that some operators of small, off-the-shelf drones are not steering clear of airports. The FAA has registered more than a million small drones for recreational use so far while there were 277,000 commercial drones in the United States in 2018. Commercial drones may be used in real estate or filmmaking or for inspecting bridges and transmission lines, and these are often professionally flown. Model aircraft enthusiasts have flown their small craft safely in designated areas for decades and are part of the aviation community. The hazard is being created more by the person who knows nothing about aviation and can go to a big box store, buy a drone and then kick the tires and light the fires. Clueless pilots may launch their drones near their houses or apartment buildings or over a parking lot regardless of whether the location is relative to airports or airspace. What could go wrong? Plenty, but so far there have only been two collisions recorded by the FAA. On Sept. 21, 2017, a person who owned several drones but had at best a cursory understanding of the rules and regulations pertaining to them was flying his 3-pound quadcopter two minutes before twilight off the shoreline of Staten Island, New York. The drone operator knew that helicopters frequented the area. The pilots of a U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter operating at 300 feet under visual flight rules in Class G airspace saw the Phantom 4 quadcopter and tried to avoid it, but a collision occurred. The Black Hawk crew then made an immediate landing. A large dent was found in the leading edge of one of the Black Hawk's main rotors. "Fortunately, the UH-60 is a battle-hardened aircraft design," said Chris Martino, vice president of operations for the Helicopter Association International. "If it had been another type of aircraft, we'd be having a different discussion," he added. Civil helicopters are not designed to sustain battle damage. The Army also found debris in the Black Hawk's engine oil cooler fan. The serial number found on a drone engine was used to track down the drone operator. The remote pilot, Vyacheslav Tantashov, 58, was unaware he was flying his drone near temporary flight restriction zones established due to a United Nations General Assembly meeting and travel by the United States president. The TFRs were announced in a notice to airmen, but the drone operator did not receive this data on his Samsung control tablet. He was operating his drone over water near the Hoffman Island in lower New York Bay 2.5 miles away from where he was standing, so he could not see the drone. He didn't realize the drone had been destroyed in a collision, and when he pressed the "return to home" button on his Samsung control tablet, he expected the drone to arrive back at his location. The National Transportation Safety Board found the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the small drone pilot to see and avoid the helicopter due to his intentional flight beyond visual line of sight. A contributing factor was the remote pilot's "incomplete knowledge of regulations and safe operating practices." You can review the NTSB report online at go.usa.gov/xnnkh. This is the first time the NTSB has investigated a midair collision between a drone and a manned aircraft, but it will probably not be the last. Martino said HAI sees another side of the rise of the rotary and fixed-wing drones in that they can do many of the missions a manned civil helicopter does such as power line inspection. Legacy helicopter operators are probably going to operate mixed fleets of drones and helicopters in the future, according to Martino, and HAI already has unmanned aircraft companies as members. The good news is that helicopter operators know all about aviation safety and risk reduction. The FAA also reports there was a collision between a drone and a hot air balloon in April 2018. This occurred over the Teton Country Fairgrounds in the Teton Valley of Idaho. An inexperienced drone operator was flying a drone and overrode a warning on the controls he was using that he was too close to a local airport. He flew his drone within 5 miles of Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport without contacting air traffic control as he should have. Nearby, Margaret Breffeilh, owner of Elevated Ballooning, had just taken off in her Lindstrand hot air balloon with two friends aboard. When her balloon got between the drone operator and his small quadcopter, he couldn't see it to maneuver and it flew into the side of the envelope, hitting it six times. Breffeilh was concerned for the safety of her passengers fearing the drone might fall or fly down and hit the basket. She worried that the drone could either punch a hole in the polyester envelope or fly down toward the basket then up into the envelope and melt. Melting pieces of drone could then fall and hit her passengers or people on the ground. Her first thought was "where do I go to get away," and thought it unwise to climb above the drone so she decided to descend. When the drone lost its rotors and fell to the ground, she landed and collected what was left of it so she could send it to the NTSB for investigation. No NTSB report can be found online, however. The drone's secure digital memory card captured a video of the encounter from the drone's camera. No damage was done to the balloon. Breffeilh has since instituted a waiver to prevent drone activity during the Teton Valley Balloon Rally, which she runs once a year during the July 4 weekend. And she sees a huge need for drone operators to be filled in on the rules of the road and how to avoid dangerous conflicts with balloons and other manned aircraft. Breffeilh stresses that she is not anti-drone. She knows drone operators who are meticulous in learning the rules and flying by them. She also met the man whose drone hit her balloon and found him to be a gentleman who was very chagrined over what had happened. So what are the chances of midair collisions between drones and aircraft of any type occurring again near airports? Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has done some studies that are a cause for concern. The university has used a DJI AeroScope off-the-shelf drone detection system that weighs less than 20 pounds. It monitors and analyzes radiofrequency signals from small DJI drones. About 70% of the small drones in use in the United States are made by DJI, a Chinese company. The AeroScope was deployed in an educational building adjacent to Daytona Beach International Airport where ERAU conducts flight operations with a fleet of training aircraft. During just 12 days in May 2018, the system spotted 192 small drone flights by 73 different drones. Almost all were flying within 5 miles of an airport, heliport or seaplane base. Two flights that could not be geolocated were dropped from the data set, so ERAU analyzed 190 flights. The study focused on the location of the drones relative to three public airports, including Daytona International, two private airfields, four heliports and one seaplane base. In all, 96.8 percent of the 190 flights were within 5 miles of an aerodrome and as close as a half-nautical mile to public airports and .35 miles to a heliport. Of the flights, 70 involved the DJI MavicPro, a 1.6-pound quadcopter equipped with a camera that can fly up to 40 miles per hour. It has an 8-mile range from its remote pilot on the ground and can reach 16,000 feet. About seven other models of drones were detected. In most cases, these drones stayed below 400 feet of altitude as they are supposed to; however, just a few recorded altitudes as high as 500 or 950 or 1,250 or 1,300 feet. The data suggests recreational pilots getting home from work Monday through Friday would then take out the drone for a spin. On average, the operators flew during the late afternoon from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. with peak operations logged between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Operations peaked midweek with Saturday operations not as high and Sunday even lower. Nearly half the flights occurred over residential areas near houses and apartments, while another 20% were over commercial/industrial or public spaces (often being flown from parking lots). The researchers expected more operations to be over unimproved land and parks as relatively open areas would allow them to keep drones safely away from obstructions and buildings, but that was only the case for 12% of the flights. The DJI drone controls warn operators when they are operating in a variety of warning zones such as too near aerodromes or critical infrastructure. But the operators can override the warnings, and all of these flights did operate at some point within warning zones. The leader of this 2018 study, Ryan J. Wallace, ERAU assistant professor of aerospace, said the university has done similar work in Miami and "the numbers are staggering." During a 30-day period, 1,000 drones were spotted near airports in the Miami area. "This is concerning," he said. ERAU also studied drones at Tampa, Florida, using AeroScope during a 19-day period and found 258 flights involving 77 different drones for analysis. The authors, led by Wallace, found 93 potential violations of FAA regulations, including intrusion into controlled airspace, exceeding maximum flight altitude and flights after civil twilight. The activity posed potential conflicts in one case with a runway visual approach and created a collision hazard at three heliports. Many small drone control systems have a feature called geofencing, which uses autopilot software and GPS to put a virtual fence around restricted areas such as aerodromes. This study showed that geofencing systems didn't work when simply notifying the operator of a hazard without imposing any flight restrictions an operator would have to override. So what are the chances that the pilots flying into airports and heliports at Daytona and Tampa and Miami saw any of these small drones operating nearby? Not good, as it turns out. According to Wallace, it is extremely difficult for pilots to spot a small drone. The FAA has funded a project to use drone detection technology to validate sighting reports. There are other small things flying around including birds, so it is difficult to validate sighting reports from pilots. The FAA is now receiving more than 100 such reports per month. Recounting these incidents, it stresses that operating drones near aircraft, helicopters and airports is dangerous and illegal. To see these reports, visit tinyurl.com/y4a2k5q2. One example of such a report is one from Mobile, Alabama, on June 30, 2019. The pilots of a CRJ flying at 9,000 feet 11 nautical miles northeast of the Mobile Downtown Airport reported a black and green drone flying 200 feet above the aircraft. The pilots did not take any evasive action. And the list goes on; this is just the first one recorded by the FAA for the third quarter of fiscal year 2019 from April through June. The FAA notes that the accuracy and completeness of this data cannot always be validated as the general public is able to submit reports. In addition, small drones are often difficult to definitively identify, and they are often not tracked by radar. In fact, the FAA recently issued a proposed rulemaking for remote identification of unmanned aircraft systems (also known as drones) and is seeking comment through March 2. This is a top priority for the agency. This will make it possible for the FAA and other agencies to identify small drones in flight and determine who is operating them. "With remote identification, law enforcement and national security partners will be in a better position to quickly locate the operator and determine if a drone is being operated in a clueless, careless or criminal manner," the FAA wrote in response to questions. One thing the FAA rules out in the proposal is to have drones use ADS-B, as the reports on ADS-B Out would be a fire hose of data that could overwhelm the system. Small drones must be registered with the FAA if they weigh more than 250 grams, but DJI has just introduced a 249-gram model with a high-definition camera that fits in the palm of your hand. And the pace of change in the drone space is unrelenting. "Encounters are becoming more common, and the separation between manned and unmanned aircraft is getting slimmer," Wallace said. "People (small drone operators) are not following the rules, and they may not even be aware of the rules." He added that airport managers are realizing that drones aren't going away, and they are going to have to find a better way to deal with them. Urban areas are no stranger to these hazards. A news helicopter hit what the pilot thought might have been a drone during a flight over Los Angeles on Dec. 4, 2019. The FAA is looking into this report that resulted in a hole in the helicopter's tail. The FAA is working diligently to try to rein in clueless, careless and criminal activity, but the challenge is a huge one. The agency has a major education initiative with a social media presence and a website to fill small drone operators in on the rules of the road. This educational information can be found at knowbeforeyoufly.org. The FAA is also funding applied research using high-fidelity computer models to examine the impact of UAS strikes on windshields, fuselages and engines. The agency completed a study of the impact of a drone on a single aisle airline jet and a business jet in 2017. The airline/business jet study concluded that the worst damage to these types of aircraft travelling at 250 knots and hitting a 4-pound drone would be to the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. This includes damage to the primary structure of the stabilizer with the front spar being damaged or even perforated. This study is posted on the FAA Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence website at assureuas.org. The FAA-funded study of the damage that could be done to a general aviation aircraft is due to be completed and posted this year. According to Wallace, when it comes to educating drone operators on the rules and regulations, another challenge is that they are evolving as the situation changes. "Rules change, and trying to keep everyone on the same page is a bit of a challenge," he said. "Several months ago, it was acceptable when planning to operate within 5 miles of an airport for a drone operator to call a control tower. Now that is no longer acceptable. These nuanced changes are a challenge." There are plenty of commercial drone operators trying to do the right thing such as real estate, insurance, utility and agricultural companies among others who are well informed. The problem comes from what Martino of HAI calls the "unreachables" who don't know what they are supposed to be doing as drone operators. "The (drone) group that doesn't know if there are rules and doesn't follow them is the Wild West portion of the community," Wallace said. Getting to them is the big challenge for the aviation industry and the FAA that is yet to be solved. Republished with permission from the February 2020 issue of Avionics News magazine, a monthly publication of the Aircraft Electronics Association. Curt Lewis