Flight Safety Information - January 8, 2021 No. 006 In This Issue : Incident: Delta A333 over Atlantic on Dec 28th 2020, engine vibrations, engine shut down in flight : Incident: LATAM Chile A321 at Santiago on Dec 28th 2020, burst tyre on landing : Learjet 31A - Runway Excursion (Brazil) : Boeing agrees to pay $2.5B to resolve criminal fraud case in 737 MAX crisis : Flight attendant union says Capitol rioters should be banned from flights home : NTSB seeks flight instructor monitoring after deadly crash : NTSB to FAA: Watch Those CFIs : Five top FAA officials announce resignations one day after attack on U.S. Capitol : Baldwin Initiates Alaska Aviation Safety Exchange with Alaska Seaplanes Commuter Airline Leading the Way : Amazon eyes fleet of 85 aircraft as it changes course to buy its own freighters : Work begins on new European alcohol-to-jet production plant : Virgin Galactic says test flight problem identified : SCSI Online SMS Certificate Courses : Call for Papers – ISASI 2021 : 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Incident: Delta A333 over Atlantic on Dec 28th 2020, engine vibrations, engine shut down in flight A Delta Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration N810NW performing flight DL-262 from New York JFK,NY (USA) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France), was enroute at FL380 about 700nm southsouthwest of Keflavik (Iceland) when the crew decided to divert to Keflavik reporting a problem with the #1 engine (PW4168, left hand). The crew requested to descend to FL320 and set course for Keflavik, the turn to Keflavik was approved by Oceanic Control within a minute, however, the request to descent took more than 15 minutes due to a lot of traffic around that needed to be moved out, the aircraft continued to maintain FL380 in the meantime. Finally the aircraft descended to FL290 and landed safely on Keflavik's runway 01 about 2 hours after the decision to divert. The engine was being replaced. On Jan 7th 2021 Iceland's RNSA reported the #1 engine started to vibrate, the crew attempted to move the thrust lever back and forth which resulted in the engine stalling a number of times. The crew thus declared emergency and diverted to Keflavik on single engine. The aircraft remained on the ground in Keflavik until Jan 5th 2021 before positioning to Atlanta,GA (USA). https://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL262/history/20201227/2355Z/KJFK/LFPG http://avherald.com/h?article=4e12ffe1&opt=0 Incident: LATAM Chile A321 at Santiago on Dec 28th 2020, burst tyre on landing A LATAM Chile Airbus A321-200, registration CC-BEL performing flight LA-157 from Calama to Santiago (Chile), landed on Santiago's runway 17R but burst the #4 tyre (outboard right main). The aircraft rolled out and taxied to the apron, where ground workers discovered the burst tyre and minor damage to the gear strut. Chile's DGAC opened an investigation into the occurrence rated an incident. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e177740&opt=0 Learjet 31A - Runway Excursion (Brazil) Status: Preliminary Date: Saturday 2 January 2021 Type: Learjet 31A Operator: Brasil Vida Táxi Aéreo Registration: PP-BBV C/n / msn: 31-113 First flight: 1995 Engines: 2 Garrett TFE731 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: Diamantina Airport, MG (DTI) ( Brazil) Phase: Landing (LDG) Nature: Ambulance Departure airport: São Paulo-Congonhas Airport, SP (CGH/SBSP), Brazil Destination airport: Diamantina-Juscelino Kubitschek Airport, MG (DTI/SNDT), Brazil Narrative: The Learjet 31A suffered a runway excursion after landing on runway 03 at Diamantina Airport, Brazil. It went down a dropoff. The aircraft was operating an ambulane flight to pick up a Covid-19 patient. Diamantina Airport has a single asphalt runway (03/21), measuring 1610 x 30 m. Past the paved runway surface of runway 03 there is a 60 m stopway, followed by downsloping terrain. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20210102-0 Boeing agrees to pay $2.5B to resolve criminal fraud case in 737 MAX crisis Boeing says it’s entered into a $2.51 billion agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve a criminal charge related to the Federal Aviation Administration’s evaluation of Boeing’s 737 MAX airplanes. The deferred-prosecution agreement addresses a single charge of conspiracy to defraud FAA inspectors about the safety of the 737 MAX’s automated flight control system. Investigators say changes to a component known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, were to blame in a pair of catastrophically fatal 737 MAX crashes that occurred in Indonesia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia in March 2019. Those crashes led the FAA and other regulators to ground hundreds of 737 MAX planes operated by airlines around the world. After more than a year of investigations, software fixes and revisions to pilot training requirements, the FAA cleared the planes to return to service last November. The agreement calls for Boeing to pay a penalty of $243.6 million, provide $1.77 billion in compensation to the airlines that purchased 737 MAX jets, and establish a $500 million fund to compensate the families of the 346 people who were killed in the two crashes. Boeing also agreed to cooperate with investigators and strengthen its anti-fraud compliance program. If Boeing complies with the requirements of the agreement, filed today with a federal court in Texas, the criminal charge will be dismissed after three years. “The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world’s leading commercial airplane manufacturers,” David Burns, acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a news release. “Boeing’s employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the FAA concerning the operation of the 737 MAX airplane, and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception.” The charge alleges that two of Boeing’s 737 MAX flight technical pilots failed to tell FAA evaluators about significant changes made in the MCAS in late 2016. Because of that failure to communicate, the FAA couldn’t take those changes into account when the pilot training requirements for the 737 MAX were drawn up in 2017. FAA evaluators didn’t find out about the changes until after the Lion Air crash. Even then, the pilots “continued misleading others — including at Boeing and the FAA — about their prior knowledge of the change to MCAS,” the Justice Department said. “The misleading statements, half-truths and omissions communicated by Boeing employees to the FAA impeded the government’s ability to ensure the safety of the flying public,” Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said in today’s news release. The agreement recognizes that other Boeing employees provided information about the MCAS to the FAA. In a note to employees, Boeing CEO David Calhoun said that resolving the criminal charge was “the right thing to do,” calling it a step that “appropriately acknowledges how we fell short of our values and expectations.” “This resolution is a serious reminder to all of us of how critical our obligation of transparency to regulators is, and the consequences that our company can face if any one of us falls short of those expectations,” Calhoun said. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Boeing said the company is taking a $743.6 million charge to 2020’s fourth-quarter earnings in connection with its commitments under the agreement. The $1.77 billion for customer compensation had already been reserved during prior quarters. Today’s agreement doesn’t preclude further legal action against individuals involved in the 737 MAX crisis — potentially including the two pilots, who have previously been identified as Mark Forkner and Patrik Gustavsson. Boeing is also facing civil lawsuits from attorneys representing the families of the crash victims. In a statement, Clifford Law Offices said that the allegations laid out by the Justice Department were “just the tip of the iceberg of Boeing’s wrongdoing,” and that the agreement would have no bearing on its pending civil litigation. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/boeing-agrees-pay-2-5b-235947050.html Flight attendant union says Capitol rioters should be banned from flights home The head of a union representing flight attendants from 17 airlines said the people who were part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday should be banned from getting back on planes and flying home. In a statement released Wednesday night, Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, condemned the “mob mentality behavior” on flights to the D.C. area on Tuesday that included passengers heckling Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and getting into shouting matches. “Some of the people who traveled in our planes yesterday participated in the insurrection at the Capitol today,” Nelson said in the statement. “Their violent and seditious actions at the Capitol today create further concern about their departure from the DC area.” She continued: “Acts against our democracy, our government, and the freedom we claim as Americans must disqualify these individuals from the freedom of flight.” Nelson called on airlines as well as law enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation to protect passengers and crew by “keeping all problems on the ground.” The union did not say who should be responsible for keeping passengers off planes or how those people should be identified. D.C. police had arrested 13 people by Wednesday night. A mob of hundreds broke through the Capitol’s doors and windows, prompting an armed standoff and forcing lawmakers to evacuate. One woman was shot and later died. An AFA statement said crew layovers had moved from the downtown D.C. area and the union was working with airlines to confirm the safety of crew members. “We are taking a hard line for flight safety and we are encouraging airlines, government agencies, and law enforcement to help keep problems off our flights,” the statement said. “It is important we maintain order and calm in our cabins — for safety and security immediately and for confidence in air safety among the traveling public.” Representatives for United and Southwest either did not immediately respond to questions about the statement Wednesday night or declined to address it. American Airlines said it was “working closely with local law enforcement and airport authority partners to ensure the safety of our customers and team members on the ground and in the air” and had increased staffing at airports in the D.C. area as a precautionary measure. A statement from Delta Air Lines said the airline would not discuss specifics about its safety and security measures. “Delta continually works with law enforcement agencies and all aviation stakeholders to enact methods — both seen and unseen — as part of our unwavering efforts to keep everyone safe at our airports and on our flights,” the statement said. “We expect our people and customers to treat one another with dignity and respect as we safely fly them to their destinations, including wearing of masks and following all instructions from Delta people at the airport and on-board.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/01/06/capitol-riot-flight-ban-airlines/ NTSB seeks flight instructor monitoring after deadly crash HONOLULU — Federal safety investigators said Thursday that the pilot of a skydiving plane that crashed in 2019, killing all 11 people on board, had not received training to become a competent pilot. The National Transportation Safety Board, in response to these findings, called on the Federal Aviation Administration to better monitor the effectiveness of flight instructors. The pilot in the Hawaii crash, Jerome Renck. had failed three initial flight tests in his attempt to obtain a pilot certificate, instrument rating and commercial pilot certificate, the NTSB said. The pass rate for other students taught by the same instructor was just 59% over a two-year period ending in April 2020. The average pass rate for students of all flight instructors is 80%, the agency said. The board called on the FAA to develop a system to automatically alert its inspectors to flight instructors whose students' pass rates fall below 80% The board quoted from the FAA's Aviation Instructor's Handbook, which says the goal of instructors is “'to teach each learner in such a way that he or she will be come a competent pilot.'” In Renck's case “the flight instructor did not achieve that goal,” the NTSB said. The FAA said in a statement it is working closely with the NTSB to investigate the crash. “The agency takes NTSB findings and recommendations very seriously. The FAA will carefully evaluate and consider all findings and recommendations the NTSB issues as a result of this investigation,” it said. The crash occurred June 21, 2019, on the North Shore of Oahu. The plane banked sharply before plunging to the ground shortly after takeoff from Dillingham Airfield. Renck and his 10 passengers were killed in the deadliest civil aviation accident in the U.S. since 2011. Documents that the board released in October painted a picture of a pilot who took unnecessary risks and pushed the limits of his skills to give passengers a thrilling ride. The plane was operated by Oahu Parachute Center, which lacked permits for skydiving flights, according to state records. The owner, George Rivera, received a permit in 2010 under a different company name for parachute repairs and rigging but not skydiving. Renck, a French national, was the company’s only pilot at the time of the crash. The plane had undergone repairs after a crash in 2016 in California badly damaged the tail section. In that incident, skydivers struggled to jump out as the plane went into a spinning dive. The NTSB previously said FAA records showed that Robert Seladis, a contract mechanic who worked on the plane, had his certificate revoked in 2005 after falsifying records on two planes. He regained his certificate in 2015. Seladis was interviewed a few days after the crash, then stopped talking to investigators, who were unable to get the plane’s logbooks from him, the NTSB said. https://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2021/jan/07/ntsb-seeks-flight-instructor-monitoring-after-dead/ NTSB to FAA: Watch Those CFIs The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a set of recommendations to the FAA intended to increase scrutiny on flight-instructor performance. Using the 2019 crash of a parachute-jump Beech King Air in Hawaii as the impetus, the NTSB latest recommendations ask the FAA to more closely watch pass/fail rates of students from any given instructor to help detect sub-par training. The June 2019 accident resulted in 11 deaths, including the pilot, after the Oahu Parachute Center King Air impacted terrain shortly after takeoff. The NTSB said that the “accident pilot had failed three initial flight tests in his attempts to obtain his private pilot certificate, instrument rating, and commercial pilot certificate after receiving instruction from a single instructor. The pilot subsequently passed each flight test. The…accident pilot was not alone in his failed attempts; the pass rate for other students taught by the same flight instructor was 59 percent (for the two-year period ending in April 2020). FAA data show the average national pass rate for students of all flight instructors is 80 percent.” According to NTSB documents, the accident pilot trained with Ritter Aviation in Torrance, CA. The instructor operated a Beech C90GTx out of Torrance and, according to the NTSB documentation, “During his initial flight training, the accident pilot logged about 53 hours in the King Air C90GTx airplane, but this time was logged during flights that included extended cross-country commercial Part 91 operations conducted with passengers in the cabin. In addition, the flight time was primarily logged as dual instruction while the accident pilot was still a student pilot. Thus, the flight instructor had provided training that the accident pilot could not have been expected to fully comprehend as a student pilot, and the flights were most likely conducted by the flight instructor with the accident pilot sitting in the copilot seat.” The NTSB admitted that while a system does exist to track pass/fail rates from specific instructors, it lacks an automated component to alert CFIs when their students fall below the FAA’s 80% threshold. A pass rate below 80% is considered “substandard.” The NTSB contends that the accident pilot’s sole instructor “was not receiving appropriate additional scrutiny” for his charges’ low pass rates. The recommendations from the NTSB and the FAA are as follows: • Develop a system to automatically notify your inspectors of those flight instructors (within each inspector’s geographic area of responsibility) whose student pass rate in the Program Tracking and Reporting Subsystem has become substandard so that the inspectors can perform additional surveillance according to the guidance in Order 8900.1, Flight Standards Information Management System, volume 6, chapter 1, section 5, “Surveillance of a Certificated Flight Instructor.” (A-20-40) • Until the system proposed in Safety Recommendation A-20-40 is implemented, direct your inspectors to (1) review the Program Tracking and Reporting Subsystem on an ongoing basis to identify those flight instructors (within each inspector’s geographic area of responsibility) with a substandard student pass rate and (2) provide additional surveillance of those instructors according to the guidance in Order 8900.1, Flight Standards Information Management System, volume 6, chapter 1, section 5, “Surveillance of a Certificated Flight Instructor.” (A-20-41) • Revise Order 8900.1, Flight Standards Information Management System, volume 6, chapter 1, section 5, “Surveillance of a Certificated Flight Instructor,” to include flight instructors with a substandard student pass rate as one of the criteria necessitating additional surveillance of a flight instructor. (A-20-42) https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/ntsb-to-faa-watch-those-cfis/ Five top FAA officials announce resignations one day after attack on U.S. Capitol Five top officials at the Federal Aviation Administration submitted their resignations Thursday. The departures come on the same day that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced she was leaving the Trump administration, saying she was “deeply troubled” by the assault on the Capitol by supporters of the president. “This evening the Secretary and the Administrator received resignation letters from all our non-career staff members here at FAA,” wrote FAA chief of staff Angela Stubblefield. “These resignations will be effective Monday evening. Our colleagues’ decisions, given the gravity of yesterday’s events, are understandable. Like all of us, they are outraged by the brazen and violent attack on one of the sacred institutions of American democracy.” The five stepping down next week: Arjun Garg, chief counsel and acting deputy FAA administrator; Brianna Manzelli, assistant administrator for communications; Kirk Shaffer, assistant administrator for airports; Bailey Edwards, assistant administrator for policy, international affairs and environment; and Andrew Giacini, acting administrator for legislative affairs Dickson alluded to the departures in a video message posted Thursday that denounced Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao resigns, saying she is ‘deeply troubled’ by violence at the Capitol Dickson thanked them for “their extraordinary leadership in this agency, their steadfast focus on safety and their tremendous support that they have given me.” All declined to comment on their departures, but in an email sent to his colleagues Thursday, Garg called his time at the FAA the best job of his life. However, he said he could not abide what happened Wednesday. “Shock. Disgust. Dismay. Like you, I felt those emotions when watching what transpired yesterday at the Capitol. I cannot abide it,” he wrote. “I am tremendously disappointed to leave this agency and my colleagues under these circumstances. Yet, I am taking with me pride in what we have accomplished together, respect for FAA’s dedicated professionals, and gratitude for the opportunity to have served my country. This has been the best job of my life. I will miss it. I will miss you.” But he urged his colleagues to continue their work. “Although I will not be continuing the journey with you, I bid you all to stay focused on doing your jobs and being good citizens. Public service is a trust. Don’t let what went wrong yesterday knock you off of doing what’s right going forward. You and our country have many successes ahead.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/faa-resignations/2021/01/07/cd7f03be-5153-11eb-b96e-0e54447b23a1_story.html Baldwin Initiates Alaska Aviation Safety Exchange with Alaska Seaplanes Commuter Airline Leading the Way Baldwin Aviation Safety & Compliance Baldwin Safety and Compliance has launched its new Alaska Aviation Safety Exchange SMS/QMS program customized for the Alaska aviation community. Alaska Seaplanes, an FAA part 135 commuter airline based in Juneau, Alaska, has rolled out their new SMS program using this scalable Baldwin program. The Alaska Aviation Safety Exchange features easy-to-use software that enables customization to forms, reports, and manuals to meet the needs of the Alaskan operator. It is mission adaptable and scalable to a single fixed wing or helicopter operator, or to an operation with hundreds of aircraft. Alaskan operators subscribing to Baldwin will also have the option of sharing de-identified safety data to learn from their peers via data sharing within the Baldwin program and/or the FAA Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS). Another key benefit Baldwin offers the small operator is 24/7 support from Safety Matter Experts, acting as an on-demand safety team resource. Ken McLure, Alaska Seaplanes director of safety and compliance explains, “Alaska is a unique place to fly and operations here have many challenges that operators in the lower 48 will never experience. From seasonal staffing swings to water landings and limited controlled airspace, we have distinctive risks to consider. The big difference for Alaska Seaplanes was that the Baldwin system was customizable and flexible enough to adapt to our operation, and it did not require reworking our processes to integrate with the software. The assistance we received with our Flight Risk assessment tool was also a game changer. We rolled the program out in a phased approach to all the stakeholders in November and went live in December. The most impressive result is that I am already receiving great feedback on the data we are collecting, and many members of the team are providing input and suggestions for small changes that have been very simple to make.” “The SMS program mandate is coming in 2022 and I anticipate other operations (big and small) developing their SMS with Baldwin. I look forward to more Alaska operators joining us in this journey to improve safety and participate in the new safety database, made for Alaska,” McLure added. Donald Baldwin, president and founder of Baldwin Safety and Compliance said, “As leaders in Safety & Quality Management, we wanted to provide a customized SMS/QMS solution that would support the specific Alaskan operational, regulatory, standards, and emergency response environment. When we met with Ken McLure at Alaska Seaplanes, he shed light on the challenges he was facing trying to develop an SMS system to work with their current operation without making major changes to adapt to a pre-fab program. They face extraordinary conditions on a regular basis, and we are proud to be working with the aviation community in Alaska to provide a simplified but customized solution to their SMS program needs. We will soon be introducing similar programs to the Hawaiian aviation industry.” https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/business-general-aviation/press-release/21205010/baldwin-aviation-baldwin-initiates-alaska-aviation-safety-exchange-with-alaska-seaplanes-commuter-airline-leading-the-way Amazon eyes fleet of 85 aircraft as it changes course to buy its own freighters Amazon is set to boost its freighter fleet to more than 85 aircraft by the end of next year. In addition to the roll-out of a dozen 767-300 freighters leased from ACMI provider ATSG, the e-commerce giant is bringing in 11 more 767Fs. But, unlike Amazon’s traditional leasing approach to building a dedicated air network, the 11 new 767s are outright purchases: four from WestJet and seven from Delta Air Lines. The move is no surprise, though. The writing has been on the wall since last August, when Amazon registered a 767 freighter in the Federal Aviation Administration’s database and reserved four more registration numbers for future aircraft. Sarah Rhoads, vice-president of Amazon Global Air, said: “Our goal is to continue delivering for customers across the US in the way that they expect from Amazon, and purchasing our own aircraft is a natural next step toward that goal. “Having a mix of both leased and owned aircraft in our growing fleet allows us to better manager our operations, which in turn helps us to keep pace in meeting our customer promises.” The emphasis on serving customers suggests Amazon is not looking to sell capacity on its freighters to third parties. One senior executive of a freighter airline commented that the number of planes Amazon was adding should be accommodating its growing volumes without taking business away from its existing capacity providers. And Joseph Schwieterman, director of the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University, Chicago, who has been tracking the e-commerce giant’s air operations, added: “There is no sign that their rate of growth is easing up. If anything, they’re bulking up to offer next-day delivery, which is a Herculean task.” Amazon’s volumes have been growing at a frantic pace. Its Prime Day in October alone generated over $10bn in sales, 45% more than the previous year, and it claims it delivered billions of items over Christmas. This growth is in stark contrast with the prospect of ongoing capacity shortage. At the same time, plenty of aircraft are available for conversion as airlines shrink their fleets, and there is no shortage of furloughed pilots looking for work. Economic conditions and fuel costs are also favourable, Mr Schwieterman noted. The aircraft shopping spree is centred on the North American network. Amazon opened a European hub at Leipzig last year, but for the time being at least management seems content with leased equipment there and declined to comment. In the US, Amazon has its major hub in Cincinnati due to come on stream in the summer and, in the spring, a west coast hub in San Bernardino should be ready. Some observers regard the $1.5bn Cincinnati facility as a game-changer that may lead to Amazon’s air operations close to resembling those of FedEx and UPS, but Mr Schwieterman has doubts. “I still don’t think we’ll see a FedEx-style overnight hub,” he said. Amazon has added cities to its network at a brisk pace, but serves some of these on a periodic basis, which suggests dynamic scheduling to reposition inventory rather than scheduled network design. “It seems algorithms are driving flights based on needs rather than a FedEx-type schedule,” he added. And unlike the integrators, Amazon does not need flights from all over the US to converge on a hub during the night. For next-day e-commerce traffic, the company can operate its flights through the day, he said. The four 767s from WestJet will enter service this year and the seven from Delta will follow in 2022. Amazon will not operate the planes itself but use one or more undisclosed CMI operators. Traditionally it has relied on Atlas Air and ATSG, but there are doubts that they will be chosen. There are rumours that the fractious relationship of Atlas Air with its pilots’ union has soured Amazon’s enthusiasm for expanding with the leasing firm. The e-commerce behemoth raised eyebrows at the end of 2019 when it picked Sun Country Airlines, a small passenger operator, to run a fleet of 10 737 freighters for it. At the time, Atlas parent Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and the union were locked in a bitter court dispute. And Amazon may spring an even bigger surprise than the aircraft purchases when it announces the designated operator(s) of its own 767 freighters. https://theloadstar.com/amazon-eyes-fleet-of-85-aircraft-as-it-changes-course-to-buy-its-own-freighters/ Work begins on new European alcohol-to-jet production plant A consortium led by SkyNRG has begun work on a new European alcohol-to-jet facility (AtJ). The FLITE consortium, with LanzaTech as the technology provider, is building the facility that will convert waste-based ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a scale of over 30,000 tonnes/yr. The project received €20 million in grant funding from the EU H2020 programme and is a major milestone on the path to net-zero emissions target for the aviation industry. The pre-commercial AtJ production plant will pave the way to implementing SAF production across Europe and around the globe, producing commercially relevant quantities of SAF to support future aviation’s climate targets. The consortium consists of leaders from their respective industries. SkyNRG, a global market leader for SAF solutions, is acting as the project coordinator and managing downstream supply chain development while carbon recycling company, LanzaTech, will be responsible for plant design, construction and operations using the LanzaJet AtJ technology. Maarten van Dijk, managing director SkyNRG, said: “With the increasing demand for SAF in the future, there is a need to diversify SAF technologies and feedstock. This first of its kind alcohol-to jet production in Europe will be an important step in the direction of making sustainable aviation fuel more accessible and scalable, supporting net zero emission ambitions for the aviation industry. SkyNRG is excited to be a part of the FLITE project.” Jennifer Holmgren, from LanzaTech, added: “Bending the carbon curve requires collaboration and strong partnerships, something the FLITE consortium exemplifies. “We look forward to implementing LanzaJet AtJ technology in Europe. This is an important enabler to expanding production of sustainable aviation fuel and creating a path to a lower carbon future. We are grateful for the Horizon 2020 funding which has made this project possible.” The AtJ facility will be fully operational in 2024, producing SAF using waste-based ethanol sourced from multiple European producers. https://biofuels-news.com/news/work-begins-on-new-european-alcohol-to-jet-production-plant/ Virgin Galactic says test flight problem identified LOS ANGELES - Virgin Galactic said Thursday it has completed analysis of why its spacecraft’s rocket failed to ignite during a test flight over New Mexico last month and work to fix the problem has begun. "Once the corrective work has been implemented and verified, we will confirm our pre-flight timeline for the next test flight and share expected dates for when the flight window will open," the company said in a brief statement. The statement did not detail what went wrong. At the time of the incident, Virgin Galactic said the onboard computer monitoring the rocket motor lost connection, triggering a fail-safe scenario that halted ignition. The spacecraft, with two pilots aboard, was released from its mothership at high altitude on Dec. 12 on what was supposed to be its first flight into space from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico, where the company plans to begin commercial operations. The spacecraft instead glided to a safe landing. The spacecraft made two previous suborbital space flights over the Southern California desert, where it was developed and built. https://www.ktvu.com/news/virgin-galactic-says-test-flight-problem-identified Call for Papers – ISASI 2021 Aug 30 – Sept 2, 2021 With “Staying Safe: Moving Forward” as our theme, we are excited to announce that ISASI 2021 will be a VIRTUAL EVENT. This will be a fully interactive platform so attendees can engage in a Q&A session and provide feedback. If you have no experience with this type of presentation do not be concerned, we will be providing assistance on the technical and delivery aspects once papers are selected. While many of the papers chosen for ISASI 2020 are expected to be on the program, the 2021 Committee is inviting interested individuals to submit abstracts for papers that address NEW investigations or technology. Presentation topics that support the theme may include, but are not limited to: • Recent accident/incident investigations of interest. • Novel investigation techniques for aircraft, helicopter, and drone accidents. • Data investigation methods, techniques and future developments. • Airport investigation methods and techniques. • Future investigator selection criteria and training needs. • Future of aircraft data capture and retrieval and protection of safety information. • Future developments in underwater wreckage recovery. • Future evolution of Family Assistance. Abstracts should include the author’s current CV [1 page only please] and be sent to isasi2021papers@shaw.ca Important dates: March 20th, 2021 – Last date for receipt of abstracts. May 8th, 2021 – Presenters informed of acceptance and provided with additional instructions. May 22nd, 2021 – Draft program for the 2021 Seminar Technical Program will be published. July 10th, 2021 – Last date for receipt of completed paper and PowerPoint presentation. Any papers not received by this date will be removed from the program and replaced by another speaker. If you have questions related to the paper topics or any other inquiries about the program, please contact the ISASI 2020 Program Chair at avsafe@shaw.ca 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference Registration Now Open ** With over 500 registrants in just 10 days - the sponsors have extended the free registration to the first 1000 registrants ** 2021 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference 15 to 18 March 2021 1500 to 2000 GMT daily via Zoom (0700 to 1200 PST) Four online days of powerful talks given by industry and subject matter experts. Registration is open and FREE for the first 1000 registrants. https://www.aircraftcabinair.com/ Following on from the success of the 2017 and 2019 Aircraft Cabin Air Conferences, the 2021 conference will be an essential four-day free modular online event via Zoom. Providing an in-depth overview or update for all those seeking to understand the subject of contaminated air, the flight safety implications, the latest scientific and medical evidence investigating the contaminated air debate and the emerging solutions available to airlines and aircraft operators. The 2021 conference will be the biggest conference ever held on the issue. Who should participate? Airline Management - Aircraft Manufacturers - Safety equipment providers - Health & Safety Regulators - Maintenance Companies - Airline Safety Departments - Air Accident Investigators- Crew & Unions - Policy Makers- Press & Media - Aircraft Insurers - Leasing Companies - Scientists - Occupational Health Professionals - Academics & Researchers - Engineers Register Curt Lewis