Flight Safety Information - November 20, 2023 No. 224 In This Issue : Incident: Plus Ultra A343 over Atlantic on Nov 14th 2023, engine trouble : Incident: Helvetic E190 at Luxembourg on Nov 16th 2023, gear problem : Incident: Corendon B738 near Munich on Nov 18th 2023, elevator issues : Incident: Anadolu B738 at Istanbul on Nov 17th 2023, rejected takeoff due to engine failure : Incident: Easyjet Europe A21N at Milan on Nov 18th 2023, hydraulic failure : Southwest jet aborts landing in Denver after entering patch of dense fog : Peter Kearney, air safety boss: ‘When you have humans, there is always potential for error’ : TSA, border agents and airlines are asking for your photo. Here's what to know. : College Controller Grads To Skip FAA ATC Academy : Flight Safety Foundation seeks aviation auditors in Africa, Americas to grow the BARS Program : CALENDAR OF EVENTS Incident: Plus Ultra A343 over Atlantic on Nov 14th 2023, engine trouble A Plus Ultra Lineas Aereas Airbus A340-300 on behalf of Cubana de Aviacion, registration EC-MQM performing flight CU-471 from Madrid,SP (Spain) to Santiago (Cuba), was enroute at FL340 over the Atlantic Ocean about 320nm west of Lisbon (Portugal) when the crew decided to turn around and return to Madrid reporting a problem with one of their engines (CFM56). The aircraft landed safely back on Madrid's runway 18R about 3.5 hours after departure. The aircraft returned to service performing flight CU-471 about 22 hours after landing back in Madrid. https://avherald.com/h?article=5113c5eb&opt=0 Incident: Helvetic E190 at Luxembourg on Nov 16th 2023, gear problem A Helvetic Embraer ERJ-190 on behalf of Swiss, registration HB-JVM performing flight LX-754 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Luxembourg (Luxembourg), was on final approach to Luxembourg's runway 24 when the crew initiated a go around reporting a problem with the gear. The aircraft climbed to 4000 feet while the crew was working the checklists, subsequently positioned for another approach to runway 24 and landed safely about 65 minutes after the go around. The airline reported a technical anomaly at extending the landing gear prompted the crew to work the related checklists, the crew declared urgency and landed safely. The return flight was cancelled. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Luxembourg about 3.5 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=5113a0f5&opt=0 Incident: Corendon B738 near Munich on Nov 18th 2023, elevator issues A Corendon Boeing 737-800, registration PH-CDF performing flight CD-617 from Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Hurghada (Egypt), was enroute at FL350 about 20nm northwest of Munich (Germany) when the crew decided to turn around and return to Amsterdam reporting they had elevator defective pressure technical operational issues and needed to avoid icing conditions, therefore requested to stay high as long as practicable. The aircraft descended to FL340 for the return and landed safely on Amsterdam's runway 18R about 2 hours after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 5 hours, then departed again and reached Hurghada with a delay of about 6.5 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=5116072a&opt=0 Incident: Anadolu B738 at Istanbul on Nov 17th 2023, rejected takeoff due to engine failure An Anadolujet Boeing 737-800 on behalf of THY Turkish Airlines, registration TC-JZU performing flight TK-7874 from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (Turkey) to Copenhagen (Denmark), was accelerating for takeoff from Sabiha Gokcen's runway 24R when the right hand engine (CFM56) emitted streaks of flame prompting the crew to reject takeoff at high speed. The aircraft slowed safely and returned to the apron. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration TC-JFD reached Copenhagen with a delay of about 2.5 hours. The occurrence aircraft returned to service about 24 hours after the rejected takeoff. https://avherald.com/h?article=511530bd&opt=0 Incident: Easyjet Europe A21N at Milan on Nov 18th 2023, hydraulic failure An Easyjet Europe Airbus A321-200N, registration OE-ISC performing flight U2-3757 from Milan Malpensa (Italy) to Fuerteventura,CI (Spain), was climbing out of Malpensa's runway 35L when the crew stopped the climb at FL290 reporting a hydraulic failure. The aircraft returned to Malpensa for a safe landing on runway 35R about 45 minutes after departure. Emergency services inspected the aircraft before the aircraft taxied to the apron. The aircraft is still on the ground in Milan about 4.5 hours after landing back. https://avherald.com/h?article=511540ba&opt=0 Southwest jet aborts landing in Denver after entering patch of dense fog • A ground stop was issued briefly in Denver due to dense fog, delaying nearly 200 flights, reports • An airline jet coming in for landing aborted the attempt after entering a patch of dense dog at Denver International Airport. DENVER – Video taken of a Southwest Airlines jet attempting to land at Denver International Airport on Friday shows the pilot had to abort at the last second after entering a swath of dense fog covering the runway. A ground stop was issued briefly on Friday morning due to dense fog, delaying nearly 200 flights, reports FlightAware. The fog delayed the landing of Southwest Flight 2731 after fog reduced the visibility on the runway. In the video, the plane is approaching a dense patch of fog and the visibility looks good from afar. However, as the plane gets closer to the ground, the fog quickly swallows up the plane, obscuring it from view. The pilot sees the situation and quickly begins to ascend into the air again. According to FlightAware, the flight landed about 40 minutes later in better visibility. Around 7 a.m., the National Weather Service in Boulder reported fog had reduced visibility in parts of the Denver Metro areas down to a quarter mile or less. The fog started to dissipate between 8 and 9 a.m. Heading into Thanksgiving week, one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, airline travelers to and from Denver may face additional delays because of weather. Wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph are expected in Colorado on Monday. Strong winds, especially near Denver, have been known to cause ground stops, delays, and turbulence heading in and out of Denver International Airport. https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/video-southwest-jet-aborts-landing-denver-fog Peter Kearney, air safety boss: ‘When you have humans, there is always potential for error’ • Ireland’s air traffic management service expects to guide around 1.25 million planes through Irish airspace in 2024 Peter Kearney, AirNav. ‘We have an incredible safety management infrastructure. We have an independent dedicated unit just for safety management and compliance ... No matter what we do, the very first question is always related to safety’. Picture: Fergal Phillips Walking around the air traffic control tower at Dublin Airport, two things stand out. One is the view, which on a clear day stretches as far as the Mourne Mountains to the north, and mountains in Wales to the east. The second is the sense of calm – the atmosphere is a far cry from how air traffic control towers are displayed in movies. For Peter Kearney, head of AirNav, the new air traffic management service in Irish airspace, managing passenger and crew safety is key to everything that the organisation does. In aviation, as in every other walk of life, not everything runs smoothly. “When you have humans in the mix, there is always potential for error, and we all make mistakes. But at the same time, it's important to say that today, for example, 100,000 flights globally will take off and land with 15 million passengers on board,” Kearney tells the Business Post. There was a total of five commercial aviation accidents last year, according to Kearney. “Of course, five is too many, but there were 32.2 million flights that year. You can see that it's an extremely safe activity. It's only safe because of the work that everybody in this ecosystem puts in, ourselves, the airlines, the airport operators, the training schools, the engine manufacturers, the maintenance people,” he says. Among the biggest challenges facing the sector is the current geopolitical unrest in Europe, according to Kearney. “The war in Ukraine is a terrible thing to experience in our lifetime . . . it's had a massive impact on aviation operations in Europe,” he said. There is currently 20 per cent less airspace available in Europe because of the war, according to Kearney. “Half of Poland is not available to civil aviation operations because of Nato activity, military activity. That has meant that aircraft that traditionally would navigate across Poland have been pushed further south,” he said. “You might think, why does that bother you on the most western edge [of Europe]? . . . We play a massive role, where we are in helping the UK and European network generally in managing delay, providing capacity and reducing delay.” AirNav Ireland has been separated out as a standalone entity from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA). It is a commercial semi-state company employing 630 people at six locations around Ireland and was officially launched on Friday although it has operated for some time already. Kearney, a former pilot, is keen to stress the high level of safety in the aviation sector. Whenever an incident occurs involving aircraft around the world the organisation will do an analysis of what lessons it can learn and what it can do to enhance safety. “We have an incredible safety management infrastructure. We have an independent dedicated unit just for safety management and compliance ... We investigate every incident that would occur . . . no matter what we do, the very first question is always related to safety,” he says. AirNav expects the level of air traffic in Irish skies to increase 20 per cent by the end of the decade, according to Kearney. This year the semi-state is looking at a repeat of 2019 air traffic numbers – when it handled at least 1.1 million aircraft – and then some. “I think we will be slightly ahead [of 2019]. It is a little bit hard to judge yet but I think we'll be somewhere in the region of probably 1.25 million, perhaps 1.3 million aircraft this year – which is a phenomenal number because most of those aircraft don't land here at all, most of them are not Irish operators,” Kearney says. “We're expecting a 12.5 per cent increase in traffic next year. The outlook is probably for in the order of a 20 per cent increase by the end of the decade, or if the high growth projection comes through, it will be 20 per cent plus.” However, he warned that due to the global nature of the aviation sector, the organisation is not immune to international events. “The geopolitical situation in the Middle East could easily have an impact. Nevertheless, no matter what happens, we know that the resilience of aviation generally – but particularly here on the western edge of Europe – is so strong that the rebound will eventually come,” he says. Shortages of air traffic control employees have resulted in airlines in the United States cutting flights, while in Europe the shortages have led to passenger delays. AirNav, which had turnover of €185 million in 2022, employs 260 air traffic controllers across Dublin, Cork and Shannon. Engineers, technicians and other specialists make up the rest of the 630-strong workforce. Currently training Around 28 students are currently training to be air traffic controllers, with an additional 24 starting in February next year. The organisation plans to train a further 240 candidates for careers in air traffic control over the next ten years. “When we look at the growth that's predicted, we see that we have to continue to train. We're taking a number of steps. We're increasing the class size of our classes. Normally, we would take about 18 students [per year]; we're going to increase that to 24,” Kearney says. “Over the course of the next ten years, we're looking to take in 240 colleagues," he adds. Unlike in continental Europe and the United States, there is a sufficient number of air traffic controllers in Ireland at the moment to deal with the level of traffic in Irish airspace, he maintains. A factor behind the shortages across Europe and the US is that air traffic control organisations have not been recruiting consistently, Kearney believes. “We very carefully plan our staffing requirement against the traffic forecast we receive centrally from Europe. That gives us a sense of what we need to do,” Kearney says. “And probably our workforce was a little bit younger, so we weren't facing retirement issues that they're seeing in other places.” In addition, AirNav is “pretty effective” in training new staff. “We can train somebody from having absolutely no knowledge of air traffic control to being a rated air traffic controller in about two years, which is twice as fast as the French can do it,” he says. “We have some very good tests at the very beginning, which gives us a great sense of the person's capacity to succeed. Once they're capable of getting through those tests, about 95 per cent will pass eventually as an air traffic controller. I think we're a bit more agile and a bit more responsive, perhaps, than some of the air traffic control providers around the world.” https://www.businesspost.ie/news/peter-kearney-air-safety-boss-when-you-have-humans-there-is-always-potential-for-error/ TSA, border agents and airlines are asking for your photo. Here's what to know. Grappling with children and luggage, the hours of travel sometimes weighing heavier than the bags, flyers are inching closer to their destination when the government or an airline asks for just a bit more data before they continue on their way: a photo. The use of such biometric data − unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints or, in this case, a facial image – is becoming ever more prevalent at airports and has taken off at stops like the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. But are you required to surrender this personal data? And what happens to it? Here’s what we know: Who is using facial recognition at the airport? The government, for starters. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration use biometric facial matching technology, and Delta Air Lines and Spirit Airlines are also in the game at DTW, Wayne County Airport Authority spokesman Randy Wimbley confirmed. There is also CLEAR, the technology company known for its biometric screening process at airports. DTW has the technology at eight international gates in the Evans Terminal and at concourses in the McNamara Terminal, according to the airport website. And that’s just at DTW. Across the world, others are also using this technology at airports. Where are face scans being used at the airport? DTW notes that the scans are used for boarding at the Evans Terminal and check-in and gate counters at the McNamara Terminal. For government agencies, it’s for identity verification and security checks for domestic and international flyers. For Spirit, it’s for a self-bag drop program in which flyers can check their luggage without talking to airline personnel. For Delta, it’s for a digital ID pilot program promoted as a “curb-to-gate experience,” in which facial recognition is used instead of a physical ID and boarding pass while dropping off your bag, going through security, and boarding. Delta also has a Parallel Reality program at DTW, where travelers can stand side-by-side and look at the same screen but see personalized flight information. At its launch, this program used facial matching, but it is now being run without biometrics, Delta spokesperson Catherine Morrow said in an email. Are you required to submit a facial scan at the airport? No, but there are a couple of caveats. Foreign nationals visiting the U.S. generally don’t get to opt out of the border protection, or CBP, process. There are exceptions based on things like age, diplomatic status, and for certain Canadians traveling as tourists, Area Port Director Robert Larkin said. There also are reports of some difficulty opting out. While the TSA states flyers can opt out and do a manual verification instead without delay, one Detroiter told The Washington Post that a D.C.-area TSA agent claimed the screening was required. Additionally, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said when he sought to opt out of a facial scan, he was warned he may be delayed. He wasn’t. Also, the head of the Transportation Security Administration, David Pekoske, said at a 2023 South by Southwest panel that one day biometrics won’t be optional, The Dallas Morning News reported. What happens with your facial print at the airport? U.S. citizen’s photos taken at the border are kept for no more than 12 hours, according to the CBP. The photos of most foreign nationals entering the country are stored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). With TSA, the photos taken at DTW “are never stored or used for any other purpose than immediate identity verification,” TSA regional spokesperson Jessica Mayle said. Some data, but no photos, is sent to DHS to monitor the match success rate. Delta, whose ID program is tied to the CBP facial matching service, does not save or store any biometric data, and it does not give or sell it to third parties, said Morrow. As for Spirit Airlines, the data collected by the photo-matching bag drop is not transmitted to any government agency, according to a news release. In its privacy policy, in a disclosure to meet California laws, Spirit Airlines listed the groups it would give biometric data to “for business purposes” as “affiliates or subsidiaries” and “other service providers.” Spirit Airlines’ media department did not respond to requests for comment. What are the benefits of facial recognition at the airport? Those deploying the technology point to faster, easier air travel. Spirit Airlines boasted a 30% reduction in time spent at bag check during testing for their program. That puts the average processing at 1 minute and 10 seconds per guest, the airline stated in a news release. Larkin of the CBP said the less time his officers are looking at documents, the more time they are focused on other forms of threat detection. “It enables the officer to focus more on what we call the unknown − the stories, the information that the travelers convey to the officer,” he said. Such programs will help TSA “better meet the challenges of evolving security threats, rising air travel volumes, and resource constraints,” according to a TSA statement. What do privacy advocates say about facial recognition at the airport? Facial scans at airports don’t fly with a number of privacy advocates. The country doesn’t have good privacy laws to keep up with the rapidly evolving and powerful technologies at play, said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. Stanley raised concerns with error rates, especially for people with darker skin tones. That aspect is a particularly hot issue in Detroit, where facial recognition technology has led to the wrong suspect in police investigations. “Really, the biggest danger is where things go,” Stanley said, adding that the TSA and DHS have laid out ambitious plans for use of this technology. The fear is broader usage and an Orwellian future where this technology can even be used to track who people are associating with, Stanley said. Biometric fingerprint collection doesn’t present the same level of concern. Five U.S. senators also called in February 2023 for the TSA to halt its program, describing it as a threat to democracy and raising alarms about the potential of racial discrimination, hacking, and poorly communicated opt-out options. Both the TSA and the CBP have stood by the accuracy of the matches and noted continual work to evaluate and refine the tool. “TSA is committed to protecting passenger privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties and secures all personal data collected as part of our biometric efforts,” Mayle, of the TSA, said. Larkin, of CBP, also said his agency is committed to its privacy obligations and pointed to encryption during storage and transfer, irreversible biometric templates, and brief retention timeframes. How do I sign up for airport facial scans? For the TSA and CBP, generally, just say, “cheese.” The scans are not used every time or in every lane of TSA at DTW, so not every flyer will experience it, said Mayle of TSA. Facial scans are also used as part of CBP’s Global Entry program for faster border clearance. That program costs $100, and it requires a background check and interview, according to the agency website. You can start the process online at the CBP website. For Delta Digital ID, you’ll need to have a passport, be a Delta SkyMiles member, and be signed up for TSA PreCheck. You’ll store information from all of those in your SkyMiles profile, then opt-in there or at check-in using your Fly Delta app, according to the Delta website. For Spirit, once at the airport, check in at a kiosk, tag your bag, go to the self-bag drop, and opt-in, according to a news release. Note: You still need to bring the right physical documentation with you. These approaches just might keep you from having to dig it out at the airport. How do I opt out of facial scans at the airport? Speak up, right away. While certain entities, like Delta, have a clear “opt-out” and “opt-in” button baked into their process, others, like the CBP, don't require officers to outright ask you, “Do you want to submit to facial matching?” There is an assumption that by walking up and engaging with the TSA machines, flyers are opting in, said Mayle, of the TSA. Signs near the TSA agents explain the scan is optional and the machines look different than the typical setup. "We’ve had instances where people walk up, they don’t opt out, the camera takes their picture and we say, 'Go ahead,' and they say, 'Oh, no, no, no, I don’t want my picture taken,'" said Mayle. At that point, what is done is done, so Mayle said to speak up ahead of time. Larkin, of the CBP, said there are also signs near the border agents processing international travelers that convey that the scan is optional for many. A Spirit spokesperson could not be reached to clarify exactly how an opt-out is communicated for its service. Guests learn of the biometric option after they scan their boarding pass at the bag drop, according to its release. Flyers can then either opt in or choose to work with an agent instead. How do travelers feel about it? It depends on the traveler, of course. Justin Schoenle, 36, of Indiana had previously used CBP’s expedited Global Entry process but hadn’t renewed in time for his return flight to Detroit from a business trip to Germany in July 2023. He used the general lines with everyone else and said he’s fine with the data collection if it makes things go faster. “My photos are out there on social media and stuff anyways, so if somebody really wanted to take it, they’d have other means to taking it,” he said. Picking up her bag from the conveyor belt the same day, ahead of her connecting flight, Cherie Himmelreich, 47, of Maryland, said her trip to Frankfurt, Germany, was her first time traveling internationally in probably 30 years. “If it helps keep us safe, I’m good,” she said of the data collection. Brian Nelson, 30, of Houston, who was wearing multi-colored cowboy hats with his friends after an international trip to the Tomorrowland music festival, was a bit more wary. Nelson said he didn’t realize he had much of an option but to submit to the facial scan, and though he read a sign about an alternate process multiple times, he wasn’t sure what that would entail. He didn’t know if it meant being hauled away for 30 minutes to a separate room. He’d like to see some clearer explanations on that. “I just really like my privacy and personal liberties, and I think have a healthy, general distrust of people in the most general sense,” he said. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/11/20/facial-recognition-airport-detroit-tsa-cbp/70433486007/ College Controller Grads To Skip FAA ATC Academy The FAA is allowing graduates of college and university air traffic control programs to skip training at its own ATC academy in Oklahoma City and go directly to on-the-job training at ATC facilities. The measure was among a series of immediate actions announced by the agency to boost ATC recruitment and increase staffing levels at facilities across the country. A shortage of controllers has been a common theme in various studies, reports and seminars on a spate of runway incursions and losses of separation in the past year. Skipping the academy for college ATC grads should increase capacity at the academy for other prospective controllers. Previously, graduates from accredited Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) programs had to go to the Oklahoma academy for at least seven weeks of the 12-week program there to get them ready for a facility. Those with degrees will now go straight to an operational ATC unit where they’ll begin the one- to three-year on-the-job training segment of their career. “The FAA will work with AT-CTI programs to ensure that graduates from these programs have the necessary skills to begin on-the-job training at a facility,” the agency said. “These graduates still must pass the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA) exam and meet medical and security requirements.” After finishing their supervised training, they become certified controllers. We’ve asked the National Air Traffic Controllers Association for comment on the move but didn’t hear back in time for our deadline. AT-CTI trainees make up a significant number of applicants for ATC jobs so bypassing the academy for them should free up seats in the full 12-week program that so-called “off-the-street” trainees must undergo. The FAA will accept applicants who don’t go the university route provided they have work experience and/or education that make them suitable candidates. All candidates have to pass rigorous screening before being accepted for training by the FAA. The agency said in its Friday statement it is also expanding the ATC academy and will ensure that every seat is filled. It will offer year-round acceptance of already-trained military and private-sector controllers and will have a total of four advanced training facilities in operation around the country by next spring. It also recently bought ATC simulators and will have them in 95 facilities by the end of 2025. The agency also intends to keep working on its safety culture with internal reporting structures and the continuation of safety meetings at ATC facilities. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/college-controller-grads-to-skip-faa-atc-academy/ Flight Safety Foundation seeks aviation auditors in Africa, Americas to grow the BARS Program The Flight Safety Foundation is inviting applications from aviation audit organisations operating in Africa, Asia Pacific, North America, and South America to partner with its Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) Program to expand global access to the industry-leading safety initiative. The Flight Safety Foundation is seeking to expand the pool of registered BARS audit companies to assist air operators in identifying any deficiencies in their safety oversight and potential risks, which can be addressed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of safe operations. Gaining BARS Audit Company accreditation can open significant new markets for aviation audit companies in contract aviation and emerging sectors such as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). More than 300 aircraft and RPAS operators participate in the BARS Program worldwide. The BARS Program was originally developed to meet the needs of the mining and resources sector, but its application has expanded to other organizations that use aviation to support their activities. These include government agencies, energy companies, oil and gas companies, and humanitarian and other aid agencies. Since the establishment of the BARS Program in 2010, there has been a continued downward trend in aviation-linked accidents and fatalities in the onshore resources sector. The BARS Program has also developed an audit and registration program for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)/Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to clearly articulate and verify what procedures, processes and systems operators need to have in place to mitigate risk. The Audit Company application is now open to auditing organisations who specialise in delivering RPAS/UAV/drone audit works. To become a registered BARS Audit Company, the organisations must be financially sound, have a deep knowledge of aviation regulations, safety protocols and best practices. They must have a comprehensive approach to auditing, covering all aspects of aviation operations including safety management systems, regulatory compliance, risk assessment and quality control. Only trained and accredited BARS Auditors can be used in the conduct of a BARS audit and other services associated with the program. All auditors working in the BARS Program are required to successfully undertake the BARS Auditor Accreditation Course (AAC) before participating in a BARS Audit. In its 12 years of operation, the BARS Program has conducted more than 1300 audit events for more than 300 aircraft and RPAS operators in 42 countries. For more information on the BARS Program, please review the Flight Safety Foundation BARS Program website at https://flightsafety.org/bars/ To Register interest in applying for BARS Audit Company accreditation, please contact BARS@flightsafety.org About Flight Safety Foundation the Basic Aviation Risk Standard Program FSF is an independent, international, and impartial non-profit that exists to champion the cause of aviation safety. The Foundation established the Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) Program in 2010 to review aviation operators providing aviation services to the resources and other sectors. The BARS Program is made up of a suite of risk-based aviation industry standards with supporting implementation guidelines. The BARS Program has operated for 12 years, with more than 1120 audits in 45 different countries for more than 235 aircraft operators. As a result, about 281 000 questions have been asked as part of our structured audits, identifying some 18 000 non-conformities. Find out more about FSF at their website: www.flightsafety.org CALENDAR OF EVENTS • 2024 Women in Aviation International Conference - March 21-23 (Orlando) • 2024 ACSF Safety Symposium – Air Charter Safety Foundation - April 1-3, 2024 • 2024 ISASI - Lisbon, Portugal - September 30 to October 4, 2024 • 2024 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - Oct. 22-24 (Vegas) Curt Lewis