Flight Safety Information - February 23, 2024 No. 040 In This Issue : Incident: Jet2 A21N near Faro on Feb 22nd 2024, burning odour on board : Incident: Swiss B773 near Mallorca on Feb 22nd 2024, problems with air conditioning : Incident: Kalitta B744 over Atlantic on Feb 22nd 2024, fire indication followed by multiple system malfunctions : The disappearance of passenger jet MH370 could be repeated : JetBlue Is Offering Some Pilots Paid Leave In April : How Many Pilots Are Needed For A Transatlantic Flight? : United Airlines says after a 'detailed safety analysis' it will restart flights to Israel in March : Vietjet and Safran Announce Strategic Partnership for Safety Equipment on B737MAX Aircraft : Coalition Will Study Unapproved Parts Safeguards : Lithium batteries spark fire scares on five passenger aircraft in just one month : Lynx Air to cease operations Monday, obtains creditor protection : The Airbus A340 airplane was built to rule long-haul travel. Now it’s vanishing from the skies : Aircraft maintenance firm adding 250 jobs in Tucson : CALENDAR OF EVENTS Incident: Jet2 A21N near Faro on Feb 22nd 2024, burning odour on board A Jet2.com Airbus A321-200N, registration G-SUNB performing flight LS-1266 from Tenerife South,CI (Spain) to Birmingham,EN (UK) with 220 people on board, was enroute at FL340 about 160nm southwest of Faro (Portugal) when the crew decided to divert to Faro due to a burning odour on board. The aircraft landed safely on Faro's runway 28 about 35 minutes later. A passenger reported there was a strong burning odour in the cabin. https://avherald.com/h?article=51546df1&opt=0 Incident: Swiss B773 near Mallorca on Feb 22nd 2024, problems with air conditioning A Swiss International Airlines Boeing 777-300, registration HB-JNB performing flight LX-7092 from Zurich (Switzerland) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP (Brazil) with 145 people on board, was enroute at FL330 about 50nm northeast of Palma Mallorca,SP (Spain) when the crew decided to return to Zurich due to problems with the air conditioning. The aircraft descended to FL320 for the return and landed safely on Zurich's runway 14 about 2.5 hours after departure. The aircraft is still on the ground in Zurich about 7.5 hours after landing back. The flight, LX-92, expected with 318 passengers on board had been postponed the previous day due to the aircraft not coming out of an A-Check in time and was to be flown as flight LX-7092 on Feb 22nd. A replacement Boeing 777-300 registration HB-JNJ is currently enroute to Sao Paulo and is estimated to reach the destination with a delay of about 18 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=51546a8f&opt=0 Incident: Kalitta B744 over Atlantic on Feb 22nd 2024, fire indication followed by multiple system malfunctions A Kalitta Boeing 747-400 freighter, registration N767CK performing flight KA-844 from Miami,FL (USA) to Amsterdam (Netherlands) with 5 crew and cargo of flowers, was enroute at FL370 over the Atlantic Ocean about 600nm west of Shannon when the crew donned their oxygen masks, declared emergency and descended the aircraft to FL260 after receiving a fire indication on board. The crew decided to divert to Shannon (Ireland). Enroute towards Shannon the crew reported they now had multiple system malfunctions. The crew requested high speed below FL100, deviated around weather, performed an ILS approach to, landed on Shannon's runway 24 and stopped on the runway. Following a first inspection by emergency services the aircraft proceeded to the apron with emergency services in trail. The crew advised that the fire indications had ceased during the landing roll, there was no trace of fire, smoke or heat. The aircraft is still on the ground in Shannon about 7 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=51545ed8&opt=0 The disappearance of passenger jet MH370 could be repeated The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014 still remains a mystery. Even after a decade, efforts to prevent similar incidents of planes disappearing without a trace have been hindered by bureaucracy and financial pressure. The implementation of aircraft-tracking tools has been delayed, leaving gaps in aviation safety protocols. The disappearance of passenger jet MH370 could be repeated Investigators said it’s possible someone then switched off the plane’s communications systems. “Good Night. Malaysian Three Seven Zero.” Those six words were the last radio transmission from the cockpit of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, less than an hour after the aircraft took off late at night from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Minutes later, the plane disappeared from air-traffic control radar screens. The huge Boeing Co 777 jet, almost as long as a Manhattan city block and taller than a five-story building, had somehow managed to make itself invisible in the clear night sky. There were 239 people on board. Ensuing search operations combed through some of the deepest ocean floors in the inhospitable southern Indian Ocean, hundreds of miles off Australia’s western seaboard, and found no trace of the main fuselage or any passengers and crew. Of the 3 million components in the 777, just a few fragments washed ashore years later on the east African coast. With no mayday call, no known flight path and no wreckage, MH370 remains modern aviation’s biggest mystery. And while investigators had very little to go on, they were clear on one thing: A plane must never go missing like this again. Yet 10 years on, an industrywide push to rule out a similar case has been stymied by bureaucracy, financial pressure, and a debate about who should have ultimate control of the cockpit, according to years of regulatory amendments chronicling the process. A key aircraft-tracking tool that was proposed by Malaysian authorities weeks after the disaster is yet to be implemented. While the industry has saved hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment costs, there remains an ocean-sized hole in aviation’s safety protocols, meaning that a doomed passenger jet in a remote corner of the planet could remain hidden forever. As search teams looked in vain for MH370, an additional layer of safety regulation spearheaded by the International Civil Aviation Organization proposed new jets should broadcast their position at least every minute if they were in trouble. The aim was to give authorities early warning of an unfolding disaster. Should the plane later go down, rescue teams would at least have a chance of locating the crash site. It hasn’t turned out that way. The one-minute tracking rule has twice been delayed. It was initially due to be in force in January 2021 but is now set to take effect from January 2025. Bloomberg News asked more than a dozen major airlines spanning the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia how many planes in their fleets already meet ICAO’s requirements. At the airlines that responded, very few planes are compliant. Air France, which had more than 250 aircraft as of September, said seven jets — all Airbus SE A350s — comply with the standard. Korean Air Lines Co. said three of its 159-strong fleet are equipped with the tracking device, while Japan Airlines Co. said two of its 226 planes have the technology installed. The delay since MH370 vanished has been unacceptable, said Hassan Shahidi, president and chief executive officer of the Flight Safety Foundation, a Virginia-based not-for-profit group that promotes aviation safety standards. “This was a tragedy and solutions have been developed. It is absolutely imperative that we take this final step,” Shahidi said. As well as being years late, the fresh tracking standard applies only to new aircraft. There’s no requirement to install the relevant technology on more than 20,000 older planes in service as of last year. That means thousands of aircraft will fly for decades, ferrying millions of passengers around the world, without a capability that was deemed crucial after MH370 disappeared. Technology hurdles have played at least some role in the delays. When the US National Transportation Safety Board recommended “tamper-proof” tracking systems on planes in 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration, considered the global pacesetter for the civil aviation industry, pushed back. The FAA said it couldn’t be done without sacrificing the pilot’s control of all systems, considered a mainstay of aviation safety protocols because pilots should have final say over the aircraft in case of emergencies. The role of MH370 Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah has been a major focus point of the mystery. According to the presumed sequence of events in the final report, the plane deliberately left its planned route north to China, looped back over Malaysia and headed out to sea. It cruised south for about six hours and probably came down in the southern Indian Ocean when it ran out of fuel. Scientists managed to roughly map the doomed jet’s route by studying its hourly connections with a satellite 36,000 kilometers (22,400 miles) above Earth. As remarkable as this detective work was, it produced an enormous potential crash zone. An international search fleet surveyed 710,000 square kilometers of seabed, peppered with trenches and peaks, before the hunt was called off in 2017. A fresh effort the following year by marine exploration company Ocean Infinity also came up empty. The forensic detail included in the 450-page final report into the tragedy makes it hard to escape the human toll of the tragedy. The report lists the seat number, gender and nationality of the passengers. The economy section was almost full, two children sat in 17F and 18F and another in 30H, and there were two infants on board. In the rear, four rows apart, two Iranians were traveling on stolen European passports. The business-class section was barely one-third occupied, with most of the 10 passengers seated by the windows. The 10 flight attendants tending to their guests all came from Malaysia, while the majority of passengers were Chinese. Just after 1 a.m., the flight had settled into cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. Some 20 minutes later, MH370 signed off from Malaysian air-traffic control with its last-ever voice transmission. Investigators said it’s possible someone then switched off the plane’s communications systems, while stopping short of a definitive conclusion. The team was “unable to determine the real cause for the disappearance of MH370,” they said. At the same time, the report made an impassioned appeal to the international aviation community, saying it “needs to provide assurance to the traveling public that the location of current-generation commercial aircraft is always known. It is unacceptable to do otherwise.” The one-minute tracking rule was designed to resolve that blind spot, by aiming to nail down a crash site to within a radius of six nautical miles. That’s still not good enough, said Mike Poole, chief executive officer of APS Aerospace Corp., an Ottawa-based company that conducts flight-data analysis for accident investigations. With satellites covering almost every inch of the planet, Poole wants all commercial flights to transmit their position and other key data almost constantly over a tamper-proof system. It shouldn’t matter whether the aircraft’s in trouble or not, he said. “In the event of a missing plane, not only do you know where it is, you get a lot of instant information,” said Poole, who worked for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada for more than 20 years and led its flight-recorder laboratory. “You would probably have a really good idea what happened to MH370.” Finding any missing plane is important because understanding the cause of past incidents is central to preventing disasters in the future. The FAA has an online library devoted to lessons learned from decades of accidents. After MH370 disappeared in 2014, there was an initial flurry of activity. Within a month, the International Air Transport Association, an airline trade group, formed a task force to draw up proposals for more stringent flight monitoring. Boeing, Airbus and ICAO, a United Nations agency central to aviation standard-setting, were all included. One of the outcomes from this early work was a requirement for large, new passenger planes in distress to transmit their position at least once a minute from January 1, 2021. Meeting that deadline was beyond the sector. In a four-page submission to ICAO in 2019, Australian authorities claimed there had been “a lack of coordination and information sharing” between Montreal-based ICAO and search-and-rescue entities. One-minute tracking was subsequently delayed until 2023. When the coronavirus shut down air travel and sent hundreds of newly made, undelivered planes into storage, the tracking rule was shunted back to 2025. A 2022 filing by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency sheds light on the financial gains from the second delay. The EASA document said the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industry Associations, representing plane manufacturers, asked ICAO for the postponement. EASA cited estimated cost savings of between $175 million and $262 million — less than the list price of a new Boeing 777. At the same time, EASA acknowledged that the technology to process emergency signals by the satellite networks has faced “significant delays” because the satellites needed to monitor the entire globe weren’t yet fully operable. And the entities responsible for acting in the event of a distress report also need time to set up processes to handle such incidents, it said. Montreal-based ICCAIA declined to comment. An Airbus spokesman declined to comment on the delays and deferred to the EASA filing. ICAO said in an email that “the pandemic put everyone back.” Tracking equipment for planes in distress might someday be obligatory on older aircraft, “depending on how essential and performing the new device turns out to be,” ICAO said. Boeing said it continues to “work under the oversight of global regulators on the requirement for a Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System.'' To be sure, airlines tightened their tracking capabilities to some degree in the wake of MH370, pinpointing their large passenger planes at least every 15 minutes when over remote waters. “The job on safety is never done,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh. “When you have events like MH370, I think it really does cause everybody to stand back and say, ‘How can this happen?’ Could this happen again? I’d be very surprised if it could. I’m not saying the chances are zero, but the chances are so much smaller today than they were 10 years ago.” Off-the-shelf products that track commercial flights continuously are available. Inmarsat and Aireon, for instance, provide carriers near real-time in-flight data using a network of satellites that can link up with planes almost anywhere in the world with high precision and in real time. That means a situation like the 2009 crash of Air France 447 — a functional plane that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean without suspicion of foul play and was only found after two years — should theoretically never happen again. ICAO lays down clear requirements for in-flight one-minute tracking devices for aircraft in trouble. They need to activate in a range of scenarios, such as a loss of propulsion. Critically, devices triggered automatically can’t be manually turned off. Airbus introduced an emergency locator transmitter system that meets the standard, and has fitted it on all new widebody aircraft the planemaker has delivered since April 2023. There was no such capability on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Joe Hattley, an Australian air-accident expert who joined the international investigation team in Malaysia after MH370 went missing, says the mystery still hangs over him, even after 10 years. While the incident bore the hallmarks of a deliberate action, the lack of evidence frustrates him. “I think about MH370 every day,” said Hattley. “As an accident investigator, your job is to answer questions, provide answers to families, friends and next of kin, and to try and improve safety. We haven’t been able to do that.” https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/the-disappearance-of-passenger-jet-mh370-a-decade-later-the-industry-struggles-to-prevent-a-repeat/articleshow/107928078.cms JetBlue Is Offering Some Pilots Paid Leave In April The airline is offering buyout packages to non-union employees. On Thursday, February 22, it was revealed that JetBlue had offered their pilots compensation to take the month of April off. Per Josh Hjemvick on Twitter, the airline offered "no-fly but paid" incentives for April. This allows the pilots to get paid about two-thirds of their standard monthly compensation for not flying. Per Hjemvick, the airline offered this incentive to nearly 350 pilots. Paying pilots not to fly JetBlue has too many pilots for its proposed schedule during April. Because of this, the airline officially offered 350 pilots the ability to take the entire month off while still earning nearly two-thirds of their standard compensation. Per Hjemvick on Twitter, the airline is looking for over 200 Captains and nearly 100 First Officers to take the month of April off. Earlier this year, the airline also offered voluntary buy-out packages to other employees. This includes offerings to both frontline employees and managers per the aviation watchdog JonNYC on Twitter. Per JonNYC, the airline is offering two weeks of pay per year of service, capped at 26 weeks, with additional health benefits. Managers were offered three weeks of pay per year of service, capped at 26 weeks, with additional medical benefits and a 2023 bonus. JetBlue did not immediately respond for comment. Recent ideas to spur company growth Earlier this year, the airline's former Chief Executive Officer, Robin Hayes, released a company-wide message stating that bringing the airline back to profitability was its number one focus. In that message, Hayes also stated, "One way or another, be assured: JetBlue has a bright future. If we need to move without Spirit, we will invigorate our standalone organic plan, continuing to fight for more market share and win customers from the big airlines - just as we have done for nearly 24 years." Earlier this month, the airline began charging $10 for what it is now calling "Core Preferred" seats. These seats are generally considered the most popular seats on the aircraft. This includes the window and aisle seats near the front of economy class. Nothing is physically changing with the layout or structure of the seats. JetBlue will join United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines as United States-based carriers that charge for preferred seats and seat locations. Additionally, it was revealed that JetBlue was increasing its checked baggage fees by $10. The new fees began on February 1. For a traveler purchasing their checked bag more than 24 hours before departing, the fee for their first standard-sized checked bag is $35, and the fee for their second standard-sized checked bag is $50. The fee structure increases for customers purchasing their checked bags after check-in. The first checked bag costs $45, while the second checked bag costs $60. These recent fee additions and changes will likely ensure the company becomes profitable in the long term. https://simpleflying.com/jetblue-paid-pilot-leave-april-2024/ How Many Pilots Are Needed For A Transatlantic Flight? Pilot requirements on a transatlantic flight depend on the length of the flight. SUMMARY • Transatlantic flights require a minimum of two pilots for safety, with longer flights needing more depending on the duration. • Regulations limit pilots to 8 hours of active flying, requiring multiple pilots to evenly split time in the cockpit on long-haul flights. • Airlines must consider regulations, union restrictions, and other specific factors when deciding the number of pilots for transatlantic flights. While airline passengers frequently interact with members of the cabin crew during the course of a flight, what they generally are unaware of is who and how many people are piloting the aircraft. Long-haul transatlantic flights require major planning by the airline operators, including the number of pilots needed. Transatlantic flights have been taking place since the beginning of the twentieth century. However, the first regularly serviced transatlantic flight by jet was conducted by the British Overseas Aircraft Cooperation (BOAC) between New York and London on October 4th, 1958. Typical transatlantic flights last anywhere between 6 and 14 hours, depending on the route and direction of travel. In order to facilitate long flying hours, airline operators follow specific guidelines to deploy the number of pilots for each flight. As long-haul pilots are paid relatively high salaries (at least by industry standards), the cost of staffing the cockpit on a transatlantic connection can prove exceptionally high. As a result, airlines spend immense amounts of time and resources designing cockpit crew schedules that meet applicable regulations while optimizing the carrier's costs. In this article, we will look at how airlines decide how many pilots to put in their transatlantic cockpits. Pilot requirements The requirement for any large commercial flight (short-haul or long-haul) is to have a minimum of two pilots, regardless of the nature of the flight. That comprises a commander of the aircraft (captain) and a co-pilot (also known as the first officer). Since the piloting job comes with great responsibility, two pilots are primarily required for safety. This was not always the case, and the airliners of the past required larger crews to operate. When the Boeing 707 first took to the skies, according to Modern Airliners, the jet required a crew of three to fly: a pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer. Some other aircraft of the era also necessitated a navigator, a fourth individual, to be present in the cockpit as well. Pilots share the workload of flying the airplane, monitoring flight parameters, making crucial piloting decisions, and communicating with air traffic controllers. Moreover, in case of an in-flight medical emergency with one of the pilots, a second pilot can step in to operate and land the aircraft safely. More than two pilots The requirement for having more than two pilots depends on the length of the flight. Generally, a third pilot (second officer) is required onboard if the flight is longer than eight hours. That requirement may vary slightly between operators, according to Pilot Mall. While some airlines require a third pilot for flights longer than seven hours, others may extend it to 10 hours. If the flight is longer than 12 hours, a fourth pilot (second officer) is required. Similarly, the 12-hour requirement for the fourth pilot may slightly differ across airlines. The two additional pilots (also known as relief pilots) on long-haul transatlantic flights switch duties with the captain and the co-pilot in flight. It is noteworthy that special flights, such as inaugural or training flights, may have additional pilots and flight engineers regardless of the flight length. Pilot requirements are generally set because most regulatory authorities worldwide limit pilots from actively flying the airplane for more than eight hours in a 12 to 14-hour work shift. A pilot must rest for a specific number of hours after s/he has "burnt out" (completed the allowed flying time). The aircraft operators calculate these factors based on the length of the flight. Airlines must also juggle union restrictions when deciding how many pilots to schedule for transatlantic flights. Typically, pilot unions will regulate how many flight hours a pilot is able to work at any given time, which can force airlines to staff additional cockpit crew members. Transatlantic flight A typical transatlantic flight between Los Angeles (LAX) and London Heathrow (LHR) has a block time of 10 hours and 30 minutes. In this case, an airline would deploy three pilots on the route with a work shift of 13 hours. The duration of the work shift covers additional duties of the pilots, including pre-flight checks and other paperwork required at the beginning and the end of a flight, according to Thrust Flight. The requirement of having at least two pilots on duty during the block time results in a total of 21 hours in this case. Since one pilot is limited to an active flying time of up to eight hours, the three pilots share the active flying time between them for a total of seven hours each. Similar arrangements can be made for longer flights with four pilots. Increased automation As economic factors drive the airline industry, many have begun to wonder why carriers have not reduced the number of pilots required in a cockpit. Increasingly, people have argued for reducing active duty pilot restrictions to just a single operator, which could drastically reduce the costs of staffing the cockpit, especially on long-haul transatlantic flights. However, according to Hillsboro Aero Academy, many have discouraged this, including industry regulators, as a significant safety precaution. Airline cockpits are already heavily automated, and adding additional autopilot systems could prove challenging. Currently, aircraft navigation systems are already machine-controlled, and the job of pilots in many situations is simply to troubleshoot. Several other factors specific to airlines and the routes they fly call for varying pilot requirements. The regulations of the countries airlines fly into, rest facilities onboard the aircraft, and overall work shift limitations for the crew are among the many factors that drive such requirements. When staffing numerous pilots, deciding exactly how to do so can be tricky and requires airlines to balance various interests. While different airlines within one geographic region may differ slightly in operations, they all have to abide by the minimum requirements set by the aviation regulatory authority of their operating regions. Lastly, certain flight routes require specific certifications for operations, and airlines must be sure to staff the right number of pilots who need these credentials. https://simpleflying.com/pilot-transatlantic-flight-requirement/ United Airlines says after a 'detailed safety analysis' it will restart flights to Israel in March United Airlines is gearing up to resume flights to Israel early next month CHICAGO -- United Airlines says it plans to resume flights to Israel next month, reviving a route that was suspended in October at the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The airline said Wednesday that it will start flights from Newark, New Jersey, to Tel Aviv with a stop in Munich on March 2 and March 4. United said it hopes to begin daily service on March 6 and to add a second daily flight as soon as May. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines also stopped flying to Tel Aviv after the war started and have not announced when service might resume. Germany's Lufthansa and its affiliates Austrian Airlines and Swiss brought back flights to Tel Aviv in January, followed by Air France. Other European carriers have said they plan to restart flights to Israel this spring. United said it conducted “a detailed safety analysis” and consulted security experts and government officials in both countries before deciding to resume the flights. The airline said it also worked with the two unions that represent its pilots and flight attendants. The Chicago-based airline said it will evaluate whether to resume flights this fall to Israel from San Francisco, Chicago and Dulles airport outside Washington, D.C. https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/united-airlines-after-detailed-safety-analysis-restart-flights-107431088 Vietjet and Safran Announce Strategic Partnership for Safety Equipment on B737MAX Aircraft New-age airline Vietjet and Safran Aerosystems, a global leader in aviation safety systems, proudly announce a strategic partnership for the supply of safety equipment on Vietjet's B737MAX aircraft. The selection includes essential safety components such as Life Rafts, Protective Breathing Equipment, Crew Masks, and Life Vests, and associated support services. In a strategic collaboration, Vietjet and Safran Aerosystems join forces to enhance safety and security on board the Vietjet B737MAX fleet. Safran Aerosystems' offering has been chosen for its innovative solutions and commitment to excellence in designing state-of-the-art safety equipment. Safran Aerosystems Services Asia, based in Singapore, is part of the international after-sales network of Safran Aerosystems and will provide Vietjet support for the equipment provided. https://www.safran-group.com/pressroom/vietjet-and-safran-announce-strategic-partnership-safety-equipment-b737max-aircraft-2024-02-20 Coalition Will Study Unapproved Parts Safeguards Manufacturers, suppliers, and operators have teamed up in a formal effort to develop better safeguards against unapproved parts from entering the commercial aviation supply chain. The Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition (ASCIC) is starting with a 90-day review of current supply chain operations, it said in a Feb. 22 news release. Anchored by representatives from Airbus, American Airlines, Boeing, Delta Air Lines, GE Aerospace, Safran, StandardAero, and United Airlines, the group plans to write a “comprehensive” report with recommendations to prevent parts from circulating without proper approvals. ASCIC’s formation stems from last fall’s scheme that saw AOG Technics, which billed itself as a parts broker, sell thousands of parts with falsified records. The parts, mostly for CFM56-series products, were bought by several operators and maintenance providers and made their way onto in-service engines. Quick work by affected stakeholders—notably several MRO shops that flagged the questionable paperwork as well as CFM and its co-owners GE Aerospace and Safran, who promptly alerted customers—seemingly helped limit the parts’ distribution. But the scenario was alarming enough to prompt industry to take a closer look at the issue. “While an extensive review found that less than one percent of CFM engines were affected and most parts involved were non-serialized items like bolts, washers, and bushings, the coalition will take a broader look at preventing future similar actions,” ASCIC said. Robert Sumwalt, executive director for Embry Riddle’s Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety and a former NTSB chair, and former U.S. Transportation Department Deputy Secretary John Porcari will serve as the group’s co-chairs. The group says it plans to have a final report by year-end. While many in the industry believe current parts-procurement processes are strong, some see opportunities in improving parts tracing. The benefits extend beyond simply validating parts are airworthy and into areas such as making asset transfers less time-consuming. https://aviationweek.com/mro/supply-chain/coalition-will-study-unapproved-parts-safeguards Lithium batteries spark fire scares on five passenger aircraft in just one month Fortunately all the aircraft used thermal containment bags but many airlines still don’t have them Lithium batteries have caused fire incidents on board five planes in just one month and every time the overheating device was placed in a thermal containment bag. All the incidents happened in American airspace or involved American aircraft and have been made public by the Federal Aviation Administration which regulates civil aviation in the USA – but other authorities around the world don’t reveal figures so the monthly statistics globally are likely to be far higher. Four of the planes are operated by American Airlines but that’s purely coincidental. All carry lithium battery thermal containment bags which meant the problem was quickly sorted and the planes all then flew on to their final scheduled destinations with no-one hurt … and one hadn’t even taken off. Some of the devices were even switched off which shows how potentially dangerous faulty lithium batteries can be. This means there have been 460 verified incidents involving lithium batteries on aircraft between March 2006 and December 31, 2023, recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration. Here are full details about the latest incidents which all happened in December 2023. On December 1 during a Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester to New York a passenger’s mobile phone began to overheat and a cabin crew member put it in a thermal containment bag. On December 5 an American Airlines plane was taxiing for departure at Milan in Italy when a passenger’s portable battery pack began to overheat. A flight attendant put it in a thermal containment bag and the aircraft returned to the departure gate where the bag was taken off the plane. On December 13 a passenger’s laptop began to overheat even though its power was off and it was stowed away on an American Airlines aircraft flying from Sacramento in California to Charlotte in North Carolina. A member of the cabin crew put it into a thermal containment bag for the rest of the flight. On December 15 a passenger’s e-cigarette began to overheat in a carry-on bag on an American Airlines plane flying from Boston in Massachusetts to Los Angeles. It was placed in a thermal containment bag by a flight attendant. On December 28 a passenger found a vape device in the lavatory on board an American Airlines flight from Miami in Florida to Phoenix in Arizona. The vape had become hot so the passenger immediately alerted the flight attendant who put it in a thermal containment bag. Some airlines are still not equipped with thermal bags so have to divert and make emergency landings when lithium incidents happen which can prove very disruptive for the passengers and costly for the airline companies. The latest incident involved a Royal Air Philippines plane flying from Caticlan in the Philippines to Shanghai in China on February 19, 2024. It diverted to Hong Kong after a passenger’s power bank battery went into thermal runaway, sending smoke spiralling through the cabin. Lithium batteries power all our everyday electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptops, iPads, vapes and e-cigarettes. When a lithium battery overheats it goes into a chemical process called thermal runaway and when this happens one cell in a battery can produce enough heat – up to 900°C (1652°F) – to cause adjacent cells to overheat. This can cause a lithium battery fire to flare repeatedly and they are then very difficult to put out which is why fire mitigation bags are so important, especially in the confined space of aircraft passenger cabins. The ever increasing number of lithium battery incidents on aircraft means that many airline operators now have thermal mitigation bags on board to deal swiftly and effectively with the problem before anyone is hurt or the aircraft is damaged. The most widely used by far is the AvSax which is now on almost 17,000 planes operated by around 100 airlines. The AvSax won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its innovation in the UK – the highest award any business can achieve. The reason it’s so popular among airlines is that it continually cools the overheating device while containing it. The UK’s regulatory organisation the Civil Aviation Authority says: “Since the development of the International Civil Aviation Organization guidance on dealing with an in-flight battery fire, new products designed for use in response to lithium battery thermal runaway events have become available. “Products which provide both a cooling and containment capability are typically more aligned to the existing ICAO guidance as when used they are filled with water or other non-flammable liquid to act as a cooling agent. “After knocking down flames it could conceivably take just a couple of seconds for a personal electronic device to be placed inside a containment bag, allowing it to be moved to a place of safety. “Passengers could then return to their seats, mitigating potential unrelated safety hazards such as injury in the case of severe turbulence. Equally, the effect on flight crew in carrying out their duties following an event on the flight deck would be minimised.” For more information on AvSax go to www.avsax.com www.avsax.com Lynx Air to cease operations Monday, obtains creditor protection Calgary-based, ultra low-cost airline launched in 2022 but faced 'significant headwinds,' company says Lynx Air announced Thursday that the company is to cease operations on Monday and has obtained creditor protection. (Submitted by Taylor Michelson) Lynx Air, a Calgary-based airline that launched less than two years ago with a promise to make air travel more affordable for Canadians, says it will cease operations on Monday. The news came as the low-cost airline announced it had sought and obtained an initial order for creditor protection from the Court of King's Bench of Alberta. "Over the past year, Lynx Air has faced a number of significant headwinds including rising operating costs, high fuel prices, exchange rates, increasing airport charges and a difficult economic and regulatory environment," said the company in a news release. "Despite substantial growth in the business, ongoing operational improvements, cost reductions and efforts to explore a sale or merger, the challenges facing the company's business have become too significant to overcome." A flight booking web page shows red bars that read: Lynx Air's operations will end Feb. 26, 2024. A screenshot of the Lynx Air website landing page on Thursday evening. (Lynx Air) The airline said it will cease operations at 12:01 a.m. MT on Monday, "with flights continuing to operate until that time." Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP are acting as legal advisers to Lynx Air. FTI Consulting Canada Inc. was appointed as the monitor under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. In an email statement to CBC News, a spokesperson with the airline said that "growing financial pressures have made it impossible" to continue operations. "We are focused on working with passengers currently in transit to find alternative arrangements to reach their destination," the statement reads. The company said passengers with existing bookings are advised to contact their credit card company to secure refunds for pre-booked travel. It also directed customers to its website. Flight cancelled, passengers scrambling But Lynx Air customer, Kara Brereton-Cooke, says her flight home to Winnipeg, which was scheduled for Saturday, has already been cancelled. Brereton-Cooke said she received an email from Lynx Thursday evening following the announcement, advising that her flight from Vancouver to Winnipeg was cancelled. She and a group of seven friends have been left scrambling to find a way home. "Seeing this email, we're now all just frantic." The friends travelled to Vancouver for a bachelorette party, and were originally slated to fly home Friday. Brereton-Cooke says Lynx Air then rescheduled the original return flight to depart at 11 a.m. on Saturday, but then cancelled it entirely. a screenshot of an email. Kara Brereton-Cooke, a Lynx Air customer, received this email notifying her that her Saturday flight had been cancelled. Above is a screenshot of the email Brereton-Cooke received. It directs customers to request a refund through their credit card companies. (Supplied by Kara Brereton-Cooke) The group booked an extra night of hotel accommodations for Friday night after their flight was rescheduled. Now, they've booked last-minute flights through Air Canada for Saturday. The trip has become more expensive than anyone expected, she told CBC News. "We just want our compensation back from them," Brereton-Cooke said. "We shouldn't have to go through our credit card companies to get a refund." CBC News contacted Lynx Air for a comment on the Saturday flight cancellation but have not yet received a response. WestJet — another Calgary-based airline — has since responded to the news of Lynx Air's halt to operations. WestJet offers discounts "We recognize the immediate impact this information has on passengers and employees of Lynx, and we are committed to assisting where we can through a number of actions," reads the statement posted to their website on Thursday night. The airline is offering deals to those impacted by Lynx's announcement, namely a 25 per cent discount for all economy fares between Feb. 22 and Oct. 26 on WestJet routes which were previously served by Lynx Air. Lynx Air's flight attendants had just joined the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) earlier this month. "We're devastated for our members at Lynx Air and all employees who lost their jobs today," Lou Arab, communications representative for CUPE, told CBC News. "We will represent them and defend their rights in these times and we'll fight to ensure that employees get everything they're legally entitled to. "The company was clear that it's losing investors and doesn't have the capital to support continued operations." Airline industry is 'notoriously difficult' Deborah Yedlin, president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said she suspects airport charges played a major role in Lynx's decision. "I think the airport fees as they're structured makes it hard for discount airlines to be successful in Canada long term," she said. "There's been a confluence of events that's really put a lot of downward pressure on the airline business… So when you're a discount player and your margins are even tighter, you're going to feel the economic headwinds that much more acutely." Yedlin calls the industry "notoriously difficult," citing various post-pandemic challenges such as labour shortages and increased fuel costs. She says Lynx Air's announcement is unfortunate for Calgarian consumers hoping to save on travel costs. "I think the question is, what do we need to do in Canada to ensure the viability of discount airlines?" Ultra-affordable services promised Privately-owned Lynx Air, which was formerly Enerjet, launched in April 2022, with a promise to bring ultra-affordable services to travellers. Lynx Air's inaugural flight was in April, 2022, jetting from Calgary to Vancouver. When it announced its plans in 2021, the company's CEO at the time said the goal was to link Canadians to people and places. "Airfares have traditionally been high here in Canada, and we at Lynx believe in meeting Canadians' needs who can't afford to travel or can't afford to travel as often as they'd like," said Merren McArthur, who stepped down last year for personal reasons. When the company announced its launch, it said it had leased 46 new Boeing 737 aircraft. Last June, McArthur told the Calgary Herald it employed about 420 people. Lynx began flying to several Canadian cities in 2022, including Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria, B.C. Later that year, it announced a major expansion into the United States and followed that with the launch of a series of international flights in 2023, including Montreal to Las Vegas, and Toronto to Los Angeles, among others. Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez addressed the news via social media on Thursday evening. In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Rodriguez said he is following the announcement closely. "For any travellers that had a return flight booked with Lynx, I expect Lynx to help you get back home as soon as possible. I expect Lynx to fully refund you if your fare won't be honoured," the statement reads. "My office has been in touch with Lynx, we will continue to communicate with all parties, and we've convened calls with other airlines to see how they can help, to ensure that passengers are put first." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/lynx-air-creditor-protection-airlines-canada-1.7123247 The Airbus A340 airplane was built to rule long-haul travel. Now it’s vanishing from the skies While the A380 superjumbo is enjoying a steady resurgence after having been on the brink of retirement during the pandemic, its older sibling – another four-engined aircraft from Airbus – seems dangerously close to being grounded for good. The A340 was introduced 30 years ago with Lufthansa and Air France, but only 380 have been produced since, the last in 2012. By comparison, Airbus has already made 565 of its successor, the A350, since its introduction in 2015. Despite the lackluster commercial response, Airbus had high hopes for the A340, which was meant to replace aging Boeing 747s and DC-10s, and was touted as having an unbeatable range. Just after entering commercial service, in 1993, an A340 set records by flying from the Paris Air Show to Auckland, in New Zealand, and then back after a five-hour layover, totaling over 42 hours in the air. It was the first-ever nonstop flight between Europe and New Zealand and the longest-ever nonstop flight by an airliner. In its heyday, the plane was used to operate the longest nonstop scheduled flight in the world, and was for a while the aircraft of choice for heads of state around the world due to its range and size. But its main characteristic – the four engines – soon became a drag as fuel costs started rising and twin-engine jets began offering the same performance with lower operating costs. By the early 2000s, the A340’s main competitor — the twin-engined Boeing 777 — was outselling it 10 to one. It had even taken away the longest flight record, with a nonstop journey from Seattle to Kuala Lumpur in 1997. “The A340 disappeared essentially because twinjets could fulfill its mission more efficiently,” says Gary Crichlow, an aviation analyst at consulting firm AviationValues. “There’s a reason complex organisms evolved to have no more than two of any large, energy-guzzling organ: because when you can’t get away with one, two offers the best bang for the buck. Three or more is overkill.” Two is better than four The A340 has been the aircraft of choice for some heads of government. There are currently just 64 A340s in service with 17 airlines globally, according to data provided to CNN by aviation analytics firm Cirium. That’s about half as many as were in service before the pandemic, in early 2019. Only Lufthansa is operating more than 10, with many leading airlines having abandoned the type completely, like Air France, Iberia, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, all of which used to operate substantial fleets. A worrying sign of the A340’s imminent demise is that there are currently no airlines operating the A340-500 variant, which Airbus introduced in 2003 as the world’s longest-range commercial airliner. Between 2004 and 2013, the -500 variant was used by Singapore Airlines to operate the world’s longest flight, from Newark to Singapore. “The route was discontinued because Singapore Airlines couldn’t generate enough revenue to offset the cost, particularly with fuel,” says Crichlow. One of the main factors driving four-engine jets to extinction is that newer and more reliable twin-engined jets, like the 787 and the A350, have progressively obtained better safety ratings that allowed them to fly for longer in case of loss of power from one of the two engines. Previously, four-engined jets had an advantage in this area. “Clearly, shutting down one engine on a twinjet is a bigger deal than shutting down one on a quadjet,” says Crichlow. “But starting in the late 1990s with the introduction of the Boeing 777, up to three hours of single-engine flight time was allowed for eligible operators. “Today, the certification record is for the Airbus A350 with up to 370 minutes, or about 2,500 nautical miles. With the kind of routing flexibility that certification offers, airlines who want to service far-flung city pairs simply don’t need four engines anymore.” As a result, only eight A340-500s are left out of the 34 built. Only two of those are still in a passenger layout, with Azerbaijan Airlines, and they’ve been parked since November 2022 and March 2023 respectively, Crichlow adds. Of the remaining six, five are in use by governments and one is outfitted for corporate and VIP flights. The A340 won many fans among passengers, with some expressing sadness at its declining fortunes. Sam Chui, an aviation enthusiast and blogger who has flown on the A340 over 50 times, remembers being on board the Newark to Singapore flight when it was the longest in the world. “That flight lasted around 19 hours on average,” Chiu says. Initially, Singapore operated it in a traditional two-class configuration, but in the final years it changed things up. “They moved to an all-business class - 100 seats only, on a very large airplane that typically can fit 300 airplane seats. It was a fairly quiet cabin.” Passengers liked the plane, but it wasn’t without problems. “On a long flight from Hong Kong to London on the A340-300, they would often leave a lot of baggage behind when the plane was full,” Chiu adds. “The Singapore flight took a long time to take off in the US – three-quarters of the full runway.” Oddly enough for a passenger aircraft, the A340 was believed to be somewhat underpowered and acquired a reputation of being slow. “It was the only plane to be hit by bird strikes from behind,” jokes Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Aerodynamic Advisor. “The original A340 was slow, fuel-thirsty, and, thanks to having four engines, both heavy and costly to maintain. The stretched and re-engined variants weren’t much better and by the time they were launched, it was very clear that twin-engine jets could do anything quads could do, at lower cost and with less maintenance.” The A380’s biggest supporter is asking Airbus to build a new super jumbo Without any cargo version – which usually prolongs the lifespan of an aircraft, as in the case of the Boeing 747 – it’s likely that the A340 will disappear from the skies entirely within a decade or two. For now, however, the type still has some life left in it, and is even flying to one of the world’s most challenging destinations, Antarctica: Charter airline HiFly is operating flights to the region with an A340-300, carrying scientists and a small group of tourists. Many will miss it when it’s gone. There are currently just 64 A340s still in service. “The A340 is, almost inarguably, the prettiest of all the Airbus jets, and I’m sad to see fewer and fewer of them around,” says Patrick Smith, an airline pilot flying Boeing aircraft and the author of the popular book and blog “Ask the Pilot.” “In an age of boring aesthetic sameness among commercial jets, it has always set itself apart,” he adds. “My favorite A340 variant is the -600, with the stretched fuselage and the huge Rolls-Royce engines. What a beauty. I once took an extra-early departure out of Bangkok just for the opportunity to fly on the -600.” As its numbers dwindle, the A340 will increasingly turn into a planespotter’s favorite. “It’s an exciting airplane to watch, especially when it takes off at the very last minute,” says Chui. “These are now very rare, and that makes them more interesting for aviation enthusiasts. Certainly something different compared to twin-engine aircraft.” https://www.cnn.com/travel/the-a340/index.html Aircraft maintenance firm adding 250 jobs in Tucson Montreal-based MHI RJ Aviation Group plans to add more than 250 jobs over three years to service regional jets at its Tucson airport facility. An international aircraft-maintenance company plans to add more than 250 jobs at its major operation at Tucson International Airport over the next three years to help support a global fleet of regional jets. Montreal-based MHI RJ Aviation Group, a maintenance, repair and overhaul services provider to airline fleets globally, says it plans to add 100 jobs this year, on top of about 400 currently at TIA, to meet demand for service to the CRJ Series of regional jets formerly made by Bombardier. MHIRJ, which is part of Japan-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, plans to host a job fair Feb. 28 at its airport facility. And the company is promoting its hiring spree with a marketing effort highlighting Tucson’s charms, while also offering new scholarships to students of Pima Community College’s highly regarded aviation-tech program. MHIRJ, which acquired the maintenance operation for Bombardier’s CRJ line of regional jets in 2020, is adding to service lines at the facility adjacent to Bombardier’s remaining business-jet maintenance operation at TIA. The new jobs include airframe and power plant technicians, avionics technicians, structures technicians, machinists and welders, crew chiefs, and technicians in non-destructive testing. The median hourly wage for aircraft mechanics and techs was $33.66 in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “We are committed to growing our facility to meet the demand coming from the market, and we need people who have the drive and determination to join us in Tucson”, said Ross Mitchell, vice president of strategy, business development, marketing, communications and business operations at MHIRJ. Mitchell said the company is setting up new maintenance lines at TIA to meet strong demand for maintenance of the CRJ series jetliners, which seat from 50 to about 100 passengers and are used by regional air route operators. Bombardier began producing CRJs, which originally stood for Canadair Regional Jet, in 1991 and made about 2,000 of the jets, delivering its final CRJ to SkyWest Airlines in February 2021. “There is nothing on the horizon, nothing being developed today that will replace the CRJ, so what the airlines tell us and what we know is the CRJs will stay in service,” said Mitchell. “They just require somebody to be there to support the airplane, and that’s us. So the actual picture of the market today is very good for our business, which is maintaining an existing fleet and keeping them flying.” MHIRJ’s expansion was hailed by local officials including Joe Snell, president and CEO of the local economic-development agency Sun Corridor Inc. “This expansion demonstrates the confidence MHIRJ has in the value proposition of Tucson as a leader in the aerospace and aviation industry,” Snell said, citing PCC’s recently expanded Aviation Technology Center at TIA among other workforce development and training efforts. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott and Sandra Watson, president and CEO of Arizona Commerce Authority, also celebrated MHIJR’s expansion plans. The career fair, mainly for airframe and structural techs, will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, at MHIRJ’s operation at 1555 E. Aero Park Blvd., where job candidates can tour the facility and get interviews and possibly job offers on the spot. Appointments can be made on Eventbrite at tucne.ws/mhirj. To support its Tucson expansion plan, MHIRJ has launched a talent attraction initiative called “Live Your Best Life in Tucson,” focusing a national campaign on the benefits of living and working at MHIRJ in Tucson and Southern Arizona. MHIRJ also is supporting the Pima Community College Foundation by providing six annual scholarships of $1,000 for the next six years to help aviation-tech students and help raise awareness among Tucson’s young people about aviation career opportunities. https://tucson.com/news/local/business/employment/tucson-aerospace-jobs-economy-mhi-bombardier/article_22bf4c8e-d1a9-11ee-9a17-a3ae595ea991.html CALENDAR OF EVENTS • HAI Heli-Expo 2024 - February 26 - 29 - Anaheim, CA • 2024 Women in Aviation International Conference - March 21-23 (Orlando) • SMU Air Law Symposium - March 21-22, 2024 ( Dallas, TX) • 2024 ACSF Safety Symposium – Air Charter Safety Foundation - April 1-3, 2024 • Blazetech - Aircraft Fire Hazards, Protection, and Investigation Course June 4 - 7, 2024 • Airborne Public Safety Association, Inc. (APSCON 2024) - July 29 - August 3; Houston TX • Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium - APATS 2024, 0-11 September, 2024, Singapore • 2024 ISASI - Lisbon, Portugal - September 30 to October 4, 2024 • 2024 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - Oct. 22-24 (Vegas) Curt Lewis