Flight Safety Information - December 8, 2025 No. 243 In This Issue : Incident: Norwegian Shuttle B738 near Amsterdam on Dec 6th 2025, fumes in cabin due to hydraulic leak : Incident: Ajet B738 at Istanbul on Dec 7th 2025, runway excursion on turnoff : Incident: Delta B712 at St. Louis on Dec 2nd 2025, smell in cabin : 169 Panicked Passengers Escape Plane After Airport Fire Caused Cabin to Fill with Smoke : Indian, US investigators to meet next week on Air India crash, Bloomberg News reports : 5 Hospitalized After Pepper Spray Attack During Suitcase Robbery at Busy Airport: ‘Like a Disaster Movie’ : Chinese court orders Malaysia Airlines to pay $3.3 mln in compensation over missing MH370 plane : Experts Call for AED Placement on All Commercial Aircraft : U.S. DOT Picks Peraton For ATC Modernization Integrator Role : Spirit Airlines Planned To Furlough Pilots En Masse: So Many Have Now Fled The Carrier Those Plans Have Been Canceled : Calendar of Event Incident: Norwegian Shuttle B738 near Amsterdam on Dec 6th 2025, fumes in cabin due to hydraulic leak A Norwegian Air Shuttle AOC Boeing 737-800, registration LN-ENO performing flight DY-1792 from Oslo (Norway) to Alicante,SP (Spain), was enroute at FL380 about overhead Amsterdam Airport (Netherlands) when the crew donned their oxygen masks, declared Mayday, Mayday, Mayday reporting fumes on the flight deck and decided to divert to Amsterdam for a safe landing on runway 27 about 23 minutes after leaving FL380. The crew stopped the aircraft on the runway advising emergency services, the engine had been shut down and they thought they had discovered the source of the fumes in a hydraulic leak, therefore they didn't want to restart the engines. The passengers disembarked onto the runway, the aircraft was subsequently towed to the apron. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration LN-ENL positioned to Amsterdam, resumed the flight and reached Alicante with a delay of about 5 hours. https://avherald.com/h?article=530cf265&opt=0 Incident: Ajet B738 at Istanbul on Dec 7th 2025, runway excursion on turnoff An Anadolujet (Ajet) Boeing 737-800, registration TC-JZN performing flight VF-102 from Pristina (Kosovo) to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (Turkey), landed on Sabiha Gokcen's runway 24L and slowed to about 60 knots over ground, then attempted to turn off the runway via high speed turnoff A6 about 1850 meters/6070 feet down the runway. The aircraft skidded and did not turn as needed and went off the turn off coming to a stop on soft ground within the runway protected area. There were no injuries. The runway needed to be closed. https://avherald.com/h?article=530cef11&opt=0 Incident: Delta B712 at St. Louis on Dec 2nd 2025, smell in cabin A Delta Airlines Boeing 717-200, registration N935AT performing flight DL-9952 from Saint Louis,MO to Detroit,MI (USA) with 2 crew, was climbing out of Saint Louis' runway 29 when the crew stopped the climb at about 5000 feet reporting an acidic smell in the cabin. The aircraft returned to Saint Louis for a safe landing on runway 29 about 12 minutes after departure and stopped on the runway for about 5 minutes before taxiing to the apron. The aircraft, that should have flown flight DL-1626, which was cancelled, the day before, remained on the ground for about 35 hours, then positioned to Atlanta,GA (USA) and is still on the ground in Atlanta 2 days after landing there. https://avherald.com/h?article=530b3dc3&opt=0 169 Panicked Passengers Escape Plane After Airport Fire Caused Cabin to Fill with Smoke A baggage carousel connected to the aircraft caught fire, causing the plane to fill with smoke on Dec. 4 A LATAM Airlines plane was consumed by smoke after a fire broke out at São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport The Dec. 4 fire started on a baggage carousel connected to aircraft while parked on the runway, according to reports Footage posted online shows the smoke-filled aircraft surrounded by flames at the airport in Brazil Passengers on a LATAM Airlines plane were left panicked after the aircraft was engulfed in smoke due to a fire at an airport in Brazil. Flight LA3418 was scheduled to depart from São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport (GRU Airport) for Porto Alegre when a fire broke out on the ground on the night of Thursday, Dec. 4, Brazilian newspaper Estadão reported. A baggage conveyor connected to the aircraft caught fire, causing the plane to fill with smoke, according to the outlet. The jet reportedly carried 169 passengers at the time. Footage from the scary incident posted on X shows the plane engulfed in smoke while surrounded by flames at the airport. Fire crews were seen on the ground putting out the fire. Panicked passengers were filmed inside the aircraft, queuing up to leave and evacuating the plane at the airport. Fire crew members were also seen preparing an emergency slide for passengers to escape the aircraft. Vitor Cesa Aguiar - UGC / AFP via Getty A fire broke out by a plane at São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil on Dec. 4, 2025 Vitor Cesa Aguiar - UGC / AFP via Getty A fire broke out by a plane at São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil on Dec. 4, 2025 All 169 passengers aboard the plane were safely evacuated with no injuries reported, per Estadão. “The situation was quickly brought under control,” LATAM Airlines said. Advertisement The airline explained that the fire “started in equipment belonging to a subcontractor responsible for loading cargo onto the plane,” the Daily Mail reported, which added that passengers were told to “leave everything” onboard as they evacuated the plane. According to the flight-tracking website Flight Aware, the flight departed GRU two hours and 59 minutes behind schedule at GRU Airport at 1:04 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 5. The plane landed at Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre at 2:54 a.m. Sergio Yate / AFP via Getty LATAM Airlines planes Sergio Yate / AFP via Getty Among the passengers onboard the original flight, 159 arrived in Porto Alegre on Friday morning, while 10 others were placed on other flights or transported by land, per the Daily Mail. The incident is being investigated. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. LATAM Airlines and GRU Airport did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Saturday, Dec. 6. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/169-panicked-passengers-escape-plane-183227224.html Indian, US investigators to meet next week on Air India crash, Bloomberg News reports Dec 6 (Reuters) - India will send investigators to the United States next week to go over data gathered on the ‌deadly Air India flight crash in June with the ‌National Transportation Safety Board, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. Indian investigators plan to share findings, including any information gleaned from the plane's cockpit ⁠voice and flight ‌data recorders, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters could ‍not immediately verify the report. The meeting will occur at the NTSB's headquarters in Washington D.C., the report said, adding that other parties' representatives, ‌including Boeing, will be present. Boeing deferred to Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) when Reuters reached out for comment. NTSB, India's civil aviation ministry and the AAIB did not immediately respond to ⁠Reuters' requests for comment. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London from the Indian city of Ahmedabad began to lose thrust and ‍altitude shortly ⁠after takeoff. All but one of the 242 people on board were killed and ⁠19 others on the ground also perished. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/indian-us-investigators-meet-next-150631288.html 5 Hospitalized After Pepper Spray Attack During Suitcase Robbery at Busy Airport: ‘Like a Disaster Movie’ A 3-year-old girl was among those injured in the incident at London’s Heathrow Airport on the morning of Five people have been hospitalized following a pepper spray attack at London’s Heathrow Airport, according to multiple outlets, including the BBC, The Independent, and The Times. A three-year-old girl was among those injured when the spray was used by a group of robbers who attempted to steal a woman’s suitcase on Sunday, Dec. 7, the Metropolitan Police confirmed, per the BBC. The Independent noted that, including the little girl, 21 people were treated at the scene by London ambulance paramedics while five were hospitalized. Per the outlet, none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening or life-changing. The BBC added that a 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault following the incident, while other accomplices were being searched for. The Times notes that 4 men were involved in the attack, which took place in an elevator in the terminal 3 parking lot. The police added that the attack — which disrupted services at the airport as trains were delayed and the car park closed — was an isolated incident and wasn’t being treated as terrorism, per the BBC. A witness told The Times that the scene felt “like a disaster movie.” British graduate student Tom Bate, 27, who had just flown in from Austin, Texas, told The Times that he had been waiting for the elevator in the parking lot with about 40 or 50 people — including children and elderly people — when he noticed three young men wearing black with their faces covered. He watched the man “dart through the crowd” and run through a fire escape door, he added. Elizabeth Line passengers queuing to exit Heathrow T2/3 station amid overcrowding following an incident. A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault after number of people were attacked with "a form of pepper spray" by a group of men at a car park at Heathrow Airport, police said. “The moment they left, one by one, everyone in the lobby started coughing in unison, including me," Bate told The Times. "I felt this tingling, burning in the back of my throat. I thought maybe it was a chemical leak." Our new app is here! Free, fun and full of exclusives. Scan to download now! He described the scene to The Times as “eerie” and “like a disaster movie” as police tried to establish what had happened. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. In a statement, Metropolitan Police Commander Peter Stevens said: “Our team have been working at pace today to review CCTV from the area and speak with witnesses at the scene. At this stage, it’s understood that a woman was robbed of her suitcase by a group of four men, who sprayed a substance believed to be pepper spray in her direction,” as reported by The Times. https://people.com/5-hospitalized-after-pepper-spray-attack-at-busy-airport-11863914 Chinese court orders Malaysia Airlines to pay $3.3 mln in compensation over missing MH370 plane BEIJING, Dec 8 (Reuters) - A Beijing court has ordered Malaysia Airlines to pay some families of missing passengers onboard flight MH370 over 2.9 million yuan ($410,240) per case in compensation, state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday. The rulings are for eight cases involving eight passengers, according to CCTV. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. Another 47 cases have been settled and withdrawn, and the remaining 23 cases are still under trial, the broadcaster said. Malaysia Airlines did not immediately reply to a request for comment. ($1 = 7.0690 Chinese yuan renminbi) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinese-court-orders-malaysia-airlines-pay-33-mln-compensation-over-missing-2025-12-08/ Experts Call for AED Placement on All Commercial Aircraft All commercial aircraft should be equipped with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and have flight crew members who know how to use them to treat sudden cardiac arrest, according to a review of current aviation safety standards. Researchers found that in-flight cardiac arrest (IFCA) is rare, accounting for less than 1% of all in-flight medical emergencies. But when it does occur, it is highly fatal, accounting for most in-flight casualties. Prompt recognition, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of an AED were all strongly associated with improved patient outcomes. “To help patient survival in the skies, airlines should consider adopting universal and standardized AED access, in-flight specific CPR training, and clearer legal mandates and protections,” the authors wrote. The findings were published on December 3 in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. AEDs Improve Survival The aim of the review was to explore the complexities of sudden cardiac arrest on commercial flights, including the incidence and risk for IFCA, the effectiveness of AEDs, the type and effectiveness of airline CPR training, and the legal aspects of providing emergency care. “I was on a flight, working on a paper on the sudden cardiac death of a 12-year-old boy, when it occurred to me to ask the flight attendant if there was an AED on board,” study author Mario Bassi, MD, a resident in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, told Medscape News Canada. “She said I was the first person to ever ask her that. It was an Air Canada flight, and yes, they did have one, but that got me thinking about what must be done to improve survival in these events,” Bassi said. The review found that AEDs were very effective at treating and improving patient survival from IFCA and could significantly boost survival rates. IFCA accounted for 0.3% of in-flight medical emergencies but was responsible for 86% of in-flight deaths. Risk factors for IFCA included age, male sex, duration of flight, and past cardiac history. The proportion of patients with IFCA who survived their in-flight event to hospital admission without an AED being used was 6%, whereas 21%-70% of patients for whom an AED was used survived to hospital admission. Good Samaritan laws have been enacted to protect healthcare professionals from a lawsuit if they are acting in good faith and without criminal intent. These laws have made people more willing to render assistance in medical emergencies, Bassi noted. “In Canada, unless there is gross negligence or foul play suspected, you are officially immune from a lawsuit for liability if something goes wrong. The biggest factor for survival from cardiac arrest is the time to CPR. If physicians and nurses feel protected, they will be more willing to take that risk and assist others,” he said. “Improving survival rates following a flight passenger’s cardiac arrest depends on several critical considerations,” senior author Adrian Baranchuk, MD, professor of medicine at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, told Medscape News Canada. “We need to have the necessary equipment and trained individuals within the crew to deliver CPR safely and use the AED. Even if there is a medical doctor on board, he or she may never have used an AED, so we need crews to be trained to do CPR and use a defibrillator,” Baranchuk said. “There are no universal rules that require each plane to have the necessary equipment and trained individuals within the crew to deliver CPR safely and use an AED. The big airlines have this equipment, but smaller airlines do not. We think it should be mandatory to have both on every single plane,” he said. Doctors in the Air A seasoned international traveler, Baranchuk says he is a magnet for in-flight medical emergencies. On one flight, a patient had a stroke 10 minutes before the plane landed. “It was the only time in my life that I landed without being seated with my seatbelt on. Instead, I was standing in front of the patient, determining whether he had his ventilation compromised. I didn’t follow the orders to be seated, but they understood,” he said. Another time, Baranchuk was on a flight from Toronto to Buenos Aires via Santiago, Chile, when he heard the call, “Is there a doctor on board?” A man had collapsed. On arrival in Santiago, the patient was delivered to paramedics. But the time involved in treating the patient made Baranchuk miss his connecting flight to Buenos Aires. Exhausted, he had to wait 5 hours before getting on another flight. “They put me in first class. I close my eyes, and I hear, ‘Is there a doctor on board?’ It was a young girl who had fainted, but it was a different story, and she did very well. So it was two in a row.” International Regulations Lacking “There are no international regulations on carrying a medical kit, on what must be in that kit, on AEDs, or even on training the crew. That’s a major problem,” Mitchell Shulman, MDCM, emergency medicine specialist and associate professor of emergency medicine at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, told Medscape News Canada. “You would have thought the airline industry, of all industries, would have been the first to have rules to have these things in place. But there isn’t even a definition of emergencies,” he added. The only country that has made it mandatory for all its airlines to carry AEDs is the US, he said. “The US Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] has mandated all US airlines to carry AEDs on any airplane that has a payload of more than 7500 pounds, which is somewhere around 30 passengers. The FAA also mandated that the crew be required to take training in first aid, CPR, and how to use a defibrillator, which is interesting, because what physician has ever had training in doing CPR on board an airplane?” Shulman asked. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/experts-call-aed-placement-all-commercial-aircraft-2025a1000xzf?form=fpf U.S. DOT Picks Peraton For ATC Modernization Integrator Role Peraton has been chosen as the sole integrator in the ambitious U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) plan to upgrade the country’s air traffic control (ATC) infrastructure by 2029, the agency announced late Dec. 4. The company, with extensive experience in the defense and federal IT arenas, “has a long track record of successfully completing major system integration projects,” the FAA said in a fact sheet accompanying the announcement. Peraton’s bid was chosen over a competing submission from Parsons. “Peraton will begin work immediately, partnering with the FAA on initial priorities which include transitioning the system’s remaining copper infrastructure to modern fiber and establishing a new digital command center,” the FAA said. “We will continue advancing other modernization initiatives including buying new radar systems and development of next-generation facilities as outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill.” The project, dubbed the Brand New Air Traffic Control System (BNATCS), is broken into five main categories: communications, surveillance, automation, facilities and Alaska. “We are taking bold action to ensure our air traffic system is the envy of the world,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “The One Big Beautiful Bill gave us a strong $12.5 billion down payment to start this modernization effort. But to finish the job—and deliver the safer, more efficient system travelers deserve—we’re going to need another $20 billion. This is a long-term investment in the future of air travel, and we’re committed to getting it right.” Getting Congress to approve the additional funding will depend on demonstrating success in the program’s early stages, lawmakers have said. The FAA, seeking to build confidence on Capitol Hill, used the announcement to highlight progress to date. Among the completed tasks are conversion of one-third of 5,170 copper connections to fiber, satellite, or wireless technology, deployment of 148 out of a planned 27,695 radios, installation at Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County Airport of the first of 46 digital voice switches, and introduction of electronic flight strips to 13 airport towers, the agency said. As the single integrator, Peraton will be responsible for managing the entire project, from “acquiring capabilities” to deploying technologies, the FAA said. Peraton’s “profit is directly tied to its performance achievement outcomes ... to reward good performance and penalize poor performance with significant financial outcomes,” the agency said. Performance will be overseen and evaluated by “an executive steering committee of senior DOT and FAA officials,” the FAA added. Initial feedback from industry was positive. “While the bulk of the work still lies ahead, I am confident that Peraton will deliver an integrated system that uses modern technology to make our airspace more efficient, resilient, and reliable,” said Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President and CEO Darren Pleasance. “AOPA stands ready to support these efforts any way we can.” Airlines For America President and CEO Chris Sununu said he “looks forward to working with” Peraton, Congress, and the Trump Administration to make “long-overdue upgrades” to the U.S. National Airspace System. “The $12.5 billion that Congress approved earlier this year for ATC modernization was a vital down payment, but sustained federal investment is essential to ensure the system is fully overhauled and appropriately staffed to ensure a resilient [NAS] today and to prepare for the evolving needs of tomorrow,” Sununu said. https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/safety-ops-regulation/us-dot-picks-peraton-atc-modernization-integrator-role Spirit Airlines Planned To Furlough Pilots En Masse: So Many Have Now Fled The Carrier Those Plans Have Been Canceled Embattled ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines has just canceled plans to furlough hundreds of pilots without pay for the foreseeable future as it navigates its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy process… but those plans haven’t been canceled because the airline is seeing a pickup in demand. Instead, so many of Spirit’s pilots have been jumping ship to rival airlines in the last few months that furlough forecasts have been made completely redundant. In this article… Spirit cancels pilot furlough plans after hundreds quit Beleagured airline was looking for $100 million in concessions from aircrew Flight attendants have been furloughed as bankruptcy proceedings continue Does Spirit have an independent future or is a merger now inevitable? Spirit Airlines is becoming a much smaller airline – that means it needs far fewer employees. Spirit cancels pilot furlough plans after hundreds quit In September, it was revealed that the Florida-based budget airline would be looking to furlough hundreds of pilots and flight attendants as it attempts to shrink back to profitability. Spirit is axing unprofitable routes, slashing schedules, and handing back unneeded airplanes to lessors, meaning that it simply doesn’t need as many aircrew as it has employed up to this point. Based on its forecast flying for the year ahead, Spirit announced that it would need to furlough as many as 365 pilots and downgrade 170 Captains from the start of 2026. But since that announcement, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has been tracking attrition levels amongst its members at Spirit, and it realized that the assumptions used to generate the furlough numbers were becoming quickly outdated. So many pilots were voluntarily quitting the airline that mandatory furloughs became unnecessary. Beleagured airline was looking for $100 million in concessions from aircrew In order to unlock a form of funding from lenders known as Debtor-in-Possession financing, or DIP for short, Spirit was legally required to renegotiate labor contracts with its pilots and flight attendants. Spirit approached its aircrew unions last month seeking an estimated $100 million in concessions. The majority of these savings are going to come from the pilots’ contract, given how much more pilots are paid compared to flight attendants. Given that Spirit really is facing a battle for its survival, the aircrew unions didn’t outright reject these demands, but worked with the airline to agree to big cuts to their respective contracts, albeit with provisions to restore their old contracts should Spirit return to profitability. Flight attendants have been furloughed as bankruptcy proceedings continue Unfortunately, plans to furlough around 1,800 flight attendants proceeded as planned late last month. The airline has also sought voluntary furloughs, but the number of flight attendants who opted for this was far below the numbers required by Spirit. The airline chose flight attendants in reverse seniority order, or what is often coined as ‘last in, first out.’ Although all of these flight attendants have been officially furloughed with a view to them eventually returning to the airline, crew members are also realistic about the fact that this might not ever happen. Does Spirit have an independent future or is a merger now inevitable? Spirit’s management is adamant that they are going through the Chapter 11 process with the aim of keeping the airline an independent company that becomes profitable. Many other people in the industry, however, are less certain that Spirit can emerge from bankruptcy and stay profitable in the long term. The obvious merger is between Spirit and rival ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier, although Spirit has previously rejected several approaches from its Denver-based competitor. Bottom line None of Spirit’s pilot workforce will now need to be involuntarily furloughed, although that’s only because so many pilots have already jumped before they were pushed. That being said, around 25 pilots of Captain rank will still be downgraded to First Officer rank, and the airline still intends to dramatically reduce its Las Vegas pilot base, with crew moved to either Fort Lauderdale or Newark. https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2025/12/06/spirit-airlines-planned-to-furlough-pilots-en-masse-so-many-have-now-fled-the-carrier-those-plans-have-been-canceled/ CALENDAR OF EVENTS . Singapore Airshow 2026 - FEBRUARY 3-6, 2026. . 60th Annual SMU Air Law Symposium - March 31 - April 1, 2026 (Irving, TX) . 2026 ACSF Safety Symposium; April 7-9, 2026; ERAU Daytona Beach, FL . 2026 NBAA Maintenance Conference; May 5-7, 2026; New Orleans, LA . BASS 2026 - 71st Business Aviation Safety Summit - May 5-6, 2026 | Provo, Utah . The African Aviation Safety & Operations Summit - May 19-20 | Johannesburg, South Africa . Safeskies Australia - Australia’s renowned Aviation Safety Conference - Canberra Australia 20 and 21 May 2026 . 2026 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) Oct. 20-22, 2026 | Las Vegas, NV Curt Lewis