Flight Safety Information - January 23, 2026 No. 017 In This Issue : Incident: Lux DH8D at Nice on Jan 22nd 2026, unsafe right main gear on approach : Incident: Lufthansa A20N at London on Jan 22nd 2026, engine fire indication : Incident: Horizon E175 at Everett on Jan 21st 2026, pressurization problems : FAA is making the rules imposed after an airliner collided with an Army helicopter permanent : Senior Pilot Allegedly Punched First Officer in Cockpit After Argument Over Speeding on Runway at LAX : Engines Worth More Than Whole Airplanes : Boeing Expects to Certify 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 Aircraft This Year : How Airbus is pioneering aircraft manufacturing with Titanium 3D printing : ATP Flight School Shares State of Airline Pilot Hiring and 2026 Outlook : Calendar of Events Incident: Lux DH8D at Nice on Jan 22nd 2026, unsafe right main gear on approach A Luxair de Havilland Dash 8-400, registration LX-LQA performing flight LG-8255 from Luxembourg (Luxembourg) to Nice (France) with 74 people on board, was on approach to Nice when the crew received an unsafe indication for the right main gear, aborted the approach and entered a hold to trouble shoot. The crew subsequently decided to shut the right hand engine down as a precaution and prepared the passengers for an emergency landing and to assume the brace positions for landing. On final approach all gear struts were seen extended. The aircraft landed safely on runway 04L about 75 minutes after aborting the approach and stopped on the runway unable to taxi. The airline reported the crew received an unsafe indication for the right main gear, as part of the procedures they shut the right hand engine down. The aircraft is still on the ground in Nice about 8 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=5337b770&opt=0 Incident: Lufthansa A20N at London on Jan 22nd 2026, engine fire indication A Lufthansa Airbus A320-200N, registration D-AIND performing flight LH-2473 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Munich (Germany), was climbing out of Heathrow's runway 09R when the crew stopped the climb at about 13500 feet and decided to return to Heathrow for a safe landing on runway 09L about 25 minutes after departure, vacated the runway and stopped on the parallel taxiway for an inspection by emergency services. The aircraft subsequently taxied to the apron with the emergency services in trail. Passengers reported the crew indicated the left hand engine (PW1127G) needed to be shut down due to a fire warning. The airline reported the aircraft returned due to a technical problem. https://avherald.com/h?article=533795f7&opt=0 Incident: Horizon E175 at Everett on Jan 21st 2026, pressurization problems A Horizon Air Embraer ERJ-175 on behalf of Alaska Airlines, registration N668QX performing flight AS-2154 from Everett,WA to San Diego,CA (USA), was climbing out of Everett's runway 16R when the crew stopped the climb at about 10,000 feet and decided to return to Everett. The aircraft landed safely on runway 16R about 80 minutes after departure. The FAA reported: "Horizon Air Flight 2154 returned safely to Snohomish County Airport in Everrett, Washington, around 10:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Jan. 21, after the crew reported a pressurization issue. The Embraer E175 was traveling to San Diego International Airport. The FAA will investigate." https://avherald.com/h?article=533787c9&opt=0 FAA is making the rules imposed after an airliner collided with an Army helicopter permanent The temporary rules imposed after last year's collision of an airliner and an Army helicopter to improve the safety of the crowded airspace around Washington D.C. are being made permanent, the government announced Thursday. The Federal Aviation Administration took steps to make sure that helicopters and airplanes would no longer share the same airspace around Reagan National Airport shortly after the investigation into the Jan. 29 crash began. The rules also prohibit air traffic controllers from relying on visual separation and require all military aircraft to broadcast their locations. The National Transportation Safety Board plans to hold a hearing next Tuesday to detail everything that contributed to the deadliest plane crash on American soil since 2001. “After that horrific night in January, this administration made a promise to do whatever it takes to secure the skies over our nation’s capital and ensure such a tragedy would never happen again. Today’s announcement reaffirms that commitment,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. The families of the 67 people who died after an Army Black Hawk helicopter struck an American Airlines jet that was preparing to land hope Duffy and Congress will act on the recommendations NTSB is expected to make next week to help prevent a similar tragedy from ever happening again. Matt Collins, who lost his younger brother Chris in the disaster, said he and many of the other families plan to keep going to Washington so often that lawmakers will get sick of seeing them until changes are made. “I hope to have some hearings done in the Senate and Congress, and I hope results come out of these hearings that they have,” said Collins who lives in Dighton, Massachusetts. “I hope we’re not just placated and it falls off into the background until another big news story comes up.” The FAA said the new final rule will take effect on Friday. It will continue to require military aircraft to broadcast their locations using their ADS-B Out systems, which was routinely not done before the crash. And air traffic controllers are not allowed to rely on pilots to ensure visual separation between aircraft within five miles (eight kilometers) of Reagan airport. The NTSB has said that the Black Hawk helicopter in the crash was flying 78 feet (24 meters) higher than the 200-foot (61-meter) limit on the route and likely had a faulty altimeter. But even if the helicopter had been adhering to that limit, the NTSB has said the route design didn't provide nearly enough separation to ensure safety. Air traffic controllers had warned the FAA years beforehand about the dangers of all the helicopters around the nation's capital, and the agency failed to recognize an alarming pattern of 85 near misses in the three years before the crash. Collins said he still flies often for work and pleasure, but his parents haven't boarded a plane since the crash. “I still think flying is probably the safest mode of transportation, but I think it could be a heck of a lot safer,” he said. Many of the people who died on the flight were young figure skaters and their parents and coaches who had just attended a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, after the U.S. figure skating championships were held there. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/faa-making-rules-imposed-airliner-231847455.html Senior Pilot Allegedly Punched First Officer in Cockpit After Argument Over Speeding on Runway at LAX Taiwan-based outlets report the EVA Air pilot allegedly assaulted their first officer after they manually applied the aircraft's brakes NEED TO KNOW A senior pilot has reportedly been suspended from EVA Air after allegedly assaulting their first officer The incident reportedly occurred after an argument over taxiing speeds at LAX EVA Air confirmed to local outlets they would investigate the incident and refer the pilot to their disciplinary review board According to a report from Taiwanese newspaper Focus Taiwan, EVA Air suspended the pilot and opened an internal investigation into his conduct after they allegedly punched their first officer while taxiing. The outlet reports the flight’s first officer attempted to advise the pilot that they were taxiing above the speed limit of 30 knots. After several warnings, the first officer allegedly applied the manual breaks, per standard operating procedures. However, the pilot did not take the warnings positively. They allegedly punched their first officer at least four times. The incident reportedly left the first officer with swelling and bruising on the back of one hand. “EVA Air launched an investigation immediately after learning of the incident,” the Taiwan-based carrier said in a statement shared with aviation outlet AirLive. “We are currently working to confirm the exact details of what occurred and have suspended the pilot involved pending the results of the inquiry.” EVA Air did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. The airline did not share details regarding the pilot’s identity nor if the flight was carrying any passengers or was subsequently delayed or canceled. EVA Air did not confirm which flight or date the incident occurred; however, the carrier offers daily non-stop flights from LAX to Taipei’s Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. An initial whistleblower familiar with the incident first shared details with Reporter Taiwan in late December 2025. The source said they were disappointed the company did not immediately engage its emergency response plan. They added the pilot exhibited emotionally “unstable” behavior and potentially put passengers’ lives at risk. According to Focus Taiwan, the airline said data from the flight’s quick access recorder indicated the plane was complying with taxiing speed regulation. 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 celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. After the internal investigation is complete, Wen will be referred to the company’s disciplinary review board, EVA Air said, per the newspaper. Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration confirmed to the outlet that it would investigate the incident and will impose legal penalties if found the pilot’s actions impacted passenger safety. https://people.com/senior-pilot-allegedly-punched-first-officer-in-cockpit-after-argument-over-speeding-on-runway-at-lax-11890499 Engines Worth More Than Whole Airplanes Air cargo operators are facing a potential shortage of new (to them) aircraft because they’re being scrapped for their engines long before they would normally be sold for freighter conversion. According to Air Cargo Weekly, airliners as young as six years old are going to recyclers because their engines are worth more than the whole aircraft. Most freighters begin life as airliners, and they typically are well worn by the time they’re retired. Virtually all are still airworthy when the last passenger deplanes, and there is a ready market for them for cargo conversions. Backlogs for new engines have tightened the supply of spares and that’s showing up in the engine lease market. “If two engines are worth more than the combined airplane, should we be surprised by six-year tear-downs? What’s next?” said analyst Courtney Miller of Visual Approach Analytics. The shortage is particularly affecting cargo operators who use Boeing 737NGs, A321s, and Boeing 757s because the engines used on those types are in especially short supply. The publication said the early scrapping of airframes using those engines is cutting into the conversion inventory and cargo carriers are starting to worry about future supply. https://avbrief.com/engines-worth-more-than-whole-airplanes/ Boeing Expects to Certify 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 Aircraft This Year The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is helping Boeing get the 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10 planes certified during a crisis of both aircraft mechanics and what IATA says is a 17,000 global backlog of new aircraft. The FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told Reuters this week that the FAA helped the domestic aircraft producer get the smaller airplanes certified, but that Boeing still has to put in the work. “We can only help get them there, but they have got to do the work, and they're doing the work," said Bedford "I don't think FAA is the roadblock on 7 and the 10 certification." Boeing executives have said they expect to finish the certification process for both the MAX 7 and MAX 10, with over 1,200 orders for the MAX 10 in its backlog alone. 2025 saw a large number of global and domestic airlines ordering new planes from the aircraft manufacturer: Alaska Airlines, Delta, Emirates and Korean Air all struck new deals, some worth $38 billion. And the FAA, despite fining the company a paltry $3.1 million for safety violations over a six-month period that led to the Alaska Airlines’ plane door to blow out in mid-flight in January, 2024, also raised the production cap for production of the MAX 737 back in October. The production cap is now 42 planes per month, but it had been reduced following the Alaska Airlines door plug incident, to 38, since the aircraft involved in the incident was the same type. Yet production caps and major backlogs aren’t the only problem for Boeing: staffing is, too. In mid-January, Boeing posted job listings for 737 North Line shift managers. While 2024 saw the manufacturer plagued by aircraft machinist union strikes, 2025 saw leaders in government questioning the end of DEI programs to aid in solving the aircraft machinist and mechanic shortage. Aircraft mechanics are largely men, and the average age is 54. An aging professional population without younger people to replace them could further exacerbate the aircraft production backlog. https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines-airports/boeing-expects-to-certify-737-max-7-and-max-10-aircraft-this-year How Airbus is pioneering aircraft manufacturing with Titanium 3D printing Additive manufacturing with titanium wire becoming a reality Picture an aircraft industry where the toughest structural components of an airliner – parts that handle stress and fatigue – are grown from a spool of wire, rather than being carved out of blocks of metal as is the norm today. In fact that’s starting to become a reality in Airbus’ factories as they prepare for the future. The technology in question is a 3D printing technique called wire-Directed Energy Deposition (w-DED). This uses a new additive manufacturing approach with titanium to create structural aircraft parts with less resulting material waste, compared with the traditional subtractive methods such as machining from plate or forging. How does w-DED work? The technique uses a multi-axis robotic arm, armed with a spool of titanium wire, moving with digital precision. Energy, in the form of a laser, plasma, or electron beam is focused onto the wire, instantly melting it and fusing it layer-by-layer onto a surface. Superficially similar to welding, but with a 3D model as its guide, it prints the object from the ‘ground up’ into what is known as a ‘blank’. This blank looks very much like the final required shape, i.e. ‘near net shaped’, which subsequently undergoes a quick machining to conform to the exact dimensions of the part design. w-DED: unlocking 3D printing for large parts While 3D printing with metals in aerospace has been used for around a decade, up until now it has mostly been used for smaller components. These conventional systems, called ‘powder-bed’ printers, were typically optimised for making parts that are less than two feet long. DED R&T complex small scale demonstrator w-DED, on the other hand, allows Airbus to move from printing small components to creating large, structural titanium parts up to seven meters (over 23 feet) long. The new process promises to be faster than powder-bed 3D printing, boosting production from hundreds of grammes per hour to several kilogrammes per hour. This leap could make 3D printing viable for industrial, high-volume manufacturing of large structural components for commercial aircraft. Helping to reduce titanium raw material waste Why focus on titanium? While the metal is essential for aircraft due to its strength, lightness and compatibility with modern carbon fibre composite structures (such as corrosion resistance, relative expansion coefficients and other properties). Titanium is also a high-value raw material, so conserving it is paramount. Consider that traditional forging – i.e. machining a part from a solid block – creates a high proportion of raw material ‘waste’. This is measured by the ‘buy-to-fly’ ratio – the amount of raw material purchased versus the amount that actually ‘flies’ in the aircraft. In traditional methods, one might need to recycle between 80% and 95% of the titanium originally bought. With w-DED, such waste is mostly prevented at source. This is because the part is ‘grown’ into a shape that is already very close to the final design (a ‘near net shape’), there is very little left to machine away. Bringing agility to aircraft development Traditional die forging also requires the creation of large, complex tooling that can take up to two years and require a large up-front capital investment. By contrast, a 3D-printed part's shape is determined by a computer programme, reducing the lead time to just a few weeks. w-DED’s agility will be of immediate benefit to the successful and timely construction of the first development aircraft, especially while the final detailed component designs are being tweaked and optimised, right up to the point when the first aircraft starts to take physical shape. Demo trial printing the Occitanian cross First proof in A350 production Airbus has recently started serial integration of largest w-DED parts into the A350’s Cargo Door Surround area. These particular Airbus-designed parts for this exploratory phase were 3D-printed by a qualified supplier using plasma w-DED, ultrasonically inspected by Testia Bremen and finally machined and installed in Airbus factories. DED - FIRST Lower Frame delivery These parts are functionally and geometrically identical to the traditional forged components they replace, but they deliver immediate, real-world cost savings. Looking forward, the next aim is to progress, step by step, from the A350 w-DED parts and into more critical applications on other programmes and other aircraft applications (including the wings and landing gear in the longer term). “Designed for DED” Importantly, this technology enables a concept called "designed for DED." Instead of having engineers design a complex component as an assembly of several separate pieces that must be joined together, they can now design it as a single, intricate and optimised component that is printed all at once. This ability to merge multiple components into one will simplify the supply chain, reduce assembly labour, shorten cycle time and unlock the full potential of the next generation of 3D-designed airliners. The race is on... Today in Airbus and its partners the race to accumulate experience of w-DED for critical parts is well underway, with very promising success. Engineers are testing various energy sources, including plasma, arc welding, electron- and laser beam, and simultaneously evaluating “Buy” (outsourcing the printing) and “Make” (doing it in-house) strategies. Moreover, being governed as an Airbus ‘group’ level approach, the resulting technologies will be an industrial standard and usable across the company. https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/stories/2026-01-how-airbus-is-pioneering-aircraft-manufacturing-with-titanium-3d-printing ATP Flight School Shares State of Airline Pilot Hiring and 2026 Outlook ATP Flight School Shares State of Airline Pilot Hiring and 2026 Outlook JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ATP Flight School led the industry in graduate airline placements in 2025, with 983 graduates placed at regional and major airlines, as well as corporate operators. American Airlines hired the most ATP graduates of the major airlines, with SkyWest Airlines recruiting the most of any other regional carrier.1 2025 Hiring Trends Pilot hiring in 2025 increased 17% among the legacy and major airlines compared to the previous year.2 While a normalization from the post-COVID hiring surge and aircraft delivery delays moderated activity early in the year, legacy carriers quickly accelerated hiring in the fourth quarter.3 ATP's legacy and major airline placements in 2025 outperformed the previous year by 30%, exceeding overall industry hiring growth and showing demand for ATP-trained pilots.4 At the regional airline level, one out of every four new hires graduated from ATP,5 with placements occurring just three years after training began6. For airline-bound aspiring pilots, this reinforces the value of professional, career-oriented training paired with the competitive advantage of airline cadet programs and hiring partnerships.7 In contrast to recreational flight schools, ATP's industry-leading graduate placement is due to this distinct advantage. 2026 Hiring Outlook Pilot hiring grew into the fourth quarter of 2025, signaling strong demand for qualified, professionally trained pilots in 2026. As reported by Aero Crew Solutions, American and United increased their hiring to maximum capacity, running weekly new hire classes totaling a combined 500 pilots per month, stating "these numbers are expected to continue into 2026 as pilot demand is increasing once again." At the most recent RTAG Conference, representatives from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines shared bullish pilot hiring outlooks for 2026. During the event, American indicated hiring targets of approximately 1,500 pilots, United discussed near-record hiring levels approaching 2,500 pilots, and Delta cited strong near-term demand, with plans to hire roughly 600 pilots in the first quarter alone. Mandatory retirements continue to be an underlying driver of demand. According to estimates compiled by the National Air Carrier Association, there will be more than 16,000 retirements over the next five years and a cumulative shortage of 28,126 pilots by 2030. The Boeing Pilot and Technician Outlook 2025-2044 highlights that the outlook for new airline pilots is positive and that "competition for qualified pilots will remain strong." As global air travel continues to expand, the report concludes that "demand for pilots is likely to soar." ATP Alumni Impact ATP continued adding major airline partners in 2025, providing more pathways, and invested directly in the career progression of its alumni by providing professional development opportunities. Through its no-cost, no-fee Alumni Association, ATP provided graduates with free CFI certificate renewal, free and discounted airline interview prep courses, sponsorship to seven industry networking conferences, and quarterly scholarships for free type rating and ATP CTP training programs. In 2026, ATP is set to increase its investment in alumni further by doubling the amount of alumni sponsorship to attend industry events and, with its regional and major airline partners, hosting an exclusive career expo for alumni in the fall. About ATP Flight School ATP is the nation's largest flight school, providing students with the most efficient path to a successful airline pilot career. For 40 years, ATP has been the leader in professional flight training, supplying pilots to airlines and corporate operators. ATPFlightSchool.com https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20260122fl69298/atp-flight-school-shares-state-of-airline-pilot-hiring-and-2026-outlook CALENDAR OF EVENTS . Singapore Airshow 2026 - FEBRUARY 3-6, 2026. . VERTICON 2026 - Atlanta March 9-12 . 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 . World Aviation Training Summit - 5-7 May 2026 - Orlando . 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 . IATA World Maintenance & Engineering Symposium (23-25 June, Madrid, Spain) . ISASI - 2026 (September/October 2026) - Dubai, UAE . 2026 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) Oct. 20-22, 2026 | Las Vegas, NV Curt Lewis