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Formålet med bloggen er å bidra til informasjon om luftfart av alle slag. Også litt om ubåter og forsvarsspørsmål. Nyheter vil du finne her også, en del på engelsk som er det mest brukte luftfartsspråket. Har du selv noe som bør komme ut, så send meg en mail til per.gram@hesbynett.no
fredag 31. januar 2020
Drone - Velprøvde K-Max tilbys det sivile markedet - AIN video
Space - Spionasje på høyt nivå - Tyler Rogoway
A Russian "Inspector" Spacecraft Now Appears To Be Shadowing An American Spy Satellitelite
Publicly available data suggests that a Russian inspector satellite has shifted its position in orbit to bring it relatively close to a U.S. KH-11 spy satellite. Russia has a number of what it calls "space apparatus inspectors" in orbit, which the U.S. government and others warn the Kremlin could use to gather intelligence on other satellites or function as "killer satellites," using various means to damage, disable, or destroy those targets.
On Jan. 30, 2020, Michael Thompson, a graduate student at Purdue University focusing on astrodynamics, posted a detailed thread on Twitter about the Russian inspector satellite Cosmos 2542, also written Kosmos 2542, appearing to synchronize its orbit with a U.S. satellite known as USA 245, which is understood be one of the National Reconnaissance Office's KH-11 image gathering spy satellites. Russia launched this particular satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Nov. 25, 2019, according to Space-Track.org, a U.S. government website that provides public data on space launches from the U.S. military's Combined Space Operations Center and the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command. This is just one of a number of space apparatus inspectors and other curious satellites that the Kremlin has put into orbit over the past decade.
Kostbar kaffe - Spastiske flygere? - Curt Lewis
A350 engine shutdown incidents linked to cockpit drink
spills
Airbus and Rolls-Royce are investigating two incidents in which A350s experienced uncommanded in-flight engine shutdown after drinks were spilled on controls situated on the cockpit centre pedestal.
FlightGlobal understands that the airframer is to discuss the matter with operators on 30 January, and will issue a transmission on recommended practices for handling beverages on the flightdeck.
One of the incidents involved a Delta Air Lines A350-900 en route to Seoul on 21 January, which diverted to Fairbanks after its right-hand Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine shut down, while a similar event occurred to another carrier in November last year.
A350 forward pedestal thrust levers KCCUs ecam controls
Some 15min before the Delta shutdown, FlightGlobal has learned, a drink was spilled on the centre pedestal between the two pilot seats, primarily on the integrated control panel for engine-start and electronic centralised aircraft monitor functions (above).
The right-hand engine shut down and the crew attempted a restart, which was unsuccessful, and the crew chose to divert, subsequently landing safely in Alaska.
Flight-recorder analysis showed the electronic engine control had commanded closure of a high-pressure shut-off valve after inconsistent output from the integrated control panel.
The previous incident, on 9 November 2019, occurred about 1h after tea was spilled on the centre pedestal, FlightGlobal understands.
This also involved the in-flight shutdown of the right-hand Trent XWB engine, and while restart was attempted the powerplant would not remain operational for any length of time.
The aircraft diverted, landing safely, and the engines could be restarted once the twinjet was on the ground. Flight-recorder analysis indicated a high-pressure shut-off valve closure command.
While the identity of this carrier has not been specified, one of South Korean carrier Asiana's A350-900s, operating between Seoul and Singapore, diverted to Manila on 9 November last year.
One of Delta's A350s diverted to Fairbanks after an uncommanded engine shutdown
In both incidents the aircraft underwent replacement of systems including the integrated control panel and electronic engine control. Relevant components from both aircraft have undergone examination.
Airbus is probing the events in co-operation with suppliers Rolls-Royce and Leonardo. A350 operators have been advised that both incidents involved "liquid spillage" on the centre pedestal but the root causes of the in-flight shutdowns are still under investigation.
UK investigators probed an incident last February during which a Thomas Cook Airlines Airbus A330-200 was forced to divert to Shannon after a coffee spillage in the cockpit led to significant radio communication problems.
Airbus and Rolls-Royce are investigating two incidents in which A350s experienced uncommanded in-flight engine shutdown after drinks were spilled on controls situated on the cockpit centre pedestal.
FlightGlobal understands that the airframer is to discuss the matter with operators on 30 January, and will issue a transmission on recommended practices for handling beverages on the flightdeck.
One of the incidents involved a Delta Air Lines A350-900 en route to Seoul on 21 January, which diverted to Fairbanks after its right-hand Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine shut down, while a similar event occurred to another carrier in November last year.
A350 forward pedestal thrust levers KCCUs ecam controls
Some 15min before the Delta shutdown, FlightGlobal has learned, a drink was spilled on the centre pedestal between the two pilot seats, primarily on the integrated control panel for engine-start and electronic centralised aircraft monitor functions (above).
The right-hand engine shut down and the crew attempted a restart, which was unsuccessful, and the crew chose to divert, subsequently landing safely in Alaska.
Flight-recorder analysis showed the electronic engine control had commanded closure of a high-pressure shut-off valve after inconsistent output from the integrated control panel.
The previous incident, on 9 November 2019, occurred about 1h after tea was spilled on the centre pedestal, FlightGlobal understands.
This also involved the in-flight shutdown of the right-hand Trent XWB engine, and while restart was attempted the powerplant would not remain operational for any length of time.
The aircraft diverted, landing safely, and the engines could be restarted once the twinjet was on the ground. Flight-recorder analysis indicated a high-pressure shut-off valve closure command.
While the identity of this carrier has not been specified, one of South Korean carrier Asiana's A350-900s, operating between Seoul and Singapore, diverted to Manila on 9 November last year.
One of Delta's A350s diverted to Fairbanks after an uncommanded engine shutdown
In both incidents the aircraft underwent replacement of systems including the integrated control panel and electronic engine control. Relevant components from both aircraft have undergone examination.
Airbus is probing the events in co-operation with suppliers Rolls-Royce and Leonardo. A350 operators have been advised that both incidents involved "liquid spillage" on the centre pedestal but the root causes of the in-flight shutdowns are still under investigation.
UK investigators probed an incident last February during which a Thomas Cook Airlines Airbus A330-200 was forced to divert to Shannon after a coffee spillage in the cockpit led to significant radio communication problems.
Coronaviruset - Flygere og kabinen vil ikke fly til Kina - Curt Lewis
Pilots, flight attendants demand flights to China stop as virus fear
mounts worldwide
CHICAGO/PARIS (Reuters) - Pilots and flight attendants are demanding airlines stop flights to China as health officials declare a global emergency over the rapidly spreading coronavirus, with American Airlines' pilots filing a lawsuit seeking an immediate halt.
FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Airbus A321 plane takes off from Los Angeles International airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, U.S. March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake
China has reported nearly 10,000 cases and 213 deaths, but the virus has spread to 18 countries, mostly, presumably, by airline passengers.
The United States has advised its citizens not to travel to China, raising its warning to the same level as those for Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S. airlines, which have been reducing flights to China this week, were reassessing flying plans as a result, according to people familiar with the matter.
It is possible the White House could opt to take further action to bar flights to China in coming days, but officials stressed that no decision has been made.
The Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents American Airlines pilots, cited "serious, and in many ways still unknown, health threats posed by the coronavirus" in a lawsuit filed in Texas, where the airline is based.
American said it was taking precautions against the virus but had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. On Wednesday, it announced flight cancellations from Los Angeles to Beijing and Shanghai, but is continuing flights from Dallas.
APA President Eric Ferguson urged pilots assigned to U.S.-China flights to decline the assignment. In a statement, the American Airlines' flight attendants union said they supported the pilots' lawsuit and called on the company and the U.S. government to "err on the side of caution and halt all flights to and from China."
Pilots at United Airlines, the largest U.S. airline to China, concerned for their safety will be allowed to drop their trip without pay, according to a Wednesday memo from their union to members.
United announced on Thursday another 332 U.S.-China flight cancellations between February and March 28, though it will continue operating round trip flights from San Francisco to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The American Airlines pilot lawsuit came as an increasing number of airlines stopped their flights to mainland China, including Air France KLM SA, British Airways, Germany's Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic.
Other major carriers have kept flying to China, but protective masks and shorter layovers designed to reduce exposure have done little to reassure crews.
'COUNTDOWN'
A U.S. flight attendant who recently landed from one major Chinese city said a big concern is catching the virus and spreading it to families, or getting quarantined while on a layover."I didn't understand the gravity of the situation until I went there," she said on condition of anonymity, describing general paranoia on the return flight, with every passenger wearing a mask.
"Now I feel like I'm on a 14-day countdown."
Thai Airways is hosing its cabins with disinfectant spray between China flights and allowing crew to wear masks and gloves.
Delta Air Lines is operating fewer flights and offering food deliveries so crew can stay in their hotels. The carrier is also allowing pilots to drop China trips without pay, a memo from its union to members said.
Korean Air Lines Co Ltd and Singapore Airlines are sending additional crew to fly each plane straight back, avoiding overnight stays.
The South Korean carrier also said it was loading protective suits for flight attendants who might need to take care of suspected coronavirus cases in the air.
Airlines in Asia are seeing a big drop in bookings along with forced cancellations because of the coronavirus outbreak, the head of aircraft lessor Avolon Holdings Ltd said, adding the impact could last for some months.
The outbreak poses the biggest epidemic threat to the airline industry since the 2003 SARS crisis, which led to a 45% plunge in passenger demand in Asia at its peak in April of that year, analysts said.
Fitch Ratings said airlines with more moderate exposure to China and the Asia-Pacific region were likely to be able to re-deploy capacity to alternative routes to mitigate the effect on traffic, but that could increase competition on those routes and reduce airfares.
Air France, which maintained China flights throughout the SARS epidemic, suspended its Beijing and Shanghai flights on Thursday after cabin crews demanded an immediate halt.
"When the staff see that other airlines have stopped flying there, their reaction is 'Why are we still going?'," said Flore Arrighi, president of UNAC, one of the airline's four main flight attendants' unions.
CHICAGO/PARIS (Reuters) - Pilots and flight attendants are demanding airlines stop flights to China as health officials declare a global emergency over the rapidly spreading coronavirus, with American Airlines' pilots filing a lawsuit seeking an immediate halt.
FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Airbus A321 plane takes off from Los Angeles International airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, U.S. March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake
China has reported nearly 10,000 cases and 213 deaths, but the virus has spread to 18 countries, mostly, presumably, by airline passengers.
The United States has advised its citizens not to travel to China, raising its warning to the same level as those for Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S. airlines, which have been reducing flights to China this week, were reassessing flying plans as a result, according to people familiar with the matter.
It is possible the White House could opt to take further action to bar flights to China in coming days, but officials stressed that no decision has been made.
The Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents American Airlines pilots, cited "serious, and in many ways still unknown, health threats posed by the coronavirus" in a lawsuit filed in Texas, where the airline is based.
American said it was taking precautions against the virus but had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. On Wednesday, it announced flight cancellations from Los Angeles to Beijing and Shanghai, but is continuing flights from Dallas.
APA President Eric Ferguson urged pilots assigned to U.S.-China flights to decline the assignment. In a statement, the American Airlines' flight attendants union said they supported the pilots' lawsuit and called on the company and the U.S. government to "err on the side of caution and halt all flights to and from China."
Pilots at United Airlines, the largest U.S. airline to China, concerned for their safety will be allowed to drop their trip without pay, according to a Wednesday memo from their union to members.
United announced on Thursday another 332 U.S.-China flight cancellations between February and March 28, though it will continue operating round trip flights from San Francisco to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The American Airlines pilot lawsuit came as an increasing number of airlines stopped their flights to mainland China, including Air France KLM SA, British Airways, Germany's Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic.
Other major carriers have kept flying to China, but protective masks and shorter layovers designed to reduce exposure have done little to reassure crews.
'COUNTDOWN'
A U.S. flight attendant who recently landed from one major Chinese city said a big concern is catching the virus and spreading it to families, or getting quarantined while on a layover."I didn't understand the gravity of the situation until I went there," she said on condition of anonymity, describing general paranoia on the return flight, with every passenger wearing a mask.
"Now I feel like I'm on a 14-day countdown."
Thai Airways is hosing its cabins with disinfectant spray between China flights and allowing crew to wear masks and gloves.
Delta Air Lines is operating fewer flights and offering food deliveries so crew can stay in their hotels. The carrier is also allowing pilots to drop China trips without pay, a memo from its union to members said.
Korean Air Lines Co Ltd and Singapore Airlines are sending additional crew to fly each plane straight back, avoiding overnight stays.
The South Korean carrier also said it was loading protective suits for flight attendants who might need to take care of suspected coronavirus cases in the air.
Airlines in Asia are seeing a big drop in bookings along with forced cancellations because of the coronavirus outbreak, the head of aircraft lessor Avolon Holdings Ltd said, adding the impact could last for some months.
The outbreak poses the biggest epidemic threat to the airline industry since the 2003 SARS crisis, which led to a 45% plunge in passenger demand in Asia at its peak in April of that year, analysts said.
Fitch Ratings said airlines with more moderate exposure to China and the Asia-Pacific region were likely to be able to re-deploy capacity to alternative routes to mitigate the effect on traffic, but that could increase competition on those routes and reduce airfares.
Air France, which maintained China flights throughout the SARS epidemic, suspended its Beijing and Shanghai flights on Thursday after cabin crews demanded an immediate halt.
"When the staff see that other airlines have stopped flying there, their reaction is 'Why are we still going?'," said Flore Arrighi, president of UNAC, one of the airline's four main flight attendants' unions.
GA - Cirrus skjermen funker godt - Igjen - Curt Lewis
Plane Deploys Parachute Before Crash Landing Near
Aspen
PITKIN COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Experts say the parachute system on an airplane that crashed near Aspen earlier this week worked exactly as planned to keep the two people on board safe and injury-free.
Tyler and Kristina Noel, from Wisconsin, had filed a flight plan to make the quick trip from Aspen to Eagle on their Cirrus SR-22 T. Quickly after takeoff they encountered an issue and couldn't make it back to the airport. The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System was deployed.
"The parachute system is built into that aircraft. It's a ballistic deployment so it will fire a rocket to pull the parachute out and hold the aircraft in a certain position," said Kevin Kuhlmann, the Associate Chair of the Department of Aviation and Aerospace at Metro State University of Denver. "It's nice to know that my only option isn't just to glide the aircraft and hope I have a patch of land."
Kuhlmann has been flying for more than 40 years. He believes, when deployed under the right circumstances, the CAPS has never had a fatality.
"To know you could pull the handle on a parachute and just float down to the surface obviously gives great comfort," Kuhlmann said. "A delay of seconds could end up costing your life when you had an option to float down gently to the earth. "
The parachute was caught in a tree and the plane came to a rest on a steep, snow-covered hillside. Rescue crews took three hours to reach the plane and then just as long to get out.
Because of the difficult terrain, it's unlikely investigators will get to the plane this winter.
PITKIN COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Experts say the parachute system on an airplane that crashed near Aspen earlier this week worked exactly as planned to keep the two people on board safe and injury-free.
Tyler and Kristina Noel, from Wisconsin, had filed a flight plan to make the quick trip from Aspen to Eagle on their Cirrus SR-22 T. Quickly after takeoff they encountered an issue and couldn't make it back to the airport. The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System was deployed.
"The parachute system is built into that aircraft. It's a ballistic deployment so it will fire a rocket to pull the parachute out and hold the aircraft in a certain position," said Kevin Kuhlmann, the Associate Chair of the Department of Aviation and Aerospace at Metro State University of Denver. "It's nice to know that my only option isn't just to glide the aircraft and hope I have a patch of land."
Kuhlmann has been flying for more than 40 years. He believes, when deployed under the right circumstances, the CAPS has never had a fatality.
"To know you could pull the handle on a parachute and just float down to the surface obviously gives great comfort," Kuhlmann said. "A delay of seconds could end up costing your life when you had an option to float down gently to the earth. "
The parachute was caught in a tree and the plane came to a rest on a steep, snow-covered hillside. Rescue crews took three hours to reach the plane and then just as long to get out.
Because of the difficult terrain, it's unlikely investigators will get to the plane this winter.
Alvorlig luftfartshendelse - Skummel incursion - Curt Lewis
Incident: Hop! CRJ7 at Lyon on Jan 23rd 2020, runway incursion in
flight
A Hop! Canadair CRJ-700 on behalf of Air France, registration F-GRZL
performing flight AF-1551 from Lille to Lyon (France), was on approach to Lyon,
low visibility procedures were in effect, and was cleared for an ILS Cat III
approach to runway 35R. During the final approach at about 07:50L (06:50Z) the
aircraft however veered to the left, the aircraft initiated a go around and
overflew the threshold of runway 35L (instead of assigned runway 35R). The
aircraft positioned for another approach and landed without further
incident.
The French BEA rated the occurrence a serious incident and opened an investigation. |
FAA i trouble nok en gang - To historier - Curt Lewis
FAA whistleblower says he was prevented from inspecting helicopter
before Hawaii crash
Los Angeles - In December, a sightseeing helicopter crashed in Kauai, Hawaii, killing all seven people on board. A Federal Aviation Administration whistleblower now says he was prevented from inspecting the aircraft prior to the crash.
Joseph Monfort is a former Army helicopter pilot and FAA employee since 2009. He told Senate investigators his FAA bosses twice denied him travel authorizations to visit the helicopter company, making it next to impossible to perform adequate FAA oversight.
Another chopper crash in Hawaii in April that killed three people is also getting new scrutiny. The whistleblower claims the FAA did not provide adequate oversight that could have prevented the accident. Senator Roger Wicker is demanding the whistleblower's claims be investigated.
"The folks at the top need to look at what's going on. Where there's this much smoke, there's fire," said John Goglia, who served on the National Transportation Safety Board.
These latest allegations come as the Transportation Department's inspector general is poised to find the FAA administered ineffective oversight of Southwest Airlines, who allegedly flew millions of passengers on jets with unconfirmed maintenance records.
The FAA said it takes these new allegations very seriously and will fully cooperate.
Soon-to-be released government report questions Southwest Airlines' safety and FAA ties
A Wall Street Journal report says neither the airline nor the regulator properly handled incidents.
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A Texas flag themed Southwest Airlines jet cuts through the low cloud bank in downtown Dallas as it makes it's approach to Love Field
An upcoming government report says Southwest Airlines flew millions of passengers on planes with unconfirmed safety records and criticizes the way the local FAA offices handled safety questions at the carrier, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal quotes a draft of an audit report from the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general, saying Dallas-based Southwest has been scrutinized for incidents such as a series of aborted landings during a flight in 2019 in which both wingtips also struck the runway.
The report said the Federal Aviation Administration failed to respond to that and other safety questions.
"It is clear that the agency is not yet effectively navigating the balance between industry collaboration and managing safety risks at the carrier," said the report, which the Journal reviewed.
A spokesman for Southwest said the airline disagrees with the draft of the report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General.
"We have communicated our disappointment in the draft audit report to the OIG and will continue to communicate any concerns directly with its office," Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. "Southwest maintains a culture of compliance, recognizing the safety of our operation as the most important thing we do. We are considered one of the world's most admired companies and uphold an unprecedented safety record."
Southwest and its relationship with the FAA has been scrutinized for more than a year, including questions into approval for flights between California and Hawaii and investigations into Southwest's baggage loading procedures. Three FAA managers were reassigned because of the baggage investigation.
The FAA proposed a $3.92 million fine on Jan. 10 for mistakes Southwest made in calculating the weight of unloaded aircraft.
Based on the Journal's report, the new audit report adds more details and makes recommendations about the relationship between Southwest and safety regulators. It said FAA officials complained about how "Southwest often was slow or resistant to providing the agency with safety information."
The new report also criticizes the FAA for failing to adequately investigate an incident in February 2019 at Bradley International Airport outside Hartford, Conn., according to the Journal. In that incident, pilots tried to land three times during "low-level wind shear" and high wind gusts but aborted just a few feet from touchdown.
"Rather than questioning the pilots' judgment, the airline took steps to adjust crosswind landing calculations and enhance flight attendant training to alert cockpit crews of wing strikes or other in-flight emergencies, according to the report," the Journal said.
The report hasn't been publicly released yet. The Office of Inspector General said it does not comment on investigations that are still open.
"The FAA's top priority is safety," said a statement from the FAA. "Upon learning of concerns about how certain aircraft were added to Southwest Airlines' fleet, the agency took comprehensive action. In addition to actions aimed at ensuring the safety of the aircraft, the FAA appointed a new leadership team at the Southwest CMO. The FAA continues to closely monitor these issues."
Los Angeles - In December, a sightseeing helicopter crashed in Kauai, Hawaii, killing all seven people on board. A Federal Aviation Administration whistleblower now says he was prevented from inspecting the aircraft prior to the crash.
Joseph Monfort is a former Army helicopter pilot and FAA employee since 2009. He told Senate investigators his FAA bosses twice denied him travel authorizations to visit the helicopter company, making it next to impossible to perform adequate FAA oversight.
Another chopper crash in Hawaii in April that killed three people is also getting new scrutiny. The whistleblower claims the FAA did not provide adequate oversight that could have prevented the accident. Senator Roger Wicker is demanding the whistleblower's claims be investigated.
"The folks at the top need to look at what's going on. Where there's this much smoke, there's fire," said John Goglia, who served on the National Transportation Safety Board.
These latest allegations come as the Transportation Department's inspector general is poised to find the FAA administered ineffective oversight of Southwest Airlines, who allegedly flew millions of passengers on jets with unconfirmed maintenance records.
The FAA said it takes these new allegations very seriously and will fully cooperate.
Soon-to-be released government report questions Southwest Airlines' safety and FAA ties
A Wall Street Journal report says neither the airline nor the regulator properly handled incidents.
A Texas flag themed Southwest Airlines jet cuts through the low cloud bank in downtown Dallas as it makes it's approach to Love Field
An upcoming government report says Southwest Airlines flew millions of passengers on planes with unconfirmed safety records and criticizes the way the local FAA offices handled safety questions at the carrier, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal quotes a draft of an audit report from the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general, saying Dallas-based Southwest has been scrutinized for incidents such as a series of aborted landings during a flight in 2019 in which both wingtips also struck the runway.
The report said the Federal Aviation Administration failed to respond to that and other safety questions.
"It is clear that the agency is not yet effectively navigating the balance between industry collaboration and managing safety risks at the carrier," said the report, which the Journal reviewed.
A spokesman for Southwest said the airline disagrees with the draft of the report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General.
"We have communicated our disappointment in the draft audit report to the OIG and will continue to communicate any concerns directly with its office," Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. "Southwest maintains a culture of compliance, recognizing the safety of our operation as the most important thing we do. We are considered one of the world's most admired companies and uphold an unprecedented safety record."
Southwest and its relationship with the FAA has been scrutinized for more than a year, including questions into approval for flights between California and Hawaii and investigations into Southwest's baggage loading procedures. Three FAA managers were reassigned because of the baggage investigation.
The FAA proposed a $3.92 million fine on Jan. 10 for mistakes Southwest made in calculating the weight of unloaded aircraft.
Based on the Journal's report, the new audit report adds more details and makes recommendations about the relationship between Southwest and safety regulators. It said FAA officials complained about how "Southwest often was slow or resistant to providing the agency with safety information."
The new report also criticizes the FAA for failing to adequately investigate an incident in February 2019 at Bradley International Airport outside Hartford, Conn., according to the Journal. In that incident, pilots tried to land three times during "low-level wind shear" and high wind gusts but aborted just a few feet from touchdown.
"Rather than questioning the pilots' judgment, the airline took steps to adjust crosswind landing calculations and enhance flight attendant training to alert cockpit crews of wing strikes or other in-flight emergencies, according to the report," the Journal said.
The report hasn't been publicly released yet. The Office of Inspector General said it does not comment on investigations that are still open.
"The FAA's top priority is safety," said a statement from the FAA. "Upon learning of concerns about how certain aircraft were added to Southwest Airlines' fleet, the agency took comprehensive action. In addition to actions aimed at ensuring the safety of the aircraft, the FAA appointed a new leadership team at the Southwest CMO. The FAA continues to closely monitor these issues."
Droner - Tyskland kansellerer Triton - Går for Bombardier Global 6000 i stedet - UAS Vision
Germany Cancels Planned $2.5BN Triton Deal
MQ-4C Tritons at a Northrop Grumman test facility in Palmdale, California
The German government has canceled plans to buy Northrop Grumman-made Triton drones to the tune of $2.5 billion, opting instead for manned planes carrying eavesdropping sensors.
The decision to buy Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft comes after officials became convinced that the Global Hawk derivatives would be unable to meet the safety standards needed for flying through European airspace by 2025, a target date for Berlin’s NATO obligations.
The defence ministry told lawmakers in a confidential letter, obtained by Reuters, that the Triton drones would not be ready for delivery until 2025 as promised and that the estimated costs of some 2.4 billion euros ($2.66 billion) could not be financed.
The U.S. State Department in April 2018 cleared Germany’s request to purchase four MQ-4C Triton drones for signals intelligence missions under the country’s PEGASUS program, short for “Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System.” The program includes a sensor, dubbed “ISIS-ZB” and made by Hensoldt, for intercepting communications and locating targets by their electromagnetic signature.
The German Defence Ministry for years had been banking on the Triton purchase to come with a pre-installed safety-technology package that would be easily approved by European air traffic authorities. But officials saw their hopes dashed as Italy recently issued a military-type certificate for a sister drone — NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance fleet of Global Hawks, stationed in Sigonella, Sicily — that prescribes tight restrictions on flights over the continent.
Manned aircraft like the envisioned Global 6000 are allowed to routinely fly alongside civilian traffic, a prospect that the Germans see as more palatable than dealing with drone-specific airspace corridors.
Berlin hopes to catch the tail end of Bombardier’s Global 6000 manufacturing run, as the model is being phased out in favour of an upgrade. While that strategy could yield a better price, Berlin needs to move soon before the production line goes cold, according to officials.
Letting drones fly in the same airspace as civilian traffic remains an unresolved problem, as the requisite sensing technology and the regulatory framework are still emerging. Germany previously tried filling its signals-intelligence gap with the Euro Hawk, but the project tanked in 2013 after spending $700 million because officials underestimated the trickiness of attaining airworthiness qualification.
With the Triton gone, Germany’s next ambition for a fully approved unmanned aircraft lies with the so-called Eurodrone, a cooperation with France. Officials have said that the program is designed from the start with manned-unmanned airspace integration in mind.
GA og vinterflyging - SHT rapport
Rapport om luftfartsulykke ved Oslo lufthavn Gardermoen 11. januar 2017 med Cessna Aircraft Company 560 Encore, LN-IDB, operert av Hesnes Air AS
Beskrivelse
Besetningen mistet kontrollen på flyet kort tid etter avgang fra Gardermoen. Fra en høyde på ca. 1 400 ft over bakken, tippet nesen på flyet brått nedover. For å gjenvinne kontrollen og hindre at flyet kolliderte med bakken, ble det trukket hardt i kontrollene. Flyet flatet ut ca. 170 ft over bakken før besetningen kunne fortsette utklatringen. Grunnet store G-krefter i forbindelse med hendelsen, ble flyet påført betydelige strukturelle skader.
Havarikommisjonen mener at sannsynlig forklaring på flyets plutselige stup, er at haleflaten steilet som følge av ising etter slush-spray fra rullebanen og/eller fra fallende snø og sludd.
Undersøkelsen har ikke avdekket noen tekniske feil på flyet og dets kontrollsystemer.
Havarikommisjonen mener at sannsynlig forklaring på flyets plutselige stup, er at haleflaten steilet som følge av ising etter slush-spray fra rullebanen og/eller fra fallende snø og sludd.
Undersøkelsen har ikke avdekket noen tekniske feil på flyet og dets kontrollsystemer.
Coronaviruset - Vil komme til Norge, mener helsemyndighetene - NRK
Nordmann om bord på britisk fly fra Wuhan
En norsk borger var om bord på det britiske flyet som hadde avreise fra Wuhan i Hubei-provinsen fredag morgen.
torsdag 30. januar 2020
Boeings New Mid-Market Airplane diskuteres her - Curt lewis
| Boeing still deciding which market segment its next aircraft
should target Boeing is assessing which segment of the commercial aircraft market it should actually address with its next aircraft development programme, suggesting options other than its proposed New Mid-market Airplane (NMA) may be on the table. Speaking during Boeing's 2019 earnings call on 29 January, chief executive David Calhoun also insists the company will not design its next aircraft purely as a response to the hugely-popular Airbus A321neo. "We have asked the team to step back and reassess our commercial product development strategy to determine what family of airplanes will be needed in the future," Calhoun says. For several years Boeing talked of launching the NMA, an aircraft with 270 seats and 4,000-5,000nm (7,400-9,300km) range. But the 737 Max grounding delayed the NMA beyond an ideal mid-2020s launch, and in the meantime Airbus attacked the mid-market niche with the 2019 launch of its A321XLR.  A digital representation of Boeing's NMA concept. Boeing will not make a knee-jerk reaction by rushing an aircraft to compete with the A321XLR, according to Calhoun. "This is a decision [that] me and our new commercial aircraft leader wanted to make. We will not design our next airplane on the basis of the A321," he says. "I know where the NMA is targeted now. I want to be sure I understand everything about the widebody, narrowbody world." Without addressing specifics, Calhoun insists Boeing's next aircraft programme will leverage tools that will significantly "differentiate" it from competing products. "I want to make sure we have an airplane [specification] that I believe in," Calhoun says. "As soon as we come to a [specification] on what we want to do, we will move forward very quickly." The NMA had been weaved tightly into a broader Boeing plan to transform its production system, analysts have said. The aircraft would have only incremental technology improvements but would serve as a platform by which Boeing would begin modernising production in preparation for launching the 737 replacement, an aircraft dubbed the Future Single Aisle (FSA) aircraft. Richard Aboulafia, industry analyst with Teal Group, suggests Boeing might leap over the NMA and instead move straight to developing the FSA. Perhaps, he says, the FSA could include a larger variant suited for the mid-market segment. "It's also possible that they do nothing, and simply continue returning cash to shareholders. That would be disastrous for the company's market standing," Aboulafia says. |
Helikopter - Kobe Bryant havariet - Curt Lewis
https://tinyurl.com/vshzyc3i flight following here: https://tinyurl.com/vshzyc3
Pilot In Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Wasn't Allowed To Fly By Instruments
Helicopter Crash Kobe Bryant Killed
NTSB investigator Carol Hogan examines wreckage Monday from a helicopter crash near Calabasas
The helicopter that crashed Sunday killing basketball star Kobe Bryant and eight others was owned by a charter company that only operated under visual flight rules, and its pilots were not permitted to fly solely based on their cockpit gauges if they encountered weather that limited visibility, a former pilot for the company told Forbes.
The pilot of the doomed flight, Ara Zobayan, was licensed to fly by cockpit instruments, but he likely had little real-world experience in doing so given the operating limitations of Island Express Helicopters, says Kurt Deetz, a former pilot for the company who flew Bryant for two years.
On a morning when heavy fog and low clouds were reported in parts of the Los Angeles area, and law enforcement agencies and helicopter tour companies weren't flying their choppers, the last radio communication from Zobayan to air traffic controllers was that he was climbing to try to get above a layer of clouds.
"I don't think he had any actual [experience] inside the clouds," says Deetz, who notes that it can be unnerving for pilots limited to operating under visual flight rules, or VFR. "You spend your whole career thinking, 'I shouldn't do this.' "
It's unknown whether Zobayan's visibility was in fact impaired, but soon after his last radio message, which came while the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter was headed west following the Ventura Freeway, it ascended to 2,300 feet and then turned abruptly to the south into the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas, where it quickly lost altitude and crashed on a slope at 1,085 feet in elevation, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident.
Island Express Helicopters, a Long Beach-based company that has seven helicopters registered to it and a related holding corporation, is certified under Part 135 of FAA regulations to provide on-demand charter services under VFR conditions only, according to FAA records. The regulations impose tight specifications on how air carriers operate, including what kind of weather conditions they can fly in. It's financially demanding and time-consuming for a company to ensure it and its pilots can operate under instrument flight rules, or IFR, says Dee tz, and in the Los Angeles area, with its usually balmy weather, he says it isn't worth it for most helicopter operators, apart from emergency medical services.
"You can spend all this money and maybe get three flights a year that you do IFR," says Deetz, 54, who has flown helicopters in the L.A. area for 30 years.
Zobayan, 50, was the chief pilot for Island Express, where he had worked for ten years, according to a statement on the company's website, and had 8,200 hours of flight time as of July. An instrument flight instructor as well, he reportedly flew Bryant regularly and Deetz says he knew the area well.
An Island Express representative reached by phone declined to answer questions.
The helicopter took off on Sunday morning at 9:06 a.m. from Orange County's John Wayne Airport near Bryant's home, carrying the retired NBA player, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and six others to a basketball tournament at Bryant's sports academy in Thousand Oaks. Coming north from Los Angeles, Zobayan was allowed to proceed under special visual flight rules through the airspace controlled by Burbank Airport, a not uncommon permission for helicopters in less than ideal weather conditions where the pilot believes they have enough visibility to fly safely. A controller at nearby Van Nuys Airport to the west, whose airspace the helicopter subsequently passed through, advised Zobayan that there was a cloud ceiling in the area of 1,100 feet and visibility of 2.5 miles.
Kobe Bryant flight map
The weather can vary widely throughout the L.A. region, and the area that the helicopter crashed in is a blind spot with no weather reporting station, says Deetz.
"Once you leave Van Nuys, there's no weather reporting until you get to Camarillo," he says.
Many pilots in that situation would push forward in the hope that the conditions would turn out to be fine, he says, and either turn back or land nearby if they were not.
The Sikorsky S-76B is certified for single-pilot instrument flying, but Deetz says it's not something a VFR-restricted pilot would switch to doing lightly, given the legal repercussions.
In a situation where a helicopter pilot inadvertently flies into challenging weather, he says they can declare an emergency requiring that they fly by instruments, and the nearest air traffic controller will vector the aircraft in for a landing.
However, Deetz says, it's not easy to suddenly switch from VFR to IFR in the clouds, and the S-76B's rapid descent from 2,300 feet may have been an attempt by Zobayan to get below the ceiling.
"It's a very unnerving feeling if you're not ready. He may have gotten in it and thought, 'I don't want to be here.' "
The helicopter was not equipped with a system that warns pilots when their aircraft is in close proximity to the ground, NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy said in a media briefing Tuesday. FAA made such systems mandatory for air ambulances in 2014 but declined to act on a 2006 recommendation by NTSB that they be required on all helicopters.
The NTSB's lead investigator on the case, Bill English, cautioned that it's too early to say whether a terrain awareness and warning system could have helped prevent the accident.
With the probe into the crash still in its early stages, there are a host of possible factors other than poor visibility that could turn out to have played a role, including a mechanical malfunction.
However, given that weather forecasts for airports near the route of flight appear to have been better than the conditions that Zobayan encountered in the final minutes, the accident could lead NTSB and FAA to re-examine the requirements for special visual flight rule operations, says Alan Diehl, a former NTSB and FAA crash investigator.
Pilot In Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Wasn't Allowed To Fly By Instruments
Helicopter Crash Kobe Bryant Killed
NTSB investigator Carol Hogan examines wreckage Monday from a helicopter crash near Calabasas
The helicopter that crashed Sunday killing basketball star Kobe Bryant and eight others was owned by a charter company that only operated under visual flight rules, and its pilots were not permitted to fly solely based on their cockpit gauges if they encountered weather that limited visibility, a former pilot for the company told Forbes.
The pilot of the doomed flight, Ara Zobayan, was licensed to fly by cockpit instruments, but he likely had little real-world experience in doing so given the operating limitations of Island Express Helicopters, says Kurt Deetz, a former pilot for the company who flew Bryant for two years.
On a morning when heavy fog and low clouds were reported in parts of the Los Angeles area, and law enforcement agencies and helicopter tour companies weren't flying their choppers, the last radio communication from Zobayan to air traffic controllers was that he was climbing to try to get above a layer of clouds.
"I don't think he had any actual [experience] inside the clouds," says Deetz, who notes that it can be unnerving for pilots limited to operating under visual flight rules, or VFR. "You spend your whole career thinking, 'I shouldn't do this.' "
It's unknown whether Zobayan's visibility was in fact impaired, but soon after his last radio message, which came while the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter was headed west following the Ventura Freeway, it ascended to 2,300 feet and then turned abruptly to the south into the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas, where it quickly lost altitude and crashed on a slope at 1,085 feet in elevation, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident.
Island Express Helicopters, a Long Beach-based company that has seven helicopters registered to it and a related holding corporation, is certified under Part 135 of FAA regulations to provide on-demand charter services under VFR conditions only, according to FAA records. The regulations impose tight specifications on how air carriers operate, including what kind of weather conditions they can fly in. It's financially demanding and time-consuming for a company to ensure it and its pilots can operate under instrument flight rules, or IFR, says Dee tz, and in the Los Angeles area, with its usually balmy weather, he says it isn't worth it for most helicopter operators, apart from emergency medical services.
"You can spend all this money and maybe get three flights a year that you do IFR," says Deetz, 54, who has flown helicopters in the L.A. area for 30 years.
Zobayan, 50, was the chief pilot for Island Express, where he had worked for ten years, according to a statement on the company's website, and had 8,200 hours of flight time as of July. An instrument flight instructor as well, he reportedly flew Bryant regularly and Deetz says he knew the area well.
An Island Express representative reached by phone declined to answer questions.
The helicopter took off on Sunday morning at 9:06 a.m. from Orange County's John Wayne Airport near Bryant's home, carrying the retired NBA player, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and six others to a basketball tournament at Bryant's sports academy in Thousand Oaks. Coming north from Los Angeles, Zobayan was allowed to proceed under special visual flight rules through the airspace controlled by Burbank Airport, a not uncommon permission for helicopters in less than ideal weather conditions where the pilot believes they have enough visibility to fly safely. A controller at nearby Van Nuys Airport to the west, whose airspace the helicopter subsequently passed through, advised Zobayan that there was a cloud ceiling in the area of 1,100 feet and visibility of 2.5 miles.
Kobe Bryant flight map
The weather can vary widely throughout the L.A. region, and the area that the helicopter crashed in is a blind spot with no weather reporting station, says Deetz.
"Once you leave Van Nuys, there's no weather reporting until you get to Camarillo," he says.
Many pilots in that situation would push forward in the hope that the conditions would turn out to be fine, he says, and either turn back or land nearby if they were not.
The Sikorsky S-76B is certified for single-pilot instrument flying, but Deetz says it's not something a VFR-restricted pilot would switch to doing lightly, given the legal repercussions.
In a situation where a helicopter pilot inadvertently flies into challenging weather, he says they can declare an emergency requiring that they fly by instruments, and the nearest air traffic controller will vector the aircraft in for a landing.
However, Deetz says, it's not easy to suddenly switch from VFR to IFR in the clouds, and the S-76B's rapid descent from 2,300 feet may have been an attempt by Zobayan to get below the ceiling.
"It's a very unnerving feeling if you're not ready. He may have gotten in it and thought, 'I don't want to be here.' "
The helicopter was not equipped with a system that warns pilots when their aircraft is in close proximity to the ground, NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy said in a media briefing Tuesday. FAA made such systems mandatory for air ambulances in 2014 but declined to act on a 2006 recommendation by NTSB that they be required on all helicopters.
The NTSB's lead investigator on the case, Bill English, cautioned that it's too early to say whether a terrain awareness and warning system could have helped prevent the accident.
With the probe into the crash still in its early stages, there are a host of possible factors other than poor visibility that could turn out to have played a role, including a mechanical malfunction.
However, given that weather forecasts for airports near the route of flight appear to have been better than the conditions that Zobayan encountered in the final minutes, the accident could lead NTSB and FAA to re-examine the requirements for special visual flight rule operations, says Alan Diehl, a former NTSB and FAA crash investigator.
Hypersoniske våpen er in - AW&ST
Scramjet-Powered Cruise Missile Emerges As New U.S. Priority
Steve Trimble Guy Norris January 30, 2020
Credit: Raytheon
Fielding an operational scramjet-powered cruise missile has emerged as a new priority for the U.S. Defense Department’s proliferating portfolio of maneuvering hypersonic weapons.
Senior defense officials are putting together a program to develop an operational follow-on to DARPA’s Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC), which currently supports competing scramjet-powered missile demonstrators designed by Lockheed Martin/Aerojet Rocketdyne and Raytheon/Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems teams.
“We are in the process of trying to figure out what [an operational program] would look like,” says Mike White, assistant director for hypersonics in the office of the under secretary of defense for research and engineering.
As the U.S. military rushed after 2017 to respond to Russian and Chinese hypersonic advances, air-breathing hypersonic cruise missiles fell to the bottom of the priority list. Funding for operational programs favored boost-glide technology over the seemingly less mature field of weapons powered by scramjets (supersonic combustion ramjets).
But that assumption is being challenged. Along with the flight-test experience accumulated a decade ago by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) X-51 scramjet vehicle, recent ground tests and simulations indicate scramjet technology is more advanced than previously understood. In September, the AFRL announced it had achieved thrust levels over 13,000 lb. with a Northrop-designed engine at speeds “above Mach 4” in a hypersonic wind tunnel. In June, Raytheon reported the maturity of its scramjet-powered HAWC demonstrator had exceeded that of its boost-glide design.
In December 2018, Michael Griffin, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, described hypersonic cruise missiles as “further out” than boost-glide weapons. But the technology advanced so quickly that another official, Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper, concluded seven months later the HAWC program would be “a nearer-term not a far-term capability.”
“We’d like to see HAWC transition to a fully operational system,” says Mark Lewis, the Defense Department’s director of research and engineering for modernization. “It’s probably the issue that our hypersonic team is spending most time on right now.”
Awareness is also growing for the technical challenges still facing medium-range boost-glide missiles in the class of DARPA’s Tactical Boost Glide (TBG) missile demonstrators. The Air Force’s 2017 decision to launch the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), an operational follow-on to the TBG, helped legitimize the Defense Department’s revived interest in hypersonic weapons, White says.
“I think people underestimate the importance of this decision of the Air Force [to launch ARRW] in the hypersonic community,” he says. “We’ve always been kind of stuck in the [research and development] realm. The Air Force in 2017, they were the first service that said: ‘Hey, we want hypersonic weapons.’”
But the TBG-derived ARRW represents a particularly difficult technical challenge. The design uses a higher lift-over-drag ratio wing shape, which has never been successfully tested by the U.S. government. By contrast, the axisymmetric shape of the lower lift-over-drag glider developed for the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB)—the front-end designed for the Air Force Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon, the Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) and the Navy’s Intermediate-Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS)—has logged several successful flight tests since the late 1970s. The winged TBG’s greater maneuverability, albeit with shorter range, makes it far more challenging to design.
“It’s DARPA-hard, and TBG is hard,” Lewis says.
Ongoing studies by the Air Force’s Warfighting Integration Capability are also starting to highlight the operational benefits of cruise missiles compared to medium-range boost-glide systems. A cruise missile still requires a booster rocket to accelerate to hypersonic speed, but it does not need to carry as much oxidizer and fuel as a boost-glide rocket because it remains within the atmosphere. Air-breathing cruise missiles’ smaller size means a single aircraft, such as a Boeing B-52, can carry them in much greater numbers.
“For a hypersonic boost-glide vehicle you can get two, maybe four, on a B-52,” White says. “But you can get 15 or maybe 20 hypersonic cruise missiles [on a B-52] because the size is much smaller.So you can carry them internally in the rotary rack. There are significant advantages for the air breathers, but they offer different technical challenges.”
The smaller size and increased packaging advantages of air breathers would give the Air Force significant tactical advantage, Lewis adds. “The No. 1 question we should be asking is: ‘How do we deliver lots of these things?’ In my mind, one way to do that is to fit a lot of them in a weapons bay. Getting 15-20 per bomb bay is a lot, but if I’m [launching them from] a single mobile launcher, I’m not sure I can deliver the numbers I need. We are not interested in capability when we build two and declare it a success—that doesn’t do anything.”
The Pentagon’s hypersonic weapons portfolio emerged in a blur of bureaucratic activity between 2017 and 2018. The first step was the Air Force’s decision to launch the medium-range ARRW program in 2017 as the follow-on to TBG. Shortly afterward, the Air Force also decided to launch the longer-range HCSW. In November 2017, the Navy conducted a successful test of the proposed C-HGB, which prompted the Navy and the Army to support funding toward the operational prototypes of the IRCPS and LRHW—for submarine and ground launch, respectively.
As it stands now, the portfolio includes air-launched medium-range and long-range boost-glide systems, an intermediate-range submarine-launched missile and a long-range weapon launched from a tractor trailer. If an operational follow-on of the HAWC is approved, with Air Force and Navy concepts under consideration, new air- and surface-launched options for medium-range targets could become available.
In addition to the offensive programs, the Defense Department’s road map also includes development of a counter-hypersonic system—starting with the Missile Defense Agency’s Regional Glide-Phase Weapon System as well as multiple programs for booster development and continued funding of basic science and technology. Additional DARPA programs include the ground-launched Operational Fires, which seeks to integrate a TBG front-end on a two-stage booster stack that includes a throttled upper stage, and the Advanced Full-Range Engine, a dual-mode ramjet that could power a future hypersonic aircraft.
Such a diverse yet overlapping road map has prompted criticism. In July, the chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee on defense, Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.), warned defense officials that they “need to better define the strategy for the investment in these systems.” Visclosky’s committee proposed cutting some funding for the Army’s hypersonic program, but a joint conference committee of Congressional appropriators ultimately restored the funding and added more for other hypersonic programs.
Lewis believes the development of a multitude of hypersonic missile programs is justified.
“Too many people think hypersonics is just one thing,” Lewis says. “They think, for example, [it’s just for the long-range, conventional prompt strike mission]. But no, it’s a range of capabilities.
“Even at the tactical level it’s, for lack of a better phrase, a high-low mix,” Lewis adds. “We should probably have a mix of air breathers and boost-glide systems. They probably have different capabilities, different ranges and so on. We have F-16s and F-15s, and they have different roles, and that should be the same with tactical hypersonic systems as well.”
SpaceX er pålitelige - 60 satellitter i en pang - Curt Lewis
SpaceX has launched yet another batch of 60 Starlink satellites -
its third production batch of the orbital communication spacecraft, and its
second batch this year alone. The launch took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station in Florida this morning at 9:06 AM EST, using a Falcon 9 rocket whose
booster stage had already flown for two prior SpaceX missions in
2019.
SpaceX also recovered the Falcon 9 booster yet again, landing it back
on its drone landing ship in the Atlantic Ocean after it separated from the
payload and the rocket's second stage. At this point, SpaceX's ability to
recover its Falcon 9 boosters is pretty reliable - it has succeeded in 48 of 56
landing attempts overall, and the last time a Falcon 9 landing attempt went awry
was in December of 2018.
The deployment of the Starlink satellites seems to have gone exactly
to plan, which means SpaceX now has around 240 satellites in service for
Starlink. Already after the last batch went up in early January, SpaceX became
the largest private satellite operator in the world, and now it's just extending
its lead.
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Sefety costs money - Spar penger ved å fly i et lavprisselskap som Southwest - Curt Lewis
Southwest Flew Millions on Jets With Unconfirmed Maintenance
Records, Government Report Says
A government report to be released in coming days says Southwest
Airlines Co. LUV -1.23% failed to prioritize safety and the airline's regulator,
the Federal Aviation Administration, hasn't done enough about it.
Southwest pilots flew more than 17 million passengers on planes with
unconfirmed maintenance records over roughly two years, and in 2019 smashed both
wingtips of a jet on a runway while repeatedly trying to land amid gale-force
winds, according to the Transportation Department report, reviewed by The Wall
Street Journal.
The lapses are highlighted in a draft audit by the agency's inspector
general that also criticizes the FAA's oversight of the carrier as lax,
ineffective and inconsistent. The document indicates no agency enforcement
action resulted from those safety slip-ups or certain other alleged hazards. In
some cases, the report alleges, the FAA's overall approach served to "justify
continued noncompliance with safety regulations."
FAA proposes $3.9M fine against Southwest for bad weight, balance data on 21,000 flights  Corrections and clarifications: The proposed fine announced Friday is separate from the FAA's investigation, launched in 2018, of Southwest's weight and balance calculations before takeoff. The original story conflated the two investigations. The FAA proposed a $3.92 million fine against Southwest Airlines on Friday for incorrect weight and balance data on 21,000 flights in 2018. In an enforcement letter to Southwest Chief Operating Officer Mike Van de Ven on Friday, the agency said Southwest operated 44 planes on a total of 21,505 flights between May 1 and Aug. 9, 2018 with incorrect baseline weights for the plane in its system. The starting weight is used in determining how many passengers and how much fuel can be safely carried, as well as where cargo must be located, the FAA said. The FAA alleges that Southwest's operation of the planes ran contrary to the airline's approved weight-and-balance program and FAA-issued operations specifications. Southwest has 30 days to respond to the agency. The two sides can negotiate a settlement that will lower the amount Southwest ultimately pays. Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish said in a statement Friday that the proposed penalty stems from data processing issues that occurred when Southwest was switching computer systems in the spring of 2018. He said Southwest reported what it called record-keeping issues, which involve the empty weight of aircraft needed to establish a baseline weight for each plane, to the FAA in late July 2018 and resolved them in August 2018. Southwest and the FAA said Friday's action is unrelated to a separate investigation of how Southwest calculates weight and balance data before a flight. That data, which takes into account factors including the weight of bags, cargo and passengers and how they are positioned on the plane, are a critical pre-flight task that dictates how much fuel is needed, takeoff and landing speeds and other factors. The FAA had been investigating Southwest's calculations on that front for nearly two years. Southwest has since switched from manually counting bags to scanning them, as most airlines do. The Wall Street Journal said the investigation, publicly disclosed a year ago, was sparked by a whistleblower complaint. When the FAA investigation was disclosed by The Wall Street Journal in 2019, Southwest Airlines officials said they were switching from manually counting bags to scanning them, as most other airlines already did. This isn't the largest fine the FAA has proposed against Southwest. In 2014, the FAA proposed a $12 million fine against the Dallas-based carrier for allegedly failing to comply with repair orders for Boeing 737s.In 2008, the FAA announced a $10.2 million fine related to cracks in the fuselage. |