Flight Safety Information - May 31, 2024 No. 109 In This Issue : Incident: Southwest B737 at Lubbock on May 29th 2024, engine oil issue : Incident: Delta A359 at Atlanta on May 27th 2024, loss of automation : Incident: Virgin Atlantic A35K at Edinburgh on May 29th 2024, flat nose tyre : Boeing tells FAA how it plans to fix its quality problems : US FAA says United Airlines can take deliveries of new airplanes : Russian Commercial Aircraft Declares Mid-Flight Emergency, 7th This Month : Boeing shows feds its plan to fix aircraft safety 4 months after midair blowout : Aircraft shortages turn into cash bonanza for some airlines : Northern Air Cargo to discharge 18 pilots on Hawaii route : Alaska Airlines invests in new world-class training facility to support flight attendants, pilots and more : CALENDAR OF EVENTS Incident: Southwest B737 at Lubbock on May 29th 2024, engine oil issue A Southwest Boeing 737-700, registration N465WN performing flight WN-423 from Lubbock,TX to Austin,TX (USA), was climbing out of Lubbock's runway 08 when the crew stopped the climb at about 13,000 feet reporting an engine (CFM56) oil issue. The aircraft returned to Lubbock for a safe landing on runway 17R about 20 minutes after departure. The aircraft remained on the ground for about 3 hours, then departed again and reached Austin with a delay of about 3.5 hours, however, did not continue service. The aircraft positioned to Dallas Love,TX (USA) and remained in Dallas for about 18.5 hours after landing in Dallas. https://avherald.com/h?article=519464cb&opt=0 Incident: Delta A359 at Atlanta on May 27th 2024, loss of automation A Delta Airlines Airbus A350-900, registration N519DN performing flight DL-200 from Atlanta,GA (USA) to Johannesburg (South Africa), was climbing out of Atlanta's runway 27R when the crew stopped the climb at 10,000 feet declaring Mayday and reporting that they had lost autopilots and autothrust, they needed to return to Atlanta. The crew requested to hold while they were working out the return and received vectors. The aircraft landed overweight but safely back on Atlanta's runway 27R about 105 minutes after departure. The aircraft stopped on the runway with hot brakes and was towed to the apron. The rotation DL-200/DL-201 was cancelled. https://avherald.com/h?article=51946090&opt=0 Incident: Virgin Atlantic A35K at Edinburgh on May 29th 2024, flat nose tyre A Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350-1000, registration G-VNVR performing flight VS-226 (dep May 28th) from Orlando,FL (USA) to Edinburgh,SC (UK), departed Orlando's runway 17R, climbed to FL390 and crossed the Atlantic Ocean. On approach to Edinburgh the crew requested assistance due to one of the nose wheel tyres showing low pressure. The aircraft landed safely on Edinburgh's runway 24 about 7.5 hours after departure and stopped on the runway. The aircraft vacated the runway about 30 minutes later. The airline reported engineers were called to the aircraft upon landing due to a low nose gear tyre pressure. The aircraft returned to service about 4 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=5193ce54&opt=0 Boeing tells FAA how it plans to fix its quality problems Boeing (BA) submitted a government-mandated report to the Federal Aviation Administration intended to help prevent another unsafe plane from leaving its factory floors. The FAA in February gave Boeing 90 days to submit the report, asking it to propose overhauls of its aircraft manufacturing and quality control processes. That order was in response to a midair blowout of a fuselage section that detached from an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 jet in January. FAA administrator Michael Whitaker held a press briefing Thursday following receipt of Boeing's plan. "Bottom line, we will continue to make sure every airplane that comes off the line is safe and reliable," he said. "Regardless of how many planes Boeing builds." Boeing is working to assure regulators, lawmakers, investors, and the public that its planes are airworthy while also dealing with lawsuits, investigations, and a production slowdown that is contributing to a cash burn at the aviation giant. The FAA report, which Boeing submitted as a PowerPoint presentation, requires the company and its suppliers to submit to enhanced FAA oversight, including more inspections and monitoring. Boeing must also adopt a new safety management system, a committee to increase employee training, boost employee oversight, and incorporate more input into manufacturing and quality control from users of its aircraft, including pilots. "I think the flying public should feel that we're increasing our oversight to an appropriate level with Boeing," Whitaker said. He added that more inspectors had been placed on the floor of Boeing's 737 Max manufacturing facility in Renton, Wash., giving regulators more insight into safety and quality management. There were no fatalities resulting from the January Alaska Airlines flight, though passengers and crew on board reported physical and emotional injuries. The mid-air emergency prompted the FAA to put a stop to the expansion of 737 Max production. Those limits contributed to a 40% production rate drop in Max planes in the first quarter compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Whitaker said the FAA had not yet set specific metrics for increasing production and Boeing had not requested an increase to the current caps. Boeing has so far implemented part of the changes in its report to the FAA. In an email to Yahoo Finance, a representative for the plane maker said it had held factory-wide "stand down" meetings at its manufacturing facilities across the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Boeing has also created more ways for workers to share and anonymously report safety concerns, added more training hours for its skilled laborers, hired thousands of additional employees, and purchased new tools and equipment. Boeing's Thursday report isn't final. The FAA is expected to ask the company to make amendments to the proposals within it. Members of the company’s senior management team took part in Thursday's meeting with the FAA, including outgoing CEO David Calhoun, who has said he will resign from the CEO role at the end of the year, though stay on as a director. Once the plan is finalized with regulators, it will take years to implement. Boeing is also currently under criminal investigation by the Justice Department for its role in the blowout. The Justice Department told a judge this month that Boeing had violated an earlier deferred prosecution agreement that allowed it to avoid criminal prosecution after the two catastrophic crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019. It is now up to the Justice Department whether to criminally charge Boeing, and it will decide on that question by July 7. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boeing-tells-faa-how-it-plans-to-fix-its-quality-problems-185312261.html US FAA says United Airlines can take deliveries of new airplanes WASHINGTON (Reuters) -United Airlines can take delivery of new airplanes as U.S. aviation regulators review the carrier, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday. "We are permitting them to take deliveries of aircraft. Most of those aircraft have been one-on-one replacements for missing aircraft," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told reporters at a briefing. "Some of it has been growth. They have provided us with their growth plan, and we're working with them on that growth plan going forward." United did not immediately comment. Some United certification activities were halted after the FAA said in March it was increasing its oversight of United following recent safety incidents. The FAA said earlier this month it is requiring the presence of FAA personnel when United conducts final inspections of new aircraft replacing older models. The FAA said this month the review, known as the Certificate Holder Evaluation Program, "is ongoing and safety will determine the timeline for completing it." The evaluation is to ensure the Chicago-based airline "is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety," the FAA said. United, in a May 16 email to its employees, said the FAA was allowing the company to begin the certification process restart "after a careful review and discussion about the proactive safety steps United has taken to date." The airline delayed the start of two new international routes last month, citing a pause on some certifications by the FAA. The FAA's Certificate Management Office for United had raised concerns about a series of safety incidents, officials said. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/us-faa-says-united-airlines-180755317.html Russian Commercial Aircraft Declares Mid-Flight Emergency, 7th This Month The epidemic of Russian airliners suffering in-flight emergencies caused by lack of spares and maintenance due to Western sanctions continues unabated. The Moscow Times, citing Interfax, reported that an Airbus A319 of Rossiya Airlines, flying from St. Petersburg to Sochi with 126 passengers on board, made an emergency landing at Mineralnye Vody airport on Thursday, May 30. The Russian telegram channel 112 said that the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing because of a fuel leak and a replacement aircraft would be sent to ferry passengers to their destination in Mineralnye Vody. According to the independent Russian news site Insider, the aircraft involved had been grounded on May 25 because of a fuel leak and was returned to service on May 27. However, it made made another emergency landing on May 28 also due to a fuel leak. This was the seventh emergency landing in May alone: May 27: another Airbus A319 from the same airline, en route from Sochi to St. Petersburg, landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after the aircraft’s sensors mistakenly identified an undisclosed technical issue. May 22: two aircraft from Yamal Airlines planes were forced into emergency landings in Tyumen, close to the Kazakhstan border: a Sukhoi Superjet 100, flying from Ufa to Novy Urengoy, reported an automatic failure and an Airbus A320, flying from Ufa to Noyabrsk, suffered depressurization of the pilot's cabin. May 12: an Aeroflot airline Boeing-777 flying from Moscow to Guangzhou, was forced to land in Irkutsk due to loss of oil pressure in one of its engines. May 7: an Airbus A320 of S7 airlines, flying from Novosibirsk to Kazan, had to return to Novosibirsk after issues in its port side engine. May 6: an Airbus A321 of Nordwind airlines flying from Moscow to Orenburg returned to the Moscow departure airport after depressurization in the cockpit. In February the Wall Street Journal, citing the German research company Jacdec reported that the number of aircraft breakdowns in the air in 2023 had more than doubled the number reported the previous year, with almost 10 incidents for every 100,000 flights based on on data from research firm Cirium. According to Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, in just 11 months of last year, there were 670 aviation incidents of which 400 were associated with equipment failures. Incidents included fires in or other failure of engines during flights, damage to the landing gear, malfunctions of the flaps and failure of guidance systems. In January this year there were at least 10 air incidents with 6 engine failures reported in the first 3 months of the year. Jan. 24: an Airbus A-320 of the S7 company suffered hydraulic system failure during a flight from Vladivostok to Novosibirsk, and the navigation system on Aeroflot Airbus failed on approach to Sheremetyevo Airport. Jan. 21: a Russian registered Dassault Falcon 10B plane on an ambulance flight from Thailand to Moscow crashed into a mountainous area of Afghanistan after its engines failed, two of the six on board died. Jan. 15: a Yamal Airlines Airbus flying to Salekhard from Gorno-Altaisk made an emergency landing in Tolmachevo due to a malfunction. A Boeing 737-800 of Yakutia Airlines suffered tire failure during takeoff in Yakutsk. A Ural Airlines Airbus A321 after its engines twice failed to reach takeoff mode. Jan. 12: three flights by Pobeda airlines suffered emergencies. The main landing gear caught fire when arriving at Cheboksary airport from Moscow. An aircraft flying from Moscow to Barnaul lost its starboard-side inertial guidance system. Wiring on a Pobeda flight from Moscow to Ufa caught fire over Chuvashia. Before the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian commercial fleet consisted of 1,031 aircraft, almost two-thirds of which were manufactured by Boeing and Airbus. In September 2022, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), carried out a flight safety audit of Russian airlines after which Russia was “red flagged,” which put it on a par with only Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Liberia of the 193 ICAO member countries. Current statistics suggest the situation has worsened since then. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/33546 Boeing shows feds its plan to fix aircraft safety 4 months after midair blowout Boeing told federal regulators Thursday how it plans to fix the safety and quality problems that have plagued its aircraft-manufacturing work in recent years. The Federal Aviation Administration required the company to produce a turnaround plan after one of its jetliners suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. "Today, we reviewed Boeing's roadmap to set a new standard of safety and underscored that they must follow through on corrective actions and effectively transform their safety culture," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said after he met with senior company leaders. ""On the FAA's part, we will make sure they do and that their fixes are effective. This does not mark the end of our increased oversight of Boeing and its suppliers, but it sets a new standard of how Boeing does business," he added Nobody was hurt during the midair incident on relatively new Boeing 737 Max 9. Accident investigators determined that bolts that helped secure the panel to the frame of the plane were missing before the piece blew off. The mishap has further battered Boeing's reputation and led to multiple civil and criminal investigations. Accusations of safety shortcuts Whistleblowers have accused the company of taking shortcuts that endanger passengers, a claim that Boeing disputes. A panel convened by the FAA found shortcomings in the aircraft maker's safety culture. In late February, Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to improve quality and ease the agency's safety concerns. Whistleblower at key Boeing supplier dies after sudden illness Boeing whistleblower John Barnett died by suicide, police investigation concludes The FAA limited Boeing production of the 737 Max, its best-selling plane, after the close call involving the Alaska Airlines jetliner. Whitaker said the cap will remain in place until his agency is satisfied Boeing is making progress. Over the last three months, the FAA conducted 30- and 60-day check-ins with Boeing officials, according to a statement from the agency. The purpose of the check-ins was to ensure Boeing had a clear understanding of regulators' expectations and that it was fulfilling mid- and long-term actions they set forth by the FAA. These actions include: • Strengthening its Safety Management System, including employee safety reporting • Simplifying processes and procedures and clarifying work instructions • Enhanced supplier oversight • Enhanced employee training and communication • Increased internal audits of production system • Potential criminal charges Boeing's recent problems could expose it to criminal prosecution related to the deadly crashes of two Max jetliners in 2018 and 2019. The Justice Department said two weeks ago that Boeing violated terms of a 2021 settlement that allowed it to avoid prosecution for fraud. The charge was based on the company allegedly deceiving regulators about a flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes. Most of the recent problems have been related to the Max, however Boeing and key supplier Spirit AeroSystems have also struggled with manufacturing flaws on a larger plane, the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has suffered setbacks on other programs including its Starliner space capsule, a military refueling tanker, and new Air Force One presidential jets. Boeing officials have vowed to regain the trust of regulators and the flying public. Boeing has fallen behind rival Airbus, and production setbacks have hurt the company's ability to generate cash. The company says it is reducing "traveled work" — assembly tasks that are done out of their proper chronological order — and keeping closer tabs on Spirit AeroSystems. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boeing-plan-fix-aircraft-safety-quality-problems/ Aircraft shortages turn into cash bonanza for some airlines CHICAGO, May 31 (Reuters) - Aircraft shortages are turning into a moneymaker for some airlines as the dearth of supply allows carriers to sell new planes to leasing companies at much higher prices than they paid. Carriers such as Denver-based Frontier Airlines (ULCC.O), opens new tab and Hungary's Wizz Air (WIZZ.L), opens new tab have reported gains up to hundreds of millions of dollars through selling planes after taking delivery and renting them back for their own use. These sale-and-leaseback transactions have long been a way for airlines globally to generate liquidity and ease the strain on their balance sheets. The tight airliner market has made these deals far more attractive, with U.S. airlines this year accounting for 24% of global sale-and-leaseback transactions, up from 10% in 2022, according to Cirium Ascend Consultancy. Passenger carriers will receive 19% fewer aircraft this year than expected because of production issues at Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab and Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab, according to AeroDynamic Advisory. In addition, roughly 350 Airbus A320neo jets are expected to be grounded between 2024 and 2026 to deal with a flaw with RTX's (RTX.N), opens new tab Pratt & Whitney engines. As a result, new aircraft prices are 20% higher than the pre-pandemic period, said John Heimlich, chief economist at Airlines for America (A4A), an industry group that represents major U.S. carriers. Frontier this month reported a gain of $71 million in the first quarter from these deals, up 78% from last year. It will likely see similar gains in the current quarter, said Rob Morris, head of global consultancy at Cirium. Wizz Air booked a gain of about 245 million euros ($266.5 million) in its most recent financial year, up about 146%. Morris described the sale-and-leaseback market as "very competitive" where pricing power sits with the selling party. Some carriers are also benefiting more than others by getting the timing of orders right. Frontier, for example, placed a big order in 2021 when inflation was relatively lower and air travel demand had not recovered. U.S. airlines such as Delta (DAL.N), opens new tab, American (AAL.O), opens new tab and United (UAL.O), opens new tab have also done deals, but not as often as Frontier. The discount carrier has more than 200 new Airbus planes on order for deliveries through 2029. Frontier said this month while it is getting the planes from Airbus at a "material discount to the market," it is selling them to lessors at a much higher price. That bit of financial engineering allowed the ultra-low-cost carrier to nearly break even in the first quarter, worrying some analysts who said the airline's business appears to have become more reliant on these deals than flying passengers. "We remain concerned that outsized sale-leaseback gains are increasingly core to Frontier's profitability," said JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker. But Frontier sees its aircraft order book as a "major asset" in a supply-constrained market as production challenges at planemakers are expected to persist. "It's a core part of the business, the cash is real," CEO Barry Biffle told investors this month. Lessors share that view. Aengus Kelly, CEO of aircraft leasing giant AerCap (AER.N), opens new tab this month predicted that tightness in global jet markets will last through the rest of the decade. LEASE PRICES SURGE Surging prices for new aircraft also mean soaring rents. Airlines are spending 30% more on aircraft leases than before the pandemic, A4A's Heimlich estimated. The lease rate for an Airbus A321neo has hit $455,000 per month, Cirium data shows, up 30% since 2020. Airlines are not only required to pay monthly rents for the duration of their lease contracts, but also maintenance compensation and a security deposit. Delays in aircraft deliveries can also leave airlines in a spot, especially those dependent on these deals to generate cash and manage their expenses, said Courtney Miller, founder of consultancy firm Visual Approach Analytics. Brazilian airline Gol (GOLL4.SA), opens new tab, which filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this year, struggled to manage high leasing and interest expenses after Boeing failed to deliver planes at a rate that could fund its operations. Frontier's situation is not as dire, but it has reported profit in just one of the last five quarters. "The delivery treadmill has to keep running to fund the airline," Miller said. "What happens when the deliveries can't keep up?" ($1 = 0.9195 euro) https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/aircraft-shortages-turn-into-cash-bonanza-some-airlines-2024-05-31/ Northern Air Cargo to discharge 18 pilots on Hawaii route Airline operates 767 freighter for Aloha Air Cargo An Aloha Air Cargo 767 cargo jet takes off from Los Angeles International Airport. Friday is the last day Aloha will operate a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. (Photo: Shutterstock/Michael Gordon) Northern Air Cargo will furlough 18 pilots as a result of its recent decision to close down the route between Los Angeles and Honolulu operated on behalf of sister airline Aloha Air Cargo, according to a company official. FreightWaves reported three weeks ago that Aloha Air Cargo would stop the freighter service from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Hawaii’s capital, effective June 1, because of weak demand on a highly competitive traffic lane. Northern Air Cargo (NAC) and Aloha Air Cargo are subsidiaries of Saltchuk Resources, a diversified freight transportation, logistics and energy distribution holding company based in Seattle. Saltchuk’s leasing subsidiary, NAS Aircraft Leasing Co. LLC, recently acquired two Boeing 767-300 aircraft after they were retrofitted as cargo aircraft. NAS parked them because of the slow freight business in key markets where affiliated airlines are located. April Spurlock, director of marketing and communications for Saltchuk Aviation, said Northern Air Cargo will put 18 pilots with less seniority on unpaid leaves of absence at the end of the week because of the LAX lane closure. Aloha Air Cargo continues to transport freight and mail among the Hawaiian Islands using five Boeing 737-300 converted freighters and one 737-400. Northern Air Cargo’s primary service area is Alaska. Saltchuk Aviation also includes Miami-based StratAir, an air logistics provider that charters capacity from NAC. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/northern-air-cargo-to-discharge-18-pilots-on-hawaii-route Alaska Airlines invests in new world-class training facility to support flight attendants, pilots and more The Longacres facility in Renton, Wash. was purchased from Unico Properties and will open in 2025 A new future for Alaska Airlines’ employees and their careers begins today with the purchase of a facility that will become home to the airline’s world-class training programs. The new training hub will enhance the training experience for flight attendants, pilots, customer service agents and more, as well as centralize operations into one facility. Conceptual rendering of the new training facility. Credit: NBBJ Our remarkable operations team members will, for the first time in our history, all come together and train under one roof,” said Constance von Muehlen, chief operating officer at Alaska Airlines. “We’re excited to build on Alaska Airlines’ culture of safety, performance and care in this purposefully-designed space worthy of our frontline team’s contributions to every guest and every flight.” New world-class training facility Alaska already houses nine full-motion flight simulators in the facility and has plans to add a tenth in the next few years. In addition to simulators, the new space will include a mock aircraft for inflight simulations, classrooms, an auditorium, a production studio and significant office space. The property is part of Longacres, which Unico Properties purchased from Boeing in December 2021 and which housed Boeing Commercial Airplane HQ in prior years. Located at 1901 Oakesdale Ave. S.W., Longacres is a 173-acre campus that is being planned for a vibrant, diversified, mixed-use campus that includes an Arts and Entertainment District, miles of walking and jogging trails, ponds and scenic wetlands, and direct access to the Renton/Tukwila Sound Transit Station. Alaska Airlines has purchased the 19-acre property from Unico Properties for $85.75 million, which includes the 600,000-square-foot facility that Boeing purposefully built to house an aviation training facility. Alaska plans to invest an additional $100 million to renovate the space. “This major commitment by Alaska alongside the significant investment made by the Sounders in opening its new training facility earlier this year, has created significant momentum for the mixed-use campus. Given these events, Renton is a bright spot in the region and we’re excited to build upon these announcements to bring other beloved Northwest brands to our exciting new community,” said Liz Thorson, Unico Properties Director, Market Leader. “We’re pleased to have secured in excess of 670,000 square feet of occupancy since acquiring the property in a difficult office environment throughout the country.” We’re thrilled to invest in our Puget Sound home,” said Shane Jones, senior vice president of fleet, revenue products and real estate at Alaska Airlines. “The growth opportunity this purchase provides us cannot be overstated, and it really feels like a perfect match. Having access to a facility that was purpose built for aviation training that we then get to customize was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. As Longacres continues to be built out, our employees will have access to amenities that will truly make this a world class training experience.” Conceptual rendering of the new training facility. Credit: NBBJ While pilots already train on the campus using the existing simulators, other employee groups will begin moving into the facility following renovations towards the end of 2025. “It is great to see this special 173-acre campus come to life with the opening of the Sounders FC practice facility and now the thousands of Alaska Airlines employees that will frequent the site,” said Ned Carner, Founder Wing Point Partners who worked with Unico to facilitate the sale. “We are one step closer to achieving our goal of an active campus that seamlessly brings the community to work, live, and recreate together.” https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/alaska-airlines-invests-in-new-world-class-training-facility-to-support-flight-attendants-pilots-and-more/ CALENDAR OF EVENTS • Blazetech - Aircraft Fire Hazards, Protection, and Investigation Course June 4 - 7, 2024 • (APTSC) Asia and Pacific Turboprop Safety Conference - June 26 - 27, 2024 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Airborne Public Safety Association, Inc. (APSCON 2024) - July 29 - August 3; Houston TX • Asia Pacific Summit for Aviation Safety (AP-SAS 2024), Aug. 13-15, Beijing, China. • Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium - APATS 2024, 0-11 September, 2024, Singapore • Aircraft Cabin Air International Conference - 17 & 18 September - London • 2024 Ground Handling Safety Symposium (GHSS) - September 17-18, 2024 - Fort Worth, TX • 2024 ISASI - Lisbon, Portugal - September 30 to October 4, 2024 • International Congress of Aerospace Medicine ICAM 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal, 3 - 5 October 2024 • Aviation Health Conference back on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th October 2024 • 2024 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition - Oct. 22-24 (Vegas) • Sixth Edition of International Accident Investigation Forum, 21 to 23 May 2025, Singapore Curt Lewis