Flight Safety Information - July 26, 2024 No. 149 In This Issue : Incident: Lufthansa A320 at Munich on Jul 25th 2024, nose gear rotated 90 degrees during roll out : Incident: Transat A321 near Washington on Jul 14th 2024, loss of cabin pressure : Multiple crew failures and wind shear led to January crash of B-1 bomber, Air Force says : Nepal just suffered another fatal plane crash. Its aviation safety record is so poor that all its airlines are banned from flying to most of Europe. : United Airlines flights make emergency landings in Ketchikan : FedEx to cut domestic flight activity by 60% : flynas signs agreement for additional 75 A320neo Family aircraft and 15 A330neo : Boeing restarts jet deliveries to China : Boeing, NASA may have found ‘root cause’ of Starliner spacecraft’s issues, but astronauts are still in limbo : Calendar of Events Incident: Lufthansa A320 at Munich on Jul 25th 2024, nose gear rotated 90 degrees during roll out A Lufthansa Airbus A320-200, registration D-AIUJ performing flight LH-2263 from Marseille (France) to Munich (Germany), touched down on Munich's runway 26R. During roll out the nose gear rotated 90 degrees to the right at low speed disabling the aircraft on the runway. The aircraft skidded about 20 meters with the nose gear rotated before it came to a stop. The runway was closed for about 2 hours until the aircraft could be towed to the apron. The aircraft is still on the ground in Munich about 18 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=51b9a5c2&opt=0 Incident: Transat A321 near Washington on Jul 14th 2024, loss of cabin pressure An Air Transat Airbus A321-200, registration C-GEXB performing flight TS-715 from Santa Clara (Cuba) to Montreal,QC (Canada) with 200 people on board, was enroute at FL350 about 200nm south of Washington,DC (USA) when the crew initiated an emergency descent to 10,000 feet levelling off at 10,000 feet about 6 minutes later (average rate of descent 4166 fpm) due to the loss of cabin pressure. The passenger oxygen masks were not released, the flight crew did not don their oxygen masks. The aircraft subsequently diverted to Washington Dulles Airport for a safe landing about 50 minutes after leaving FL350. The Canadian TSB reported: "After take-off the FCM selected the Packs ON, after a few seconds the crew got an ECAM message AIR PACK 2 Fault. The crew actioned the ECAM and tried to put the pack back on, but the same ECAM reappeared a few minutes later therefore the crew left Pack #2 OFF. In cruise, about 100 NM east-southeast of Raleigh-Durham International Airport (KRDU), NC, during a routine fuel check, the crew verified the PRESS page and noticed that the cabin altitude was high, about 7500 feet and that the cabin was climbing at around 100 feet/min. The crew requested lower, but ATC had to give them vectors to descend the flight. In the meantime, the ADV appeared on the ECAM, and the crew noticed that the inlet, extract and outflow valves were closed. The cabin altitude was now passed 9000 feet therefore the crew commenced an emergency descent while declaring a MAYDAY with Washington ATC. The oxygen masks were not donned by the flight crew members nor deployed in the cabin as the cabin altitude never passed 9300 feet. Once at 10 000 feet ASL the cabin pressurization system was recovered, and the situation downgraded to a PAN PAN. The flight diverted to Dulles International Airport (KIAD), VA." The aircraft remained on the ground for about 36 hours before positioning to Toronto,ON (Canada) and resuming service. https://avherald.com/h?article=51b9473a&opt=0 Multiple crew failures and wind shear led to January crash of B-1 bomber, Air Force says WASHINGTON (AP) — A fiery January crash of a B-1 bomber in South Dakota was caused by multiple crew failures, terrible winter weather and a last-minute brush with wind shear that resulted in all four members ejecting and the total loss of the $450 million warplane, Air Force Global Strike Command said Thursday. The command’s report was unusually blunt in describing what the investigation uncovered about the crews involved in the evening crash at Ellsworth Air Force Base. The investigators said the crash exposed an “organizational culture that tolerated decaying airmanship skills, a lack of discipline, poor communication, and inadequate focus on regulations." The report is what is used to inform Air Force decisions on disciplinary action, so it is not yet clear whether any of the crew or their leaders will be disciplined as a result of the crash. The B-1 is one of three long-range U.S. bombers. The supersonic aircraft carries conventional weapons and is capable of taking off from the U.S. to strike targets overseas in a single mission. The aging warplane is being maintained by the Air Force until the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber comes online. On the night of the accident, the B-1 was the second of two bombers on a training flight that were about to land in quickly deteriorating winter weather. While both bombers came in too low for the weather they were facing, the first was able to correct its speed and altitude to land in visibility so poor the control tower could see neither the bomber nor its taxi lights once it landed. The second bomber also came in too low, but inside the cockpit, the crew was not doing what was required — relaying specific communications to one another and taking responsibility to monitor and cross-check the aircraft's instrument readings to ensure they maintained the needed speed, altitude and descent. In the final 55 seconds of flight, the bomber encountered wind shear, and the pilot's reactions resulted in the aircraft losing too much power. But neither the pilot nor a supervisory instructor pilot caught that in time, because they were looking outside the aircraft instead of monitoring their instruments, and the required communications that might have caught the error did not occur. Another crew member responsible for assisting with cross-checking testified they were reading a post-landing checklist instead of backstopping the instruments, the investigators found. The flight became unrecoverable. As the B-1 hit the ground short of the runway all four crew members successfully ejected. Almost every part of the flight exposed problems, even the ejection, the investigation found. While the scathing report has suggested there may be larger issues at Ellsworth to address, it also has raised questions on whether continued strain on personnel, resources and aircraft availability — an issue that military aviation overall is facing — played a role. Primarily, communication and supervision had eroded not only inside the crashed bomber, but also within its squadron and even from the control tower. A pre-flight squadron brief did not include a key advisory that required the crews to approach at a higher altitude, given the lost visibility, and investigators found that none of the eight aviators aboard the two bombers knew the Air Force's instructions for the cold weather they were flying in. There was a “willful disregard” for the equipment each crew member was required to wear, a lack of which was found possibly to have added to the injuries they received from ejecting. After the crash, two members of the maintenance crew failed toxicology tests. And while each crew member survived, the instructor pilot was injured during the ejection likely because he weighed at least the maximum of 245 pounds that the ejection seat could support. A few days after the crash he weighed in at 260 pounds, among many other discrepancies, the report found. On the airfield, communications were also broken down. A key sensor on their runway that could have told the crews how bad visibility was had been malfunctioning for months, and while air traffic control knew it was broken, the squadron did not. At the time of the crash the control tower knew on-the-ground visibility was zero but did not communicate that to anyone, and neither did the first bomber. Even as the first of the two bombers flying that evening landed, it did not relay information back to the second aircraft that the visibility conditions were “minnest of mins,” the report found. But ultimately, the second bomber crashed as a result of the crew having “succumbed to complacency and fixation, while the (instructor pilot) was ineffective in his crew leadership and instructor supervision duties,” the investigators found. There are about 45 B-1 bombers still flying, split between Ellsworth and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. After the crash Ellsworth’s remaining bombers and their crews were temporarily relocated to Dyess for operation and training. Charles Hoffman, a spokesman for Global Strike Command, said it was notable that just a month after the crash and relocating, Ellsworth’s B-1s were able to regroup and were responsible for the successful retaliatory strikes on 85 Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Syria in response to an attack on U.S. forces that killed three service members. “They traveled over 30 hours non-stop, round trip, delivered the strike package, and returned to Dyess,” Hoffman said. Prior to the accident, the flying hours and personnel at Ellsworth were stretched thin to maximize resources for operating the B-1 squadrons at Dyess, which may also have contributed to the accident. Some crew members didn't get to fly nearly the number of hours per month needed to remain proficient. The report revealed the instructor pilot had flown just 5.6 hours in the B-1 in the 60 days prior to the crash. Many mid-level leadership posts responsible for supervision and for ensuring critical flight information was disseminated were left unstaffed, “severing the connective tissue” across the squadron and overwhelming the officers who were left to complete those leftover tasks. As a result, many tasks were pushed down to more junior aviators. At the time of the mishap the 34th Bomb Squadron director of operations “testified that he elected to focus on administrative office work,” despite the worsening weather and knowing he had a junior non-instructor pilot serving as the flight supervisor. The breakdowns “all speak to culture and leadership issues,” the investigation found. https://www.yahoo.com/news/multiple-crew-failures-wind-shear-160235237.html Nepal just suffered another fatal plane crash. Its aviation safety record is so poor that all its airlines are banned from flying to most of Europe. Kathmandu's challenging weather and high altitude make it a difficult place to fly, an expert told BI. 18 people have died after a small passenger airplane crashed during takeoff in Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu. The plane's captain is the only remaining survivor of the 19 onboard, including two crew members and 17 technicians of the airline, who were traveling to Pokhara, reportedly for aircraft maintenance. The Saurya Airlines flight skidded off the runway at approximately 11.15 a.m. local time, according to The Kathmandu Post. All 18 bodies have been recovered from the crash site at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal. The pilot, Captain Manish Ratna Shkya, was rescued and is being treated for injuries at Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital. The search and rescue coordination of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a recently released statement that the plane "veered off to the right and crashed on the east side of the runway." "Rescue operations were initiated immediately," it said. "The fire was brought under control," the statement added. Nepal has a poor aviation safety record and is often regarded as one of the most dangerous countries for air travel. All Nepali air carriers are banned from entering the airspace of any European Union country, per the EU Air Safety List. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency bans airlines from operating in the EU for "failure to adhere to the applicable international safety standards." Professor Ron Bartch, chairman and founding director of aviation consultancy firm AvLaw, told Business Insider that one reason for its poor safety record is that the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal is "not a terribly well-resourced safety regulator." Nepal's mountainous terrain, unpredictable weather, and remote runways have contributed to the country's reputation as one of the most difficult places to fly. Kathmandu's high altitude makes for a "challenging operating environment," Bartch added, noting that this means a greater distance and an accelerated approach speed are required for takeoff and landing as the air is less dense than at sea level. He also said Nepal's monsoonal conditions affect the country's aviation safety. The deadliest plane crash in Nepal in three decades occurred in January 2023, when at least 72 people were killed after a Yeti Airlines flight went down near Pokhara, which government investigators later attributed to the aircraft's pilots accidentally cutting off the power. In 1992, all 167 passengers on board a Pakistan International Airlines flight to Kathmandu died when the Airbus crashed on approach to the airport. Since 2000, more than 350 people have died in Nepal in 19 air crashes. https://www.businessinsider.com/nepal-plane-crash-all-airlines-banned-in-most-europe-2024-7 United Airlines flights make emergency landings in Ketchikan A United Airlines flight bound for Fairbanks made an emergency landing in Ketchikan on Saturday — and was soon followed by another United plane. Flight 1850 left Denver at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening. United Airlines said that while in the air, a passenger experienced a medical issue. That’s when the plane was diverted to the Ketchikan International Airport. United Airlines doesn’t normally fly in or out of Ketchikan, so many residents took to social media to share their surprise at seeing the plane coming in for landing. Ketchikan Fire Chief Rick Hines said the 62-year-old male was having chest pains, but was in stable condition by the time the city’s fire department transported him to the local hospital. Hines said airlines are typically well-equipped with medication, but they obviously can’t provide more advanced treatments. “I think it was a good sound decision to get on the ground, get him to a place where if he was having a heart attack, the hospital could open up those arteries,” said Hines. A few hours after the diverted plane landed, a second United Airlines plane arrived. Scott Hildebrandt works as a firefighter and technician on the airport runway, and he said the original plane needed more oxygen to finish its trip to Fairbanks. “We tried to find if anybody in town had some at the time, and nobody had the right size. They had a ferry flight, which is just an empty plane, going down to Houston from Anchorage. And they stopped in here, dropped off the oxygen bottles that they had picked up for them,” Hildebrandt said of the second United plane. Hildebrandt said both planes were off to their destinations by about 2 a.m. Sunday. He said flights are occasionally diverted to Ketchikan for various reasons, like weather or medical emergencies. https://alaskapublic.org/2024/07/24/united-airlines-flights-make-emergency-landings-in-ketchikan/ FedEx to cut domestic flight activity by 60% FedEx Corp. plans to significantly slash daily flights and the number of U.S. cities served by air during the daytime when its air cargo contract with the U.S. Postal Service expires on Sept. 29, resulting in significant pay cuts for pilots, senior managers informed crews this week. Shedding daytime flying capacity in response to the lost postal business is part of a broader FedEx (NYSE: FDX) initiative to boost corporate profits that includes restructuring airline operations to align with lower parcel demand and improve efficiency. The parcel logistics giant will reduce daytime domestic flying time by 60% and the number of city destinations by 55%, which will add about 500 pilots to the existing surplus, said Justin Brownlee, senior vice president for flight operations and network planning, in a letter to airline workers obtained by FreightWaves. No pilots will be hired for the foreseeable future, he added. The company now has 1,200 more pilots than needed. Company officials have previously acknowledged there were 700 excess pilots out of 5,800 on the payroll. With a 21% redundant workforce, remaining flight hours will be divided up among the entire cohort, resulting in a “significant” reduction in the minimum number of flight hours guaranteed to pilots starting in October, Brownlee told the flight team. Pilots have made substantially less money the past year because they share a smaller pool of flying assignments and FedEx is allowed to go below minimum guaranteed flight hours – hours that are paid whether a pilot flies or not – when flight activity falls below certain thresholds. No progress has been made on a new labor contract since June 2023, when members of the pilots’ union rejected a tentative contract. Officials have privately suggested that the company would offer early retirement plans to hundreds of pilots once a new contract is ratified. The Postal Service in early April selected UPS (NYSE: UPS), instead of incumbent FedEx, as its air cargo carrier for the next 5 1/2 years. The last day FedEx will provide service to the Postal Service is Sept. 29, but the company has already been scaling back flights as the agency transitions volumes to UPS. FedEx recently said losing the Postal Service business will drag down operating income by $500 million in the current fiscal year. Lower postal volumes left FedEx with surplus equipment for its daytime air network and higher operating costs per unit. Management previously said the Postal Service contract wasn’t making money. Postal revenue in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022, fell $236 million to $1.9 billion and was expected to continue decreasing. The contract previously generated annual revenue of at least $2 billion. Equity research analysts argued that FedEx’s airline was much bigger than necessary, partly because of commitments to fly postal shipments during the daytime in addition to its overnight express operation. FedEx officers earlier this year said expiration of the Postal Service contract gives them more flexibility to reorganize the air network because aircraft won’t be dedicated to a single customer. Pat DiMento, vice president flight operations and training, provided pilots more details about the network changes in a follow-up memo, also shared with FreightWaves. The route map in October will go from 75 to 28 cities served – a 63% reduction versus the 55% mentioned by Brownlee, with daily flight trips in an average week falling nearly two-thirds. Cities losing daytime service include Atlanta; Austin, Texas; and Baltimore. Weekly flight hours will tumble from 2,045 to 1,203 (down 60%). Airbus A300 freighters, for example, will experience an 81% reduction in weekly daytime flight legs while Boeing 767 trips will be cut 70%, going from nearly 700 to 209 per week. Executives stressed that the tentative October schedule was released now to give flight operations personnel pertinent information as early as possible, but that adjustments could still be made. “The above plan will likely change as we settle into the new system form and other business opportunities develop. Our company is rapidly moving towards the network efficiencies that will ensure we remain the leader in the incredibly competitive cargo and logistics industry. We appreciate the significant impact these changes will have on your schedules and value your commitment to FedEx as we navigate these changes together,” DiMento wrote. Despite the reduced daytime flying, FedEx expects to maintain fleet size at current levels because the number of aircraft is primarily dictated by the priority overnight network and the company is working to attract other cargo business, Brownlee said. “In preparation for the conclusion of our air freight contract with the United States Postal Service, we have begun implementing adjustments to network operations that support postal volume. These adjustments include a reduction in daytime flight hours,” said Caitlin Adams Maier, FedEx’s director of public affairs, in a statement to FreightWaves. “As we transform our network and operations for the future, we remain committed to delivering world-class service to our customers around the world while providing outstanding service to the USPS through the contract’s completion in September.” Fleet plan The airline’s mainline fleet has shrunk from 417 aircraft in fiscal year 2022 to 389 as more aircraft are put out of service than are being added to modernize the fleet. FedEx last quarter permanently retired 22 Boeing 757-200 freighter aircraft as part of the downsizing effort. The older 757s were expendable because they are less fuel-efficient than other planes operated by FedEx, which still has 92 of the narrowbody freighters in the fleet. The company also retired nine MD-11s in the fiscal year ending May 31 and plans to phase out the tri-engine aircraft by mid-2028, subject to changes in customer demand. FedEx last year received 14 freighter aircraft from Boeing (four 777s and 10 767-300s medium widebodies). The company is scheduled to take delivery of two factory-built 777 freighters in the next 12 months and 14 B767s over the next two years, according to its latest statistics. Meanwhile, as part of the new effort to consolidate the Express and Ground networks into one integrated system, FedEx in late January began repainting mainline cargo jets to present a unified brand, said Brownlee. That means aircraft will no longer show Express markings. The new paint scheme, which features a larger logo and different positioning to reflect a more modern look, has been applied to 18 freighters so far. Tricolor drive FedEx is now implementing its Tricolor strategy for streamlining its global air network with the goal of segregating the fleet according to various product categories and demand. Brownlee said new flights are being added to the Orange network to accommodate nonparcel cargo growth. The so-called Purple network is geared toward international customers willing to pay the most for the fastest speeds using dedicated aircraft that are well timed to go overnight into FedEx hubs for next-day delivery. Fewer large freight shipments will be mixed in to maximize density on aircraft and sorting efficiency, executives explained in the spring. Orange-designated flights will operate during the daytime and focus on priority international freight. Management describes this deferred air network as an extension of its European and U.S. less-than-truckload networks, designed to attract high-yield freight, such as pharmaceuticals, perishables, electronics and automotive components, that is more profitable per pound than heavier, general consignments. FedEx says it will mix in deferred parcels to fill out the aircraft. The White network will handle e-commerce and other low-priority shipments, much of it processed through the company’s freight forwarding arm, FedEx Trade Networks. Those loads will utilize the belly space of commercial passenger aircraft operating between major international gateways that can be integrated into the FedEx Ground network in the U.S. Starting in September and October, FedEx will add a Boeing 777 route between Liege, Belgium, and its regional hub in Oakland, California; a route connecting Miami, Guatemala City and San Pedro Sula, Honduras, operated with a Boeing 757 freighter; and a Miami-Buenos Aires-Santiago, Chile-Quito, Ecuador-Miami route with a Boeing 767, according to Brownlee’s letter. In addition to those routes, the logistics integrator is expanding the Orange network in the Asia, Middle East and Africa operating out of a hub in Guangzhou, China. FedEx in early June also launched an MD-11 route from Guangzhou to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, with stops in Tokyo and Anchorage, Alaska, and bypassing the global hub in Memphis, Tennessee. “This route provides parcel and freight growth opportunities by directly connecting the East Coast and Asian markets while improving service levels by removing unnecessary touch points in our U.S. domestic network, which prevents more congestion” in Memphis, said Brownlee. He also disclosed that FedEx launched an intra-China flight between Guangzhou and Beijing utilizing a Boeing 737 freighter operated five times per week by Tianjin Air Cargo. As a foreign airline, FedEx does not have regulatory authority to operate the flight itself. Brownlee said the flight strengthens FedEx’s position in the China market and “provides freight growth opportunities by feeding additional volume into the global international air network” without displacing any company aircraft. Tricolor is part of a comprehensive restructuring program launched two years ago to strengthen profits after the pandemic surge wore off, specifically aimed at reducing redundant infrastructure and associated costs. The Drive initiative to take out $4 billion in structural costs by mid-2025, coupled with pickup and delivery efficiencies from a new consolidation of separate operating companies into one organization, has helped achieve four consecutive quarters of operating income and margin expansion despite revenue declines. FedEx’s adjusted operating profit increased 5.6% year over year to $1.9 billion last quarter on a 1% gain in revenue, underscoring the company’s progress in containing costs amid soft market conditions. It was the first time FedEx had year-over-year revenue growth after six quarters of declines. The company achieved $1.8 billion in structural savings last year and is targeting an additional $2.2 billion in savings from its transformation program in fiscal year 2025. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fedex-cut-domestic-flight-activity-110000479.html flynas signs agreement for additional 75 A320neo Family aircraft and 15 A330neo Farnborough, United Kingdom, July 25, 2024 – flynas, Saudi Arabia’s leading low-cost carrier, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus for 75 A320neo family aircraft and 15 A330-900. This strategic agreement will expand the airline's capacity, range and enhance its overall fleet capabilities. Signed during Farnborough International Airshow in the presence of President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia, H.E. Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duailej, Chairman of the Board of NAS Holding Ayed Al Jeaid, flynas Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director Bandar Almohanna, and Airbus Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Aircraft, Christian Scherer. The new aircraft will join the carrier’s all Airbus fleet serving international, domestic and regional routes. The new A330-900 aircraft will boast a two-class configuration, accommodating up to 400 passengers. "We are excited to further strengthen our long-standing partnership with Airbus," said Bander Almohanna, CEO and Managing Director of flynas. "The A320neo Family provides exceptional operational performance and environmental benefits, allowing us to offer unique, low-cost travel experiences. Additionally, the A330neowill enhance our long-haul capabilities with its advanced technology and efficiency while supporting our growth plans and Saudi Arabia’s pilgrim program." Airbus Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Aircraft, Christian Scherer said, "We are delighted to expand our partnership with flynas through this significant milestone for both A320neo and A330-900 aircraft. The A330neo will allow flynas to further grow into widebody markets by building on the A320, benefiting from Airbus’ unique commonality. Both aircraft types offer flynas the perfect versatility and economics to expand into new markets while offering their passengers the latest cabin experience and comfort. We look forward to continuing our successful collaboration with flynas as they embark on this exciting new chapter." The addition of the A330-900 aircraft will support flynas' ambitious growth plans. The airline anticipates significant operational efficiency gains by combining the new widebody aircraft with its existing A320neo fleet. The A330-900 offers increased capacity and range at unrivalled seat costs, ensuring flynas can compete effectively in the growing regional market, a key focus area for the airline. The A330neo delivers unbeatable operating economics, powered by the latest-generation Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, featuring new wings and a range of aerodynamic innovations resulting in a 25 percent reduction in fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions compared to previous generation competitor aircraft. The A330neo is capable of flying 8,150 nm / 15,094 km non-stop, providing ultimate comfort with more passenger space, a new lighting system, latest in-flight entertainment systems and full connectivity throughout the cabin. As with all Airbus aircraft, the A330 family is already able to operate with up to 50% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The manufacturer is targeting to have its aircraft up to 100% SAF capable by 2030. https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-07-flynas-signs-agreement-for-additional-75-a320neo-family-aircraft Boeing restarts jet deliveries to China In a busy week for Boeing, the aircraft maker has resumed delivery of 737 MAX aircraft to Chinese airlines, picked up some large orders and reached a guilty-plea deal on a criminal conspiracy charge regarding two fatal crashes of its 737 MAX jet. Boeing handed over a 737 MAX 8 to Xiamen Airlines on July 20 from Zhoushan Putuoshan Airport, where Boeing's 737 completion and delivery center is located, according to Simple Flying, an online aviation news outlet. Soon after, Boeing delivered another 737 MAX 8 to Hainan Airlines. Boeing's deliveries to China had been temporarily suspended since April due to a regulatory review of the 25-hour cockpit voice recorder (CVR) batteries. Boeing's deliveries to China have been intermittent since 2019, in part due to two fatal crashes of MAX jets that killed 348 people, and also from rising tensions over issues ranging from trade, technology to national security between the U.S. and China. Simple Fly reported that 80 737 MAXs assigned to Chinese airlines haven't been delivered, with aircraft ages varying from 1 to more than 5 years. Overall, about 200 fully or mostly finished airplanes are parked in airfields, outside plants or other locations, awaiting parts such as interiors or engines. Boeing has been experiencing problems with plane delivery since the two MAX crashes, and recently slowed production again due to regulatory and safety scrutiny after the door panel of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines blew off midair in January. Boeing's statement on second-quarter deliveries showed that the company has delivered 175 planes in the first half of 2024, a big reduction compared to 266 from the first half of 2023. Despite all the issues, Boeing picked up large orders at the Farnborough International Air show outside London, which concludes Friday. Korean Air said it would purchase up to 50 Boeing wide-body planes. The agreement calls for the airline to receive 20 777Xs and 20 787 Dreamliners, with an option to buy 10 more Dreamliners. In another agreement, with Japan Air, Boeing will deliver up to 20 additional 787 Dreamliners, including 10 787-9s, with options for 10 more. Qatar Airways also signed an agreement to purchase an additional 20 Boeing 777X aircraft, bringing the airline's commitment to the twin-aisle plane with folding wings to 94, including both passenger and freighter variants. Boeing also received a significant order of 20 737 MAX 8 narrow-body planes from Macquarie AirFinance. Overall, Boeing received orders for 118 planes at the air show, while Airbus received total orders of 85 planes as of Thursday. While Boeing is picking up pace in orders, it is still facing the aftermath of safety issues related to its MAX jets. A court filing submitted on Wednesday showed that Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government and would pay another $243.6 million in a penalty on top of the same amount previously paid by Boeing if the deal is approved. Based on the plea agreement reached earlier with the U.S. Justice Department in July, Boeing admitted that through its employees it made an agreement "by dishonest means" to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration that evaluated the 737 MAX. As a result of Boeing's deception, the FAA was given incomplete and inaccurate information about the plane's flight-control software and how much training pilots would need to operate it before the agency gave its approval. The court document says that the U.S. government won't charge Boeing with any other criminal offense related to the conduct. Boeing also will be put on a three-year organizational probation and "shall invest in its compliance, quality, and safety programs a total of at least $455 million". Boeing is also required to have its board meet with the families of crash victims. https://www.ecns.cn/business/2024-07-26/detail-iheeqeqx5897519.shtml Boeing, NASA may have found ‘root cause’ of Starliner spacecraft’s issues, but astronauts are still in limbo After weeks of troubleshooting and recent tests meant to replicate the issues plaguing Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, NASA and Boeing officials still aren’t ready to name a return date for the two astronauts piloting the vehicle on its inaugural crewed test flight. But engineers do finally have some possible answers about what ultimately caused some of the Starliner’s problems during the first leg of its trip, which included helium leaks and thrusters that abruptly quit working en route to the International Space Station. The revelations come after Boeing and NASA spent the past couple of weeks working to understand the problem on the ground and prompted plans for some additional testing this weekend, which should serve as “icing on the cake” for understanding the issues, said Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program manager. At a site in New Mexico, engineers fired test engines more than 1,000 times, replicating how the thrusters on the space-bound Starliner would have ignited. They then fired the thruster to try out several ways the engines might fire on the way home from space, according to Boeing. The goal of this testing was to gain a better understanding of why the spacecraft’s thrusters unexpectedly shut down, and what — if any — dangers are associated with turning those thrusters back on. Officials said they were able to recreate how the thrusters in space deteriorated during flight with the ground tests. And the testing may have helped give engineers a better understanding of the issue’s “root cause”: Heat building up inside the thrusters may be causing Teflon seals to bulge, restricting the flow of propellant. That testing has “given us additional confidence to undock in return,” Nappi said. The findings also prompted Boeing and NASA to abandon plans to allow the astronauts to manually fly the Starliner spacecraft on the way home, as they did briefly during the trip to the ISS. “Some of the manual maneuvering put some extra stress on the thrusters,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial crew program manager. Still, officials did not definitively say Thursday that the Starliner spacecraft that carried veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the space station would be the same vehicle that brought the astronauts back home. “There is a lot of good reasons to complete this mission and bring Butch and Suni home on Starliner,” Stich said after noting that NASA does have contingency options if Starliner is not approved to bring the astronauts home. “We need to get through the process,” he added. “We have another critical Starliner mission management team to review all the thruster data that we just talked about.” “Of course, I’m very confident we have a good vehicle to bring the crew back with,” Nappi said. Williams and Wilmore arrived at the International Space Station on June 6 for what was expected to be a roughly week-long mission. As of Thursday, the astronauts have been in space for about 50 days. NASA has previously indicated that the Starliner can stay in space for a maximum of 90 days. Additional Starliner testing Separately, engineers may have made headway understanding helium leaks that hampered the first leg of Starliner’s journey. But Boeing and NASA will take a close look at that issue again during additional testing of the vehicle in space that will continue this weekend, Stich said. That testing will include firing 27 of the Starliner’s thrusters while the vehicle remains docked with the ISS. Analysis of components on the ground — specifically, a version of the Starliner’s service module that’s been sitting in White Sands, New Mexico for three years — showed that the helium leaks may be a result of seals that have become degraded because of exposure to propellant vapor, according to Nappi. “The natural fix to that is to just change that seal out to a material that’s not so susceptible” to being worn down by exposure to the propellant, Nappi said, referring to possible changes Boeing can make for future Starliner missions. Still ahead, however, is work to determine whether the leaks on board the Starliner that’s already in space have grown worse as the vehicle has remained docked at the ISS. Because the service module — the portion of the spacecraft plagued by the helium leaks — on the ground was exposed to propellant for so long, Nappi said it could offer a worst case understanding of how badly the seals can be degraded. The ongoing effort to understand the helium leak issue is among the chief reasons why NASA and Boeing still aren’t able to set a return date for Williams and Wilmore — or give a definitive answer on whether the Starliner is ready to fly them home. “The key attributes of the flight rationale really are that we understand the helium leaks — we understand the stability of the leaks and how we can manage those, should they get bigger,” Stich said, referring to the possibility that helium leaks affecting the Starliner service module may worsen. NASA and Boeing plan to carry out a review to plan for Starliner’s undocking, which “could be as early as late next week,” according to Stich. https://www.yahoo.com/news/boeing-nasa-may-found-root-171807210.html CALENDAR OF EVENTS • Airborne Public Safety Association, Inc. (APSCON 2024) - July 29 - August 3; Houston TX • 2024 FAA Drone and AAM Symposium, July 30-August 1 | Baltimore, MD • 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 • DEFENCE AVIATION SAFETY 2024 - 2 OCTOBER - 3 OCTOBER 2024 - LONDON • 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 • Safeskies Australia Conference, Canberra Australia - 16th and 17th of October 2024 - www.safeskiesaustralia.org • 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