Flight Safety Information - December 10, 2024 No. 245 In This Issue : Incident: Republic E170 at Newark on Dec 4th 2024, smoke on board : Incident: Commut E145 at Houston on Dec 8th 2024, fumes in cockpit : 'Lack of oversight' among causes for fatal collision of WW2-era aircraft at Dallas air show : Man Tries To Hijack Plane Toward SoCal, Holds Flight Attendant Hostage : Rep. Burchett introduces Pilot Certificate Accessibility Act : Boeing restarts 737 MAX production a month after strike ended, sources say : Calendar of Events Incident: Republic E170 at Newark on Dec 4th 2024, smoke on board A Republic Airways Embraer ERJ-170, registration N642RW performing flight YX-3439 from Newark,NJ to Detroit,MI (USA), was climbing through FL180 out of Newark when the crew reported smoke on board and decided to return to Newark for a safe landing on runway 22L about 35 minutes after departure. The aircraft was evacuated via slides. The aircraft positioned to Windsor,ON (Canada) on Dec 8th 2024, and is on the ground in Windsor about 27 hours after landing in Windsor. The FAA reported: "Republic Airways Flight 3439 safely returned to Newark Liberty International Airport around 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Dec. 4, after the crew reported smoke on board. The Embraer E170 had departed for Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport." https://avherald.com/h?article=52159ec9&opt=0 Incident: Commut E145 at Houston on Dec 8th 2024, fumes in cockpit A CommutAir Embraer ERJ-145 on behalf of United, registration N11164 performing flight UA-4878 from Mobile,AL to Houston Intercontinental,TX (USA), was on approach to Houston when the crew reported fumes on the flight deck. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on runway 27 and vacated the runway. The aircraft is still on the ground in Houston about 25 hours after landing. https://avherald.com/h?article=52159cf3&opt=0 'Lack of oversight' among causes for fatal collision of WW2-era aircraft at Dallas air show Debris from a World War II-era B-17G "Flying Fortress" and a "P-63 "Kingcobra that collided during a Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas air show on Nov. 12, 2022. The National Transportation Safety Board's final report on the accident is scheduled to be released on Thursday. Lack of oversight and administrative risk controls were among the causes for the 2022 mid-air collision between two World War II-era military aircraft at a Dallas air show. That's according to a press release by the National Transportation Safety Board on Monday. The NTSB, which investigated aircraft crashes, also pointed to "inadequate prebriefing" prior to the Commemorative Air Force's Wings Over Dallas air show on Nov. 12, 2022. . During the show, a Boing B-17G "Flying Fortress" bomber and a Bell P63F "Kingcobra" collided in mid-air. Five occupants of the B17 died, as well as the pilot of the single-seat P-63. A synopsis of the NTSB's investigation into the accident found that the pilots of the two aircraft "had limited ability to see and avoid each other’s airplane due to flight path geometry, out-the-window view obscuration by aircraft structures, the attention demands associated with the air show performance, and the limitations of human performance that can make it difficult to see another aircraft." An "air boss" at the show was responsible for supervising the aircraft involved. The NTSB synopsis said he relied on "real-time, predictive assessment of airplane locations and the ability of the CAF pilots to see and avoid other airplanes." But the NTSB said that was ineffective because "the flight paths of the Boeing B-17G and the Bell P-63F converged as each pilot maneuvered to set up for the pass." The synopsis noted that air bosses "are not subject to any recurrent evaluations, and there are no standardized communications terms for air boss-provided directives to ensure the clarity and brevity of radio communications." It further stated that "the lack of guidance and required surveillance tasks for FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) inspectors assigned to air shows related to the direct observation of an air boss’s performance represents a missed opportunity for inspectors to detect and provide debriefing feedback to address performance-related safety issues." The NTSB said there was evidence that the FAA and the International Council of Air Shows Inc. (ICAS) "did not adequately address the need to better mitigate the collision risks associated with air boss-directed performances involving multiple, dissimilar aircraft." And the Commemorative Air Force's "lack of a strong, clearly defined safety risk assessment plan resulted in air show production decisions that were not systematically developed to determine acceptable levels of risk and were susceptible to influences unrelated to safety," according to the NTSB. The Commemorative Air Force is a nonprofit organization that preserves World Air II-era aircraft that can still fly, and shows them at air shows. The NTSB synopsis stated that the probable cause of the accident "was the air boss’s and air show event organizer’s lack of an adequate, prebriefed aircraft separation plan for the air show performance, relying instead on the air boss’s real-time deconfliction directives and the see-and-avoid strategy for collision avoidance, which allowed for the loss of separation between the Boeing B-17G and the Bell P-63F airplanes. It noted "diminished ability of the accident pilots to see and avoid the other aircraft due to flight path geometry, out-the-window view obscuration by aircraft structures, attention demands associated with the air show performance, and the inherent limitations of human performance that can make it difficult to see another aircraft." And it pointed to to a "lack of FAA guidance for air bosses and air show event organizers on developing plans and performing risk assessments that ensure the separation of aircraft that are not part of an approved maneuvers package and the lack of FAA requirements and guidance for recurrent evaluations of air bosses and direct surveillance of their performance." A final report on the accident is scheduled to be released on Thursday. https://www.keranews.org/news/2024-12-09/lack-of-oversight-among-causes-for-fatal-collision-of-b-17-p-63-wwii-2022-dallas-air-show-commemorative-air-force-ntsb Man Tries To Hijack Plane Toward SoCal, Holds Flight Attendant Hostage Claiming his life was in danger, a man held a pen to a flight attendant's neck and managed to crack the airplane's door midflight. SAN DIEGO, CA — A passenger on a Volaris flight bound for Tijuana attempted to hijack an airplane on Sunday, demanding that the aircraft keep going into San Diego, according to the airline. Volaris posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the flight was en route to Tijuana from El Bajío, Mexico that morning when a passenger attempted to divert the plane toward the U.S. "through the use of force," according to a translation of the post. After the man was subdued, the plane was diverted to Guadalajara Airport, where the man was arrested, the airline said. Mexico's Federal Civil Aviation Agency confirmed that the man was taken into custody after the emergency landing. The passenger was only identified as a 31-year-old Mexican national named Mario, according to multiple reports. All passengers and crew members arrived safely and later continued to Tijuana, Volaris said. "Volaris regrets the inconvenience caused by this situation. For Volaris, the safety of our passengers and crew is the highest priority," according to a translated statement from the airline. According to a witness on the airplane, the man was traveling with his wife and children when he stood up and grabbed a flight attendant during the flight, FOX5 reported. The man reportedly held a pen against the attendant's neck and grabbed a hold of one of the doors on the aircraft, threatening to jump to his death and take her with him if the plane was not diverted. Passengers began screaming as he managed to get the door cracked open, but a passenger was able to grab him and pull him back as the crew detained him, the news station reported. According to multiple reports, the hijacker said he had been threatened by criminals who kidnapped one of his relatives just before takeoff. After his arrest, the man told authorities that his life was in danger if he traveled to Tijuana, ABC News reported. Mexican law enforcement said the man had been detained by National Guard officers in Guadalajara, where the flight made an emergency landing, according to multiple reports. https://patch.com/california/san-diego/man-attempts-divert-volaris-flight-tijuana-toward-san-diego Rep. Burchett introduces Pilot Certificate Accessibility Act WASHINGTON, D.C., (Dec. 9th, 2024) – Last week, U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett (TN-02) introduced the Pilot Certificate Accessibility Act. Commercial pilots are required to carry paper copies of their original medical and airman certificates in the event inspection is required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator, a National Transportation Safety board representative, or federal, state or local law officials. The Pilot Certificate Accessibility Act would increase efficiency by allowing pilots to carry digital copies of these documents on electronic devices or cloud storage platforms. “Everything we do is online nowadays,” said Rep. Burchett. “I don't see a reason why our pilots should have to carry physical documents with them instead of keeping them on their phone like everything else.” https://burchett.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-burchett-introduces-pilot-certificate-accessibility-act Boeing restarts 737 MAX production a month after strike ended, sources say SEATTLE - Boeing restarted production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner last week, about a month after the end of a seven-week strike by 33,000 factory workers, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Getting the 737 MAX production line moving again is essential to the heavily debt-burdened planemaker's recovery, and Boeing has about 4,200 orders for the jetliner from airlines eager to meet growing global demand for air travel. Production resumed on Friday, said one of the sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with media. Boeing declined to comment. The production restart had not been previously reported. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Mike Whitaker, told Reuters on Thursday that Boeing had not yet resumed 737 MAX production but planned to do so later this month. The company's plans to increase 737 MAX production to a targeted 56 airplanes a month have been stymied by a series of setbacks including two fatal crashes, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain problems, production safety concerns and increased regulatory scrutiny, along with the recent strike. The FAA capped production at 38 737 MAX planes per month in January after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 during a flight that month, exposing serious safety issues at Boeing. Whitaker last week declined to say when he thought the FAA would restore Boeing's ability to produce more than 38 planes per month, but said he would be surprised if it was less than multiple months before the company gets close to the 38 maximum. Jefferies analysts expect Boeing will produce an average of 29 737 MAX planes per month in 2025, they said in a note to clients on Sunday. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/exclusive-boeing-restarts-737-max-042953282.html CALENDAR OF EVENTS • Sponsor the 2025 Fuzion Safety Conference! March 4 & 5, 2025 (Orlando) • Annual Women in Aviation International Conference, Gaylord Rockies Resort & Conference Center | Denver Colorado, March 27-29, 2025 • 59th Annual SMU Air Law Symposium is scheduled March 31 - April 2, 2025 • Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) Safety Symposium April 7-9, 2025 • AIA Conference: The Aviation Insurance Association's annual conference in Orlando, Florida from April 25–28, 2025 • Sixth Edition of International Accident Investigation Forum, 21 to 23 May 2025, Singapore • The 9th Shanghai International Aerospace Technology and Equipment Exposition 2025; June 11 to 13, 2025 Curt Lewis