UK Labour Party Mulls Ban on Fossil Fuels for Bizcraft

With the green agenda rising in the UK's 2019 general election campaign, the UK Labour Party has indicated it would consider a ban on fossil-fuel powered private aircraft flights from 2025. The November 4 statement by shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald was in response to a new report calling for electric-only private aircraft flights published by environmental and economic pressure groups Fellow Travellers and Commonwealth. 

The report, titled “jet, set, go,” claims that a passenger in a private jet today emits seven times as much greenhouse gas as a business-class passenger on an airline flight. The reported differential rises to 10 times compared with an economy-class airline passenger and 150 times compared with a train passenger. According to the authors, there were 128,000 private jet flights between UK airports and the rest of Europe in 2018—representing 6 percent of total traffic—as well as another 14,000 flights from the UK to points beyond Europe.

The report claims four of five private aircraft journeys within Europe today could be conducted by electric aircraft in 2025 and beyond. That said, they acknowledge that even if electric aircraft were widely adopted, this move has the potential to reduce the UK's aviation emissions of greenhouse gases by only around 15 percent by 2050.

FAA Releases Privacy Plan for ADS-B

The FAA is putting one of the final pieces in place for the transition to the January 1 ADS-B deadline, releasing a plan to protect the privacy of operators from real-time flight-tracking service. NBAA, which has long sought protections for operators from the publicly available information that comes with ADS-B, welcomed the move.

Agency officials announced the flight-tracking opt-out plan at NBAA’s recent Flight Planners Summit held in conjunction with the association’s annual convention in Las Vegas. Additionally, the officials said they would establish new data-sharing limits for air traffic tracking service providers if operators want to opt out of having their flight information broadcast over the internet. Those limits are expected to go in effect by year-end, NBAA said.

The Privacy ICAO Address (PIA) Program will be implemented in phases. Under the first phase, to be in place by January 1, the FAA will set up a portal to accept requests from operators seeking to keep their real-time ADS-B position and identification information private. Those operators will receive an alternative, temporary ICAO aircraft address that is not linked with their FAA registration information. To qualify, the aircraft must be U.S-registered, 1090-MHz ADS-B equipped, and fly in U.S. airspace.

Under Phase 2, the FAA will transition the PIA program to a third-party service provider. That move is anticipated in mid-2020.

Bill To Improve Notam System Takes Step Forward

The House last week approved legislation designed to improve the Notam system. Passed by voice vote, the Notice to Airmen Improvement Act of 2019 (H.R.1775) calls on the FAA to establish a task force that would review existing means to present Notams and flight operations information to pilots; review regulations and policies surrounding Notams; determine best practices to organize, prioritize, and present flight operations information in an optimal manner; and provide recommendations to improve Notam information.

Headed next to the Senate Commerce Committee for consideration, the bill specifies that the task force should comprise a cross-section of industry, safety, and human factors experts and complete its work within 18 months.

“Although Notams contain critical safety information, they are often lengthy and difficult to understand,” said Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minnesota), who introduced the legislation. “These inefficiencies have the potential to create life-threatening situations. My legislation will ensure the continued safety of air travel by requiring that safety protocols are consistently maintained and improved upon.”

The report accompanying the bill cites the critical nature of Notams but states that they can be “difficult to read, understand, and retain. Additionally, Notams can lack completeness or accuracy, which can endanger flight.”

Rogue Drones Impede California Firefighters

California authorities complained over the weekend that illegally operated recreational drones interfered with their efforts to suppress the recent spate of wildfires there, forcing helicopter tankers to stand down on several occasions for 30 to 40 minutes per incident. Early Friday morning, helicopters flying on the Maria fire near Santa Paula were grounded after a pilot of a Ventura County fire department helicopter reported unauthorized drones in the area.

Later in the day, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub reminded recreational drone pilots who fly on fires that they are violating federal law and face stiff penalties for doing so. Flying drones near fires also violates numerous state laws. 

Conversely, more fire departments are turning to drones as firefighting tools, leveraging the ability of onboard sensors and cameras to map, track, identify hot spots, and locate trapped victims. In August, Appleton, Wisconsin-based Pierce Manufacturing, a producer of fire engines and related equipment, unveiled a specialized, self-piloting firefighting drone that can fly tethered from a fire truck. 

Another company, Aerones, has developed a large, tethered drone with 28 motors and 16 batteries that can spray water on fires up to 948 feet agl and lift up to 441 pounds.  

TSB: Tool Bag Downed Canadian AStar

The Dec. 14, 2017 accident that killed the pilot and all three technicians aboard an Airbus Helicopters AS350B2 was the result of a preform bag and its carabiner attached to an external platform separating from the platform and striking the helicopter's tail rotor, according to a Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) final report. The Hydro One Networks-owned helicopter was conducting power line maintenance near Tweed, Ontario, and crashed during approach to landing

That strike caused significant damage, severe imbalance, and intense vibration that caused the tail rotor, tail rotor gearbox, and vertical fin to separate before the helicopter hit terrain.

“Carrying external loads attached to the platform was not a formalized procedure at the company and, as a result, adequate controls were not in place to ensure that these objects were properly stored or secured,” the TSB said. It further noted that two of the three rear-seat passengers did not have their seatbelts fastened.

A week after the crash, the TSB issued a safety recommendation calling for all operators to ensure cargo is “adequately secured at all times, to prevent it from shifting or departing the helicopter during flight.” It also reminded operators that unbelted passengers “risk serious injury or death in the event of an emergency.” However, the TSB could not conclude that this crash would have been survivable to belted passengers.

Modern Aviation Makes It Easy To Fly Green

FBO network Modern Aviation has partnered with carbon reduction and offset credit organization Carbonfund to offer its customers the ability to reduce their environmental impact by offsetting their carbon emissions as part of their fuel purchase.

The voluntary program will provide carbon offset credits through verified projects at a small surcharge per gallon of fuel, starting on November 1. Initial environmental targets include the Russas-Valparaiso forest conservation projects in the Amazon, which are designed to protect 170,000 acres of tropical rainforest, mitigating the release of approximately 3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions as well as preserving the biodiversity of the habitat.

“Modern Aviation is dedicated to excellent corporate responsibility, and this is an effort to help achieve a lower-carbon future,” said Mark Carmen, the company’s CEO. “To support our customers in mitigating the environmental impact of their flights, Modern is committing to fund 20 percent of our customers' contribution to participate in this positive program during the program’s first year.”  

Bristow Out Of Bankruptcy

Bristow Group officially emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization last week with $535 million in new capital and a new board of directors with extensive experience in energy, finance, and helicopter businesses. The company filed for bankruptcy in May, claiming debts of $1.885 billion against assets of $2.86 billion and citing “previously disclosed financial challenges” and “constrained liquidity.”  

L. Don Miller, who was appointed Bristow CEO in February 2019 and guided it through the bankruptcy process, will remain in his current office and a member of the company’s board. Other board members include Aris Kekedjian (chairman), Wesley E. Kern, Robert J. Manzo, Lorin L. Brass, G. Mark Mickelson, Brian D. Truelove, and Hooman Yazhari. Former Bristow director Ian A. Godden will continue as chairman of Bristow Aviation Holding Limited, Bristow's UK affiliate, and serve in an advisory role to Bristow.

Miller said the restructured Bristow is “committed to further building on our global leadership role in offshore oil and gas transportation and search and rescue” and will “remain focused on being 'best in class' for all our stakeholders, particularly our employees, customers, and new owners as we continue to look for ways to drive innovation and efficiencies across the global business."

Vuichard Ring Vortex Recovery Now FAA Approved

In the latest update of its Helicopter Flying Handbook the FAA for the first time has included the Vuichard safety technique for vortex ring state recovery, which the agency describes as an aerodynamic condition in which a helicopter could be in a vertical descent with 20-percent-up-to-maximum power applied and little or no climb performance.

Developed by Swiss helicopter pilot, Federal Office of Civil Aviation examiner, and rotorcraft safety advocate Claude Vuichard, the technique—which advocates increasing collective to maximum available power while simultaneously applying the power pedal to maintain heading and opposite cyclic—is now officially acknowledged as a recovery procedure by the FAA. The agency's handbook outlines the basic principles for all helicopter pilot training in the U.S. and abroad, and its October 2019 revision now describes the procedure in its “Helicopter Emergencies and Hazards” chapter.

According to Vuichard, modern helicopters with higher disc loading require an immediate reaction to escape a vortex ring state close to the ground because of their higher rate of descent.

The Vuichard Recovery Aviation Safety Foundation, which was established to educate pilots about the maneuver, noted it received four reports from pilots who escaped the hazardous situation through its implementation last year. For his efforts in fostering safe rotorcraft operations, Vuichard was honored last year with the BLR Aerospace Safety Award from the Helicopter Association International.

Tales from the Flight Deck: Airmanship Saves Southwest Flight

A Southwest Airlines flight crew finds themselves in a situation they'd never experienced before when their Boeing 737 suffers an uncontained engine failure on a flight from New York to Dallas, leaving them mere moments to make the right decisions to save their compromised aircraft and their passengers.

Although the crew is able to maintain control of their stricken aircraft and later guiding it to a successful emergency landing in Philadelphia, the event was not without casualties, something that continues to weigh on the mind of the flight’s captain, who was heralded as a hero. Today, Tammie Jo Shults shares her story, her thoughts on training proficiency and flight deck automation, and the lessons she took away from Flight 1380.