Tripoli FIR (HLLL)

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a new Notam, extending the flight prohibition for certain U.S. aircraft for the Libyan airspace by another two years to March 20, 2021.

This action extends the prohibition of U.S. civil flight operations in the Tripoli FIR (HLLL) at altitudes below Flight Level (FL) 300 to safeguard against continuing hazards to U.S. civil aviation. However, this action also reduces the scope of the prohibition, permitting U.S. civil aviation overflights of the Tripoli FIR (HLLL) at altitudes at and above FL300 to resume, due to the reduced risk to U.S. civil aviation operations at those altitudes.

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On March 13, 2019, all Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were temporarily grounded worldwide by relevant authorities and airlines. The MAX was not the first aircraft in aviation history to be grounded globally.

2019: Boeing 737 MAX
First aircraft in service: 2017
Grounding in effect: March 13, 2019 (some airlines and countries on March 11 and 12)
Regulatory action: FAA Emergency Order (other countries took own regulatory actions)
Grounding lifted: —
Reason for grounding: Fatal accidents involving Lion Air 601 and Ethiopian 302

2013: Boeing 787 Dreamliner
First aircraft in service: 2009
Grounding in effect: January 16, 2013
Regulatory action: Emergency AD
Grounding lifted: April 19, 2013
Reason for grounding: Two lithium ion battery failures on January 7 and January 16.

2000: Concorde
First aircraft in service: 1976
Grounding in effect: August 16, 2000
Regulatory action: Withdrawal of the Airworthiness Certificates of all Concordes
Grounding lifted: November 2001
Reason for grounding: Doubts about the fuel tank safety following the crash of Air France flight 4590.

1982: Yakovlev Yak-42
First aircraft in service: 1980
Grounding in effect: 1982
Regulatory action: unknown
Grounding lifted: October 1984
Reason for grounding: Design fault which caused horizontal stabiliser screw jack mechanism to fail on a Yak-42 on June 28, 1982, killing 132.

1979: McDonnell Douglas DC-10
First aircraft in service: 1971
Grounding in effect: June 6, 1979
Regulatory action: Emergency Order, suspending the Type Certificate
Grounding lifted: July 13, 1979 (June 19 for European airlines)
Reason for grounding: Doubt about the engine pylon assembly not meeting certification criteria following the crash of American Airlines flight 191 .

1954: de Havilland Comet
First aircraft in service: 1952
Grounding in effect: 1954
Regulatory action: Airworthiness Certificate was revoked
Grounding lifted: commercial flights resumed in 1958
Reason for grounding: Two in-flight break up accidents involving BOAC Flight 781 and South African Airways Flight 201.

1947: Douglas DC-6
First aircraft in service: 1947
Grounding in effect: November 11, 1947
Regulatory action:  Voluntary grounding by airlines
Grounding lifted: after four months
Reason for grounding: Grounding following a series of inflight fires including the fatal crash of United Airlines Flight 608 on Oct 24, 1947

1946: Lockheed Constellation
First aircraft in service: 1945
Grounding in effect: July 12, 1946
Regulatory action: Government Order
Grounding lifted: August 23, 1946
Reason for grounding: Grounding following fatal in-flight fire accident of TWA Flight 513 on July 11, 1946

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The FAA is ordering the temporary grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by U.S. airlines or in U.S. territory.

Worldwide concerns over the observed similarities between two recent fatal Boeing 737 MAX accidents (Lion Air 601 and Ethiopian 302) led several countries and airlines to ground the aircraft on March 11 and March 12, 2019.

The FAA states that it received newly refined ADS-B satellite data on the morning of March 13. On the same day, the FAA was notified of “new information from the wreckage concerning the aircraft’s configuration just after takeoff that.” These pieces of evidence led the FAA to decide to issue an Emergency Order for the temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX.

The grounding will remain in effect pending further investigation, including examination of information from the aircraft’s flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders.

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Several countries/airlines have grounded the Boeing 737 MAX as a safety precaution in the wake of the fatal accident involving Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, the second loss of the type after the crash of Lion Air flight 610.

Airlines

• Aerolineas Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Cayman Airways
• COPA
• Corendon Airlines (Turkey)
• Comair
• Ethiopian Airlines
• GOL
• Icelandair
• Norwegian
• Royal Air Maroc
• S7
• SCAT
• Sunwing
• TUI Netherlands
• Turkish Airlines

Countries (grounding their operators’ 737 MAX aircraft)

• China
• Fiji
• India
• Indonesia
• South Korea

Countries (banning 737 MAX from their airspace)

• Australia
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• European Union (EASA)
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Malaysia
• Mongolia
• Netherlands
• Oman
• Poland
• Russia
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• USA

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EMAS

An engineered materials arresting system (EMAS), or arrester bed, is an area at the end of a runway that is created to reduce the severity of the consequences of a runway excursion. The purpose of an EMAS is to stop an aircraft overrun with no human injury and minimal aircraft damage. The aircraft is slowed by the loss of energy required to crush the EMAS material, which usually consists of lightweight, crushable concrete blocks.

The EMAS is predominantly used in the United States. It is installed at 106+ runway ends at 63+ airports, according to the FAA.

List of aircraft safely stopped by EMAS

8 May 1999
A Saab 340 commuter aircraft overran the runway at New York-JFK Airport, NY (30 on board)

30 May 2003
A Gemini Cargo MD-11 overran the runway at New York-JFK Airport, NY (3 on board)

22 January 2005
A Boeing 747 overran the runway at New York-JFK Airport, NY (3 on board)

17 July 2006
A Dassault Falcon 900 overran the runway at Greenville Downtown Airport, SC (5 on board)

19 July 2008
An Airbus A320 overran the runway at Chicago O’Hare Airport, IL (145 on board)

19 January 2010
A CRJ-200 regional jet overran the runway at Charleston-Yeager Airport, WV (34 on board)

1 October 2010
A Gulfstream IV overran the runway at Teterboro Airport, NJ (10 on board)

3 November 2011
A Cessna Citation II overran the runway at Key West International Airport, FL (5 on board)

27 October 2013
A Cessna 680 Citation overran the runway at Palm Beach International, FL (8 on board)

26 January 2016
A Dassault Falcon 20 overran the runway at Chicago Executive Airport, IL (2 on board)

27 October 2016
A Boeing 737-700 overran the runway at New York-LaGuardia Airport, NY (37 on board)

30 April 2017
A Cessna 750 Citation overran the runway at Burbank Airport, CA (2 on board)

4 February 2018
A Beechjet 400A overran the runway at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, OH (4 on board)

6 December 2018
A Boeing 737-700 overran the runway at Hollywood Burbank Airport, CA (117 on board)

27 February 2019
A Phenom 100 overran the runway at Downtown Airport in Kansas City, MO

Cessna 550 Citation II overran into the EMAS at Key West International Airport in 2011

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Due to ongoing political instability and increasing tensions in Venezuela, the U.S. FAA assesses there is an increasing inadvertent risk to U.S. civil aviation operating into, out of, within or over the
territory and airspace of Venezuela at altitudes below Flight Level (FL) 260. As a result, on 22 February 2019, the FAA published Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) KICZ A0001/19, advising U.S. civil
aviation to exercise caution during flight operations into, out of, within or over the territory and airspace of Venezuela at altitudes below FL260.

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SpiceJet passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).

SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline. It started operating flights in 2005 and currently uses 47 Boeing 737 aircraft (Series -700, -800, -900, MAX 8) as well as 28 DHC-8-400 turboprops. Its network consists of 47 Indian and 7 international destinations.

The IOSA programme is an evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognised quality audit principles and is designed to conduct audits in a standardised and consistent manner. It was created in 2003 by IATA.  All IATA members are IOSA registered and must remain registered to maintain IATA membership.

More information:

• IATA Registry SpiceJet

A SpiceJet DHC-8-400 (photo: Premnath Kudva / CC:by-sa)

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South African Airways (SAA) decided to cancel its operations into and from Blantyre Chileka International Airport, (BLZ/FWCL), Malawi due to safety concerns.

The decision was made after the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) reported finding “Level 1” safety issues at the airport.

According to the SACAA the Level 1 finding primarily relates to the inadequacy of aviation infrastructure facilities and related emergency support services offered at Chileka International Airport.
The SACAA inspection exposed several non-compliances some of which were cause for serious concern. Notably, the airport’s perimeter fence is vandalised and falls short of the set international standards. Due to lack of maintenance, both the ambulance and fire engine are not dependable.

The cancelation of SAA’s Blantyre operations became effective Saturday, 19 January 2019 and will remain in place until such time that the findings raised by the SACAA have been adequately
addressed and a follow up inspection regarding the findings has been conducted.

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The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) restricted operations of A320neo aircraft to Port Blair as a result of ongoing engine issues.

After meeting with A320neo operators GoAir and IndiGo on their ongoing issues with Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines, DGCA issued four measures. One of these was an operational restriction of flights to Port Blair. This airport is located in the Andaman Islands between India and Thailand. Nearest airports on the Indian mainland are Kolkata at 1305 km and Chennai at 1370 km.
On December 23, 2018, an IndiGo Airbus A320neo aircraft returned to Port Blair when the pilot observed a low oil pressure warning for engine no. 2. The flight crew shut down the engine and returned to land at Port Blair.

Measures published in the Public Notice:

A. Inspection of 3rd stage LPT blade: Carry out inspection of 3rd stage LPT blades as per AMM task 72-53-00-220-801-A at every weekly inspection.

B. Dry Face Seal: Carry out BSI on No. 3 bearing front & AFT carbon seal (DFS) as per P & W special instruction 375F-18 dated 20.12.2018 at –
I. For newer engines, perform BSI at first oil filter change.
II. For engines that have already has the first oil filter change and are less than the 1000 FH of operation time, perform BSI at next opportunity or A check whichever is earlier.

C. Smoke and Odors issues :Create awareness among Cabin and Cockpit Crew about odor / burning smell/smoke (even if slightest) during approach phase and positive reporting to Cockpit crew for necessary action. If any odor/smoke is observed in Air-conditioning PACK Air, Cockpit crew need to identify the source of odor by isolating PACKs one at a time. Log all the cases detecting odours/ smoke in cabin during operation for necessary investigation and rectification. In all odour / smoke cases, engine to be inspected in detail as per AMM and to be used only after rectification of defect.

D. The restriction imposed on flight operations to Port Blair with A320 NEO aircraft.

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