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Partners and Programs:

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Phone: +1 703 739 6700 Fax: +1 703 739 6708

Podcasts

Welcome to the Foundation’s podcast page. Below you will find interviews with safety experts from around the industry on a range of topics of interest to aviation safety professionals. New podcasts will be added as they are recorded. The views expressed in the podcasts are those of the speakers, and not necessarily those of the Foundation.

If you have a topic that you believe would be of interest to the aviation community, please get in touch with Vice President, Global Programs, Greg Marshall at marshall@flightsafety.org. Interviews can be conducted in-person at our head office or via Skype.

News

EASA Lays Groundwork for VTOL Aircraft

The European Union Aviation Safety Agent (EASA) said today that it has taken a first step to enable the safe operation of hybrid and electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

Today’s action provides the framework for development of small VTOL “heavier-than-air aircraft … with lift-thrust units used to generate powered lift and control,” EASA said. The category represents VTOL aircraft having a maximum certified takeoff mass of up to 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) and capable of carrying as many as nine people.
“We are actively engaging with the industry to develop the right technical requirements to take benefit of the new technologies bringing safety and environmental benefits to the community,” EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky said.

EASA noted that the existing regulatory framework has been designed for conventional airplanes, rotorcraft and balloons (most of which have engines that use fossil fuels), as well as sailplanes. “The introduction of new technologies and concepts of air transport requires [us] to revisit this framework,” EASA said.

The agency said it is working with advisory groups on new rulemaking that will amend existing rules or develop new ones to address issues associated with new technologies “with the objective to be agile and to adapt the regulatory framework in line with performance-based regulations principles.”

FSF Editorial Staff. July 2, 2019

News, Airport Ops, Ground Ops

Dark Colors Stymie Aircraft Docking Guidance Systems at Airports

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is warning airport operators that some of the docking systems that help guide airplanes into their assigned gates are unable to recognize aircraft with dark paint schemes; as a result, EASA recommends that authorities implement “relevant mitigating operational procedures.”

EASA’s warning was contained in Safety Information Bulletin 2018-09, issued earlier this week. The bulletin said the warning was prompted by the recent investigation of an event in which the engine of an airplane that was entering a contact stand collided with a passenger bridge, and that investigators determined that the advanced visual docking guidance system (A-VDGS) had not recognized the airplane.

The bulletin did not identify the airport and provided few details on the occurrence other than saying that the operator had encountered similar problems on other occasions.

However, news reports cited a May 2015 incident in which the engine of a Brussels Airlines Airbus A320 struck a passenger bridge because the airplane had not been recognized by the A-VDGS in Lisbon, Portugal. The final report on the incident was issued in late November 2017 by Portugal’s Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários.

EASA said it has since learned that other airport operators in Europe have experienced similar events in which an A-VDGS did not recognize a maneuvering airplane because of its dark color. The events appear to have involved more than one type of A-VDGS, the EASA bulletin said.

“Some aerodrome operators and competent authorities are already aware of the issue and … relevant mitigating operational procedures have been established by the aerodrome operators concerned,” the bulletin said. “However, there have been cases where the personnel involved in the docking procedure were not always informed of the already established mitigating measures. Moreover, there seem to be cases of aerodrome operators and competent authorities that are not aware of this issue.”

EASA recommended that airport operators determine whether their A-VDGSs may have difficulty identifying dark-colored airplanes; publish relevant information, including possible color-recognition issues, in the Aeronautical Information Publication; communicate to all personnel the procedures to be applied in case of an A-VDGS malfunction; and report any malfunction to appropriate authorities.

FSF Editorial Staff. May 18, 2018

News, Safety Recommendation

EASA Warns Manufacturers, Repair Shops About Material From Kobe Steel Ltd.

Following reports that Japan’s Kobe Steel Ltd. may have shipped non-conforming materials to its customers, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued Safety Information Bulletin (SIB) 2017-17, recommending that design approval holders suspend use of Kobe Steel products if alternative supplies are available.

In news releases dated Oct. 8 and 13, Kobe Steel said it is investigating “improper conduct” by Kobe and its group companies, including Kobelco. Kobe said that it has discovered that units in its aluminum and copper business did not comply with agreed product specifications, that data in inspection certificates was “improperly rewritten” and products were shipped as having met specifications. Kobe said it has begun contacting customers who may have received non-conforming products.

EASA said its SIB applies to design, production and repair approval holders of certified products, parts and appliances containing material supplied by Kobe Steel. Japanese authorities, including the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, are investigating the matter to establish the scope and extent of the problem, EASA said.

EASA recommended that until more information becomes available, all organizations that have specified or used Kobe Steel products should do a thorough review of their supply chains. The agency advised production and repair approval holders to inform their customers and the appropriate authorities about using the Kobe Steel products, and to establish the scope of use of affected parts in their products, paying particular attention to identifying such material in critical applications such as primary structures and critical parts and systems.

FSF Editorial Staff. October 18, 2017

News, Safety Recommendation

EASA Tallies 2016 Safety Recommendations

Investigative authorities in 18 countries addressed a total of 88 aviation safety recommendations to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2016, EASA says.

The number of recommendations was essentially unchanged from the two previous years, EASA said in its 2016 Annual Safety Recommendations Review, issued in May. Click here to see the report.

The review noted that the 88 recommendations sprang from investigations of 39 accidents and 11 serious incidents, as well as one study. More than one-third of the recommendations were related to three major occurrences:

  • The Aug. 23, 2013, crash of a Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) AS332 L2 Super Puma during an approach to Sumburgh Airport in the United Kingdom’s Shetland Islands resulted in 20 safety recommendations. All 16 occupants survived, but four had serious injuries. The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch identified two causal factors — ineffective instrument monitoring and failure to acquire visual references by the minimum descent altitude.
  • The March 24, 2015, crash of an Airbus A320 in the French Alps resulted in six safety recommendations. The French Bureau d’EnquĂŞtes et d’Analyses (BEA) said the accident, which killed all 150 passengers and crew, resulted from the copilot’s intentional actions.
  • The Oct. 28, 2011, loss of control crash of a Piper PA-31T during an approach to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France resulted in four safety recommendations. All four occupants were killed in the crash, which the BEA traced to a right engine problem that led to asymmetric thrust.

More than 60 percent of the recommendations involved fixed-wing aircraft, and 33 percent involved rotorcraft, the report said; the remainder involved other types of aircraft.

The U.K. generated more recommendations than any other country — 25, followed by France with 18 and Austria with eight, the report said. EASA member states issued 86 percent of all recommendations, the report said.

FSF Editorial Staff. May 15, 2017

News, Safety Review

EASA Reports Drop in Accident Rate

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) member states recorded 16 accidents involving commercial air transport airplanes in 2016, or one accident in every 3 million flights — a 43 percent improvement over the previous year, EASA said in its Preliminary Safety Review 2017.

There was one fatal accident, which involved a Bombardier CRJ-200 cargo airplane that crashed in Sweden in January, killing both pilots, the report said. Data show that 12 fatal accidents involving operators from EASA member states occurred in the past 10 years, including one accident every year since 2014.

EASA also recorded 100 serious incidents in 2016, or one in every 16 million flights, an increase of 38 percent over 2015.

The report said key risk areas were aircraft upset, runway excursion, and aircraft system failure, “together with their associated safety issues: flight crew awareness, monitoring of aircraft parameters, handling of technical failures and CRM [crew resource management].”

FSF Editorial Staff. March 9, 2017

News, Fitness for Duty, Safety Regulation

EASA Offers New Rules for Pilot Mental Fitness

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has proposed new rules that will require airlines to conduct a pre-employment psychological assessment of pilots.

The proposal was prompted by the March 24, 2015, crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, an Airbus A320-200 that, according to the French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA), was intentionally flown into the ground in the French Alps by its first officer, killing himself and all 149 others in the airplane. EASA’s proposed rules, submitted to the European Commission on Dec. 9, also call for support programs to be available for all pilots dealing with mental fitness issues.

Other proposals call for the introduction of systematic drug and alcohol testing of flight and cabin crewmembers upon their employment, after their involvement in an accident or serious illness, “with due cause (i.e., following reasonable suspicion)” and following their return to work from a substance abuse rehabilitation program.

In addition, airlines not already subject to national programs for psychoactive substance testing would participate in mandatory random alcohol screening of flight and cabin crewmembers through a European Union program, EASA said.

EASA added that the proposals address safety recommendations from an EASA-led task force and from the BEA as a result of the crash investigation.

EASA’s proposals will form the basis of a legislative proposal by the European Commission in 2017.

FSF Editorial Staff. December 9, 2016