Bird Strikes | How common are they and what is done to prevent them?

Bird strikes, although not uncommon, represent a considerable portion of aviation accidents worldwide. The very first reported bird strike was recorded on 7 September 1905 by pilot Orville Wright, when he hit his aircraft with a bird over a cornfield near Dayton, Ohio, USA.

Representative | The New York Times

Birds with their unparalleled supremacy at the air, quite ironically have been at the losing end of airborne collisions for years now.

What do the numbers say?

A significant threat to flight safety, bird strikes have caused several accidents with human casualties. Over 13,000 bird strikes are reported annually in the US alone. In comparison, the number of major accidents involving civil aircraft is quite low and it has been estimated that there is only about 1 accident resulting in human death in one billion flying hours.

Although bird strikes don't cause major damage to the aircraft, it often results in the death of these birds.

Most bird strikes involve large birds, particularly geese and gulls in the United States.

The Canadian goose has been ranked as the third most hazardous wildlife species to aircraft, with approximately 240 goose-aircraft collisions in the United States each year.

Canada Goose | Britannica

Reportedly, most strikes occur within 3,000 feet of the ground, during takeoff and landing, with just 3% having been reported during the en route phase of flight. 80% of all bird strikes go unreported.

The chance of a catastrophic accident may be minute, but there have been incidents of bird strikes causing severe damage to an airframe.

Reminds me of the infamous "Miracle on the Hudson," when a US Airways Airbus A320 jetliner departing New York's LaGuardia Airport flew through a flock of Canadian geese. Both engines failed after ingesting the large birds, and Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles skillfully guided the plane to a water landing in the Hudson River, no casualties reported.

Miracle on The Hudson | Captain Sully (right) | Pinterest

There have been catastrophic instances as well where bird strikes have led to the ultimate disintegration of the airframe killing everyone onboard.

A Lockheed Electra turboprop lost control after takeoff in Boston in the fall of 1960,  when a flock of starlings rammed into the engines, killing 62 on board.

Wikipedia

The evolution of the chicken cannon

CNN

In response to such accidents, aviation regulators around the world gathered together to examine the certification standards of commercial planes and engines and develop a way to test an aircraft's components for bird strikes.

The Aerospace Research Centre of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), along with experts from the military, regulators, manufacturers and pilots, came upon a design concept-  a chicken cannon.

Airports, on the other hand, have a popular way of scaring birdies away and one way of doing it is by firing air cannons in areas where they cluster in numbers.

 Salt Lake City's airport deploys pigs to eat up gull eggs, and border collies chase away herons and egrets at Southwest Florida International in Fort Myers. France’s Lourdes-Tarbes-Pyrénées airport lights up LED screens with a google eye graphic to scare off raptors “loitering” in the area. Creative much? Indeed it is.

What is a chicken cannon and how does it work?

Basically, it's a cannon powered by compressed air. Not every bird makes it to the cannon, only Aerospace grade poultry does.

Apparently, two kinds of tests are conducted at the NRC's Flight Impact Simulator Facility.

1. targets aircraft structural components like windshields, wing and tail sections2. test-fires a bird into an operating engine.

Ingenium

To do the calibration test, we can use gelatin-based birds, or we can use chickens that we buy at the grocery store. Once we are in the range, we use real birds to finalize the calibration, and of course we use real birds to do the certification test. The birds -- always dead ones only -- go into the cannon with the feathers, the head, legs, everythingNRC senior research officer Azzedine Dadouche in an interview with CNN Travel.

Frozen chicken fired from a chicken gun | Best Lifestyle Buzz

The combination of air pressure in the tank, the weight of the projectile assembly and the length of the barrel will determine the speed at which the bird impacts the test article, matching the speeds used by the target aircraft during takeoff, initial climb, cruise, approach or landing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nAc7wab-l4

Tackling the drone menace

The ease in drone operations and the rise of such machines has led to unregulated drone activities dangerously close to airports, sometimes leading to the grounding of aircraft.

This is very important area that a lot of regulators are working on, because there is currently no regulation related to drone impactDadouche

The NRC Super Cannon has fired drones at aircraft windshields, tail surfaces and wing leading edges at speeds up to 250 knots, or close to 290 mph, with the reports from these tests made available to the public.

Credits to all respective sources

COVER: Engineering Master

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday, December 10 launched an investigation into December 9's incident wherein SpiceJet's Max aircraft conducted an emergency landing at the Mumbai airport after one of its engines faced a technical issue.

The plane -- which has registration number VT-MXE -- will remain grounded till it is cleared by the DGCA, its chief Arun Kumar told PTI.

Moreover, the regulator has asked the airline, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and engine maker CFM to join the probe and provide all information regarding the engine snag that happened on Thursday, December 9 Kumar mentioned.

In a statement regarding the incident, the budget carrier's spokesperson had said on Thursday, December 9, "SpiceJet flight SG- 467 operating Mumbai-Kolkata returned to Mumbai after take-off due to a technical issue. The aircraft landed safely in Mumbai."

The three-year-old aircraft (VT MXE), which had departed Mumbai at 6:55 PM was eastward bound and had climbed to about 33,000 feet when a problem with hydraulics and ‘oil filter bypass’ forced the pilots to divert, said the source. The aircraft landed in Mumbai around 7:50 PM.

All Max planes were grounded in India by the DGCA on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX plane near Addis Ababa, which had left 157 people, including four Indians, dead.

After Boeing made necessary software rectifications, the DGCA had on August 26 this year lifted the ban on Max planes' commercial flight operations.

SpiceJet resumed operating its Max planes for commercial flight operations last month.SpiceJet, the only operator of Max planes in the country, had signed a USD 22 billion deal with Boeing for 205 aircraft in 2017 and has 13 of these planes in its fleet at present.

The loss-making carrier had recently said that the return of the Max will be a game-changer for them as it is 20% more ‘fuel efficient’.

Airbus dramatically raised the stakes in a dispute with Qatar Airways over skin flaws on A350 jetliners on Thursday, December 9 accusing the Gulf carrier of misrepresenting the problem as a safety issue and calling for independent legal advice.

Airbus has been locked in a row with one of the industry's biggest buyers for months over damage to paint and an underlying layer of lightning protection, which Qatar Airways says has led to the grounding of 20 jets by its domestic aviation regulator.

In a rare statement airing a breakdown in relations between the planemaker and the launch customer of Europe's premier long-haul jet, Airbus said the A350s had been declared safe to fly by European regulators despite some "surface degradation."

"The attempt by this customer to misrepresent this specific topic as an airworthiness issue represents a threat to the international protocols on safety matters," it said.

Industry sources said there was no indication Qatar Airways was ready to back down in the dispute, which has already prompted it to exclude Airbus from a multi-billion-dollar deal to replace its 35 freighters, which is set to go to Boeing.

At stake is the credibility of two of the industry's most powerful players and a potential compensation battle over hundreds of millions of dollars in estimated grounding costs.

(Image Courtesy - Reuters)

The row widened last week when documents revealed at least five other airlines had complained about paint or other skin flaws since late 2016. Delta Air Lines joined the list of affected carriers this week, but so far only Qatar has seen jets being grounded.

Exclusive photographs published by Reuters have shown exposed and corroded lightning protection beneath cracked paint. Industry sources say Qatar Airways is reluctant to implement short-term fixes without a full breakdown of the root cause.

"We have worked actively with Qatar Airways to minimise the impact of this in-service surface degradation on their aircraft.Airbus had offered solutions to Qatar Airways from patches to repairs of the anti-lightning material or repainting of entire aircraft, but Qatar Airways had declined the offer.The legal step taken by Airbus comes under a contract clause allowing for arbitration."Philippe Mhun, Executive Vice President Programmes & Services, Airbus

Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in London last week, "we don't know if it is an airworthiness issue. We also don't know that it is not an airworthiness issue."

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has said "no potential airworthiness issue has been identified to date" and ruled out a link with a separate manufacturing flaw which prompted it to issue a draft safety directive for 13 A350s.

Airbus says it understands the cause, though sources say a formal diagnosis may require further tests on surface ageing. Usually, arbitration is carried out away from the public gaze, but Airbus said it was acting to "defend its position and reputation" while calling for a "constructive dialogue".

Qatar Airways says its own brand and wide-body operations are at stake due to the grounding of 20 of its A350 jets, less than a year before the Gulf state hosts the FIFA World Cup.

Some airlines have been pressuring Airbus to head off any damage to their brands as a result of the bitter public row between Airbus and a high-profile customer who has clashed with planemakers in the past, though rarely to such a degree.

"I have never seen anything like this. It is not only a problem between Airbus and Qatar Airways but it is also designed to prevent further damage to the A350's reputation with all operators," said aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski.

A British minister has offered to mediate in a row between Airbus and Qatar Airways over costly flaws on the surface of the aircraft maker's A350 passenger jets, three people familiar with the matter said.

Investment Minister Gerry Grimstone made the offer to host a meeting between the sparring groups before the row escalated on Thursday, December 9 with Airbus threatening to use a procedure in the English courts to seek an independent legal assessment.

Qatar Airways isn’t the only carrier facing these issues. Finnair, Etihad, Air France, Cathay Pacific, and more have also reported seeing similar A350 issues. However, no other carrier has grounded its aircraft. While this does not mean safety is affected, it does show that the A350 is facing widespread cosmetic issues.

(With Inputs from Reuters)

An Australian couple plans to shell out tens of thousands of dollars hiring a private jet to fly their stranded dog home from New Zealand in time for Christmas.

Munchkin, a former Bali street dog, is stuck in New Zealand unable to travel to her owners' home on Australia's Sunshine Coast due to Covid border rules and flight disruptions.

Owner Tash Corbin said after a five-month separation from Munchkin and her fiance, David Daynes, she had decided to hire a private jet costing Aus$45,000 (US$32,000) for her pooch and partner's trip to Australia.

"The money part is not the number one driver, it's about who can most certainly get them home before Christmas," she told AFP. "Christmas is a really big deal for us... I just want us all to be together."

Pandemic-related disruptions mean few flights are operating between New Zealand's South Island and airports near the Sunshine Coast. And travelling via New Zealand's North Island, where there is currently a virus outbreak, would put Daynes in a two-week quarantine lasting through much of the festive season.

The couple is hoping to split the costs by recruiting passengers, offering to foot half of the jet bill while selling four remaining seats to other travellers, or perhaps hitching a ride on another private charter.

If their scheme is successful, it would be the final stage in a five-year journey to bring Munchkin from the Indonesian island of Bali, where she was adopted as a puppy.

Corbin said the canine spent three years in Singapore with various foster families after failing medical tests to enter Australia, which has strict rules around importing pets.

She and Daynes eventually packed up and moved to New Zealand when the country accepted Munchkin in 2019, hoping to stay there temporarily until Australia approved the dog's entry.

Corbin eventually returned home alone for medical reasons while Daynes waited for the green light from Australia.

The entire process has cost so much money that Corbin has christened the dog "Million Dollar Munchkin" on social media. "We stopped counting about three years ago when it got to Aus$40,000," she said. "We didn't ever at the start of this process expect that it would cost this much or take this long. We expected it to be Aus$10,000 and six weeks."

Corbin said she realised the couple was "in such a privileged position" to have the funds and there was "no way" she could ever leave Munchkin behind."She's our family now and so I wouldn't change it for the world. I love her so much and she's such an amazing little creature."

Apple attracts some of the best engineers in their field of expertise and it is a given. The company is known for its competitive salaries and attractive perks-according to Glassdoor an average software engineer at Apple earns more than $141,000 per year, in addition to bonuses.

Gizmodo

So what is it about the small, electric-powered rotorcraft industry, that's luring them away?

The eVTOL industry is still in its nascent stages and has a long way to go. With the advent of ever-evolving electric propulsion, various entities have come forward with numerous innovative models of eVTOL aircraft, although most are yet to be type-certified by the FAA.

Apparently, these firms appear to offer more money and better perks to the new hires.

Michael Schwekutsch, amongst many other key engineers, has left the iconic IT behemoth to join the evolving industry of electrical, vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

He has moved on to join Archer Aviation, as the new senior vice president of engineering, specializing in propulsion, HV, and battery systems.

Dr. Michael Schwekutsch | Gamingsym

Archer's flying taxi 'Maker" debuts in eVTOL market | Reuters

We’re looking to build the No. 1 electric powertrain team in the worldArcher co-founder and co-CEO Brett Adcock in a recent LinkedIn post

The director of flight control systems at Archer is headed by Sergio Ferreir, who led flight control systems development at Gulfstream for its G650 business jet and other aircraft.

Stephen Spiteri, Eric Rogers, and Alex Clarabut are some of the other engineers to have quit the company and join eVTOL makers, {courtesy of their LinkedIn profile(s).}

Apparently, this is a very crucial time for Archer, as the company is very close to flight testing its prototype aircraft, "Maker". It is touted to enter service by 2024 and expects to conduct hover test trials sometime this month.

Joby Aviation is yet another eVTOL company based in Silicon Valley, that's hiring engineers from Apple.The company flew its model for 150 miles on a single battery charge earlier this year and expects to have it certified by 2023.

Joby Aviation CEO Joeben Bevirt | CNBC

The programs and systems engineering at Joby's is headed by Didier Papadopoulos, who previously designed the Autoland system for in-flight emergencies at Garmin, subsequently winning an award for it.

Interestingly, both companies have been infused with hundreds of millions of dollars in investor capital, right after they went public with their companies.

In conclusion, much of the final success of these eVTOL companies will lie in how effectively these "key hires" from Apple and other tech companies will contribute to the overall product.

SOURCE: FlyingMag

COVER: AIRBUS

American Airlines is dropping some international flights from its plans for next summer because Boeing has failed to deliver planes that the airline ordered, according to an internal memo Thursday.

Boeing has been unable to deliver its 787 jetliner, which it calls the Dreamliner, for about a year because of a series of manufacturing problems.

The twin-aisle jet is popular with airlines for long flights because of its improved fuel efficiency over older planes of similar size.

The carrier has claimed that it is 13 aircraft behind on expected deliveries, having ordered a number of Boeing 787s in 2018.

American had expected 13 more Dreamliners in its fleet by this winter. Without those planes, “we simply won't be able to fly as much internationally as we had planned next summer, or as we did in summer 2019," Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja said in the memo to American's employees.

According to the memo, American won't fly to Edinburgh, Scotland; Shannon, Ireland; or Hong Kong next summer and won't bring back some destinations it served in 2019, including Prague.

It will also cut the number of flights it hoped to offer to destinations in Asia, including Shanghai, Beijing and Sydney and will delay starting new service including flights between Seattle and Bengaluru, India.

American “will do our best to minimize the damage these aircraft delivery delays have caused to our long-haul portfolio" while giving customers certainty about flights as they book summer travel, Raja said in the memo, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.