Air Safety Through Investigation Issue No. 17, September-December 2016, Editor: J. Gary DiNunno ISASI Student Members from Embry-Riddle Visit Greek Aviation Safety Board ISASI member and ERAU Professor Anthony Brickhouse reports that eight students from the ISASI Student Chapter at the Daytona Beach Campus of Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University, in July, visited the Hellenic Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board in Athens, Greece. The ISASI students were part of a larger group in Greece for a month-long study abroad program hosted by Aegean Airlines and Get Lost. Brickhouse, who leads the ISASI Student Mentoring Program, arranged the visit to the Aviation Safety Board through the contacts of ISASI International Councilor Caj Frostell, President Frank Del Gandio, and Vice- President Ron Schleede. Joining the students was ERAU Daytona Beach College of Aviation Dean, Dr. Nickolas Macchiarella. The students received briefings from Lead Investigator Nikos Pouliezos and Chairman Athanasios Binis. Brickhouse observed that plans are in the works for another Greek Study Abroad for summer 2017 that will have a safety specific focus. ISASI student members from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University visit the Hellenic Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board during a month-long study abroad program. ISASI Officer Election Results Voting for ISASI Executive Officers closed on October 1, 2016. Troy Jackson, ISASI Nominating Committee Chairman, reported that all incumbent ISASI officials were returned to office for another term. ISASI Executive Officers are: President Frank Del Gandio, Vice President Ron Schleede, Secretary Chad Balentine, and Treasurer Bob MacIntosh. Also returned to office with this ballot is U.S. Councilor Toby Carroll and International Councilor Caj Frostell. ISASI Web RoundUp News 1
ISASI Promoted during Micronesia Training Course Mr. Chan, Wing Keong (Director of the Transport Safety Investigation Bureau in Singapore, which is also the Secretary of the AsiaSASI) and Caj Frostell, ISASI International Councillor, presented a 5-day basic accident investigation course for the Federated States of Micronesia from 4 to 8 July 2016. A presentation of ISASI was included. The course was held in Pohnpei, which is one of the four island States; the others are Kosrae, Chuuk and Yap. Many of the 25 participants were from the civil aviation administration and the airport in Pohnpei, and some participants were from the airports in Kosrae and Chuuk; and two participants were from the Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands. Micronesia accident investigation course with Chan Wing Keong, Director, TSIB, Singapore; Lukner Weilbacher, Secretary, Dept. of Transportations, Communication and Infrastructure; and ISASI International Councillor Caj Frostell sitting in the front row. ISASI members attend the SoCal Regional Chapter meeting in August 2016. Shown clockwise from the left front are: Peter Leffe, Jean-Claude Demerjian, Grant Brophy, Joseph Barclay, Tom Anthony, Jeremy Katt, Karena Marinas, Mike Barr, Amy La Rue, Daniel Scalese, Felicia Boyd, Justin Jaussi, and Peter Trono. ISASI Web RoundUp News 2
DFW Chapter Holds 2016 Meeting The DFW Regional Chapter held its summer meeting on September 8, Chapter President Erin Carroll said. Forty people attended and enjoyed the networking opportunity and great food. ISASI President Frank Del Gandio shared interesting historical information about the chapter, along with discussing the benefits of membership. Our other guest speaker, Carroll noted was Ken Jenkins, who provided an informative presentation on family assistance after an accident. Ken discussed the background of the Family Assistance Act and the role that operators and airport personnel play in the aftermath of an accident. ISASI Announces 2016 Kapustin Scholars ISASI s Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship, established in 2002 to memorialize all deceased ISASI members, provided 40 scholarships to worthy students in the last 14 years. The selection committee, chaired by ISASI Secretary, Chad Balentine, with members Alicia Storey and Erin Gormley, reviewed 14 applications and selected four essays to be the 2016 recipients of the scholarship. The new Kapustin Scholars are: Andre William Woenardi, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; and Yasmeen Syed, University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, Los Angeles,USA, are dual authors of the essay AirA sia 8501: Echoes of Air France 447? Taylor Beall, 24, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, essay: New Materials, New Challenges. Jiaqi Cao, Cranfield University UK; essay: The Challenges For Air Safety Investigators: Exploring Potential Link To Achieve Real-Time Data Transmission. Carly Christian Shoemake, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; essay: Social Media in Crisis Communication. ISASI Web RoundUp News DFW Regional Chapter officers are, shown during the annual meeting from left: Sean Mulholland, Erin Carroll, and Court Goodre. SERC Seeks Papers For 2017 Regional Meeting The Southeast Regional Chapter (SERC) of ISASI is making arrangements for their 2017 Annual Meeting to be held in New Orleans, LA. Final dates are still to be determined, but mid to late March is standard. Please feel free to submit requests for preferences during this time frame. Individuals wishing to offer presentations should submit information to Alicia Storey at astorey@srca.net. Key Deadlines: December 2, 2016: Expr essions of Inter est. If you are interested in presenting a paper, please email an expression of interest (including the title) or direct any questions to astorey@srca.net. January 20, 2017: Submission of Final Written Paper/Extract, and accompanying PowerPoint Presentation. On behalf of Robert Rendzio, President; Dan McCune, Vice President; and Alicia Storey, Secretary/Treasurer, we look forward to seeing you in New Orleans! 3
ISASI Presence Grows in Saudi Arabia ISASI International Councillor Caj Frostell reports that the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Saudi Arabia, supervised by ICAO in collaboration with the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC), organized a Global Ministerial Aviation (GMA) Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during August 29 to 31, 2016. The Aviation Investigation Bureau (AIB) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was a sponsor of the GMA Summit, which attracted some 800 participants to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh. The AIB display booth was a major attraction of participant interest. The AIB was also the sponsor of the Gala Dinner of the GMA Summit. During the dinner, ISASI s logo was prominently displayed advertising the MENASASI (Middle East and North Africa Society of Air Safety Investigators). The GMA Summit included a session on Regional Accident Investigation Organizations (RAIOs). The session included presentations on A Phased Build -up of Regional Cooperation in AIG by Abdelelah Felemban, Director General of the KSA AIB, and The Implementation of the Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency (BAGAIA) in West Africa by Caj Frostell, Commissioner of BAGAIA. In the week following the GMA Summit, the KSA AIB organized a four-day course in Writing the Final Report in Jeddah with Caj Frostell as instructor. This was an excellent opportunity, Frostell observed, to discuss accident investigation, ISASI and MENASASI activities with 16 active accident investigators over four days. Shown above: The KSA AIB course participants; seated, third from the left is AIB Director General Abdulelah Felimban and ISASI International Councillor Caj Frostell. MOT Singapore Reorganizes AAIB Pang Min Li, Senior Investigator for the Transportation Safety Investigation Bureau, Singapore notes that on August 1, 2016, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) of Singapore restructured the Air Accident Investigation Bureau of Singapore (AAIB) to form the new Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB). The TSIB will conduct investigations into air and marine accidents and incidents, independently of and separately from any judicial or regulatory proceedings, and make recommendations to enhance the safety of air and sea transport. The sole objective of TSIB s investigations is the prevention of accidents and incidents; they are not for the purpose of apportioning blame or liability. The TSIB will continue and build on the good work of the AAIB. ISASI 2017 August 22-24, San Diego, California Accident Investigations: Do They Really Make a Difference ISASI Web RoundUp News 4
Search for MH370 Continues The Australian Transport Safety Bureau published an operational report on September 21, 2016 to provide regular updates on the progress of the search effort for MH370, the Malaysian Airlines aircraft lost on March 8, 2014. Our work will continue to be thorough and methodical, so sometimes weekly progress may seem slow. Please be assured that work is continuing and is aimed at finding MH370 as quickly as possible. Recent developments--fugro Equator is in the search area and conducting search operations. Dong Hai Jiu 101 is at anchor off Fremantle awaiting the onset of better weather in the search area when it will recommence search operations. Underwater search operations--more than 110,000 square kilometres of the seafloor have been searched so far. During a meeting of Ministers from Malaysia, Australia and the People s Republic of China held on July 22, 2016, participants agreed that should the aircraft not be located in the current search area, and in the absence of credible new evidence leading to the identification of a specific location of the aircraft, the search would be suspended upon completion of the 120,000 square kilometer search area. The ATSB expects that searching the entire 120,000 square kilometer search area will be completed by or around December 2016. The Ministers went to great lengths to explain that this does not mean the termination of the search. Should credible new information emerge that can be used to identify the specific location of the aircraft, consideration will be given to determining next steps. NTSB Sees Less GA Accidents According to the latest aviation accident statistics released by the National Transportation Safety Board, Part 91 general-aviation accidents and fatalities continued their downward trend in 2015. And, just as in 2014, there were no fatalities for U.S. airlines. General Aviation flight hours were up in 2015, the total number of accidents were down, from 1,223 in 2014 to 1,209, as was the rate of accidents per 100,000 flight hours. Even though the fatality rate in 2015 was the lowest it has been in many years, 376 people still lost their lives, said NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart, which is why improving general aviation safety is on the NTSB s Most Wanted List of transportation safety improvements.. The accident rate for nonscheduled air carrier flights, or on-demand Part 135 operations (charter, air taxi, air tour, and air medical operations), was up, but only slightly. The 2015 statistical tables showing accidents, fatalities, and accident rates for major segments of U.S. civil aviation can be found at: http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/data/ Documents/2015_preliminary_aviation_statistics.xls. Robert Sumwalt Given Safety Standdown Award During its 20 th Safety Standdown, recently held in Wichita, Kansas, Bomdardier, an ISASI corporate member, presented long-time ISASI member and aviation safety advocate, Robert L. Sumwalt III with its annual Safety Standdown Award for his outstanding commitment to aviation safety and his continuous efforts to develop more robust safety programs within the aviation industry, reports flyingmag.com. Sumwalt, a two-term member of the U.S. National Transportation Board, is a former US Airways captain and business aviation pilot. As an airline pilot, he chaired the Human Factors and Training Group of the Air Line Pilots Association and cofounded that organization s critical incident response program. If you are not receiving an ISASI Update newsletter in your email messages, your email address listed with ISASI is incorrect. Please correct your contact information on the ISASI website membersonly section or contact the ISASI office. ISASI Web RoundUp News 5
MENASASI Holds Seminar In Morocco ISASI President Frank Del Gandio recently attended the Middle East and North Africa Society of Air Safety Investigators (MENASASI) third annual seminar in Rabat, Morocco. The seminar was held at the Centre d Acceuil et de Conference during September 20-21. There were 92 attendees and the meeting was hosted by the Moroccan AIB and MBarek Lafkir, Head of the AIB. Khalid Cherkaoui, Head of the Moroccan DGCA, welcomed the attendees. Ismaeil Al Hosani, MENASASI President, gave the opening remarks. The MENASASI society affiliation was signed August 26, 2013. In three years there has been rapid expansion in the society. There are presently 184 individual members and 19 corporate members. MENASASI is planning their fourth annual seminar for next year which will be held in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The 2018 ISASI International Seminar will be hosted by MENASASI in Dubai, UAE from October 28 through November 2. The members of MENASASI look forward to welcoming ISASI members from around the world to the United Arab Emirates. Photo Left: from the left, ISASI President Frank Del Gandio, MENASASI President Ismaeil Al Hosani, Khalid Cherkaoui, Head of DGCA, Morocco, and Abdulelah O. Felimban, Director General, KSA AIB. Above: Participants at the conference center. New ISASI Members Individual Akhaven-Zi, Damineh M., Victoria, BC, Canada Baichoo, Ashlesh, Triolet, Mauritius Island Burtonwood, Mark, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Calvert, Jason C., Wellington, New Zealand Candanedo,Panama City, Republic of Panama Chen, Pei-Wen, Prescott, AZ, USA Drouin, Dominic, Winnipeg, MB, Canada Faught, Mark R., Greenbush, MI, USA Glessing, Sterling I., Victoria, BC, Canada Hossain, Ishtiaque, Dhaka, Bangladesh Kapoor, Ashish, New Delhi, India Kiiru, Amy V., Nairobi, Kenya Knezevic, Jovan, Tessera Venezia, Italy Lassiter, Shenearah J., Washington, DC, USA Levanen, Troy S., Yacolt, WA, USA Mandich, Siobhan J., Paraparaumu, New Zealand Mastroberti, Marco, Rome, Italy Nitzshcner, Marco M., Köln, Germany Nixon, Daniel S., Scarborough, QLD, Australia Odonde, Tony, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Park, Junha, Paju, Republic of South Korea Tascione, Lauren M. Justin, TX, USA Thomas, Cameron W., Haverhill, MA, USA Tucker, Timothy W., Madison, AL, USA Wilson, Ian L., Peregian Beach, QLD, Australia Corporate Petroleum Air Services, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt Capt. Hesham R. El-Hamahmy, Corporate Safety Manager Capt. Sherif A. El-Bayoumy, Helicopter Safety Manager ISASI Web RoundUp News 6