Aviation Industry Updates: Jan 9, 2024

Pilot Accused Of Threatening To Shoot Delta Captain Midflight Calls It A ‘misunderstanding'

KEY POINTS:

• Attorneys clashed Thursday in a Utah courtroom over opposing characterizations of a fight between two commercial airline pilots in which the co-pilot allegedly threatened to shoot the captain for suggesting they divert the flight for a passenger’s medical emergency.
• Former Delta Air Lines pilot Jonathan J. Dunn, 42, made his first federal court appearance Thursday in Salt Lake City after he was indicted by a grand jury on Oct. 18, 2023, and charged with interfering with a flight crew. His lawyer, John W. Huber, who was once Utah’s top federal prosecutor, tried to characterize the altercation as “a misunderstanding," while prosecutors described it as a “grave offense.”
• The heated argument had erupted in the cockpit of a 2022 flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, on which Dunn was the first officer, or co-pilot.
• The captain, who is not named in court documents, had proposed diverting their commercial flight to Grand Junction, Colorado, if the passenger’s condition worsened, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges. Dunn objected and threatened multiple times to shoot the captain, whom he accused of “going crazy,” the documents state.
• If convicted, Dunn could face up to 20 years in prison. Judge Jared C. Bennett set his trial date for March 12.
• Dunn acknowledged threatening the captain but said his remarks were intended as a joke, according to new court documents detailing the altercation. The captain did not perceive the threats as a joke and told authorities that he was concerned Dunn would use his firearm to “relieve” him of command of the aircraft.
• Huber, Dunn's attorney, argued Thursday that he should not be considered dangerous, reminding the judge that his client has no criminal history.

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Boeing Faces Fresh Scrutiny Over 737 Max Planes

KEY POINTS:

• The big picture: Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave airlines authorization on Monday to begin inspections of 737 MAX-9 planes after they were grounded following the Friday incident aboard an Alaska Airlines plane.
• The FAA said on Monday that all 171 737 MAX-9 jets worldwide would remain grounded until operators inspected the vehicles' left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components and fasteners.
• Why it matters: It's the latest problem to hit Boeing and the 737 MAX, which were previously grounded following crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed a total of 346 people.
• The FAA cleared 737 MAX planes for flight in the U.S. in November 2020, though the fallout from the crashes brought about the resignation of top Boeing executives, a criminal investigation and a massive financial hit for the company.
• It wasn't immediately clear what caused the exit door plug to suddenly detach on Friday, but it followed an earlier issue with 737s that saw Boeing advise airlines last month to conduct inspections of the jets for potential loose hardware in the aircrafts' rudder control systems.
  State of play: United Airlines said earlier on Monday that it found loose bolts on the door plugs of several of these jets during inspections. Alaska Airlines announced Monday night that "reports from our technicians indicate some loose hardware was visible on some aircraft."
• Both airlines have canceled hundreds of flights due to the grounding.
• Meanwhile, the door plug that detached from the Alaska Airlines plane that's become the focus of a federal investigation was found in a backyard by a schoolteacher identified as "Bob" in Portland, Oregon, National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said at a Sunday night briefing.

Axios

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One Of Aviation’s Biggest Challenges Played Out On A Tokyo Runway

KEY POINTS:

• This week’s dramatic plane accident in Tokyo, which claimed five lives, encapsulates decades of progress in air safety. It also highlights one of the biggest outstanding risks in aviation. Authorities across the globe are aware of the need to prevent runway incursions - lessons from this crash may bring us a step closer to eliminating them.
• Early on Tuesday (Jan 2) evening, a Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 landing at Haneda Airport’s runway 34R struck a much smaller De Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprop on the ground, killing five Japanese Coast Guard crew. As soon as the two aircraft touched, flight and cabin crews were racing against the clock. The jet was already in flames before the pilots could bring flight JL516 to a halt. Broken landing gear and damaged engines made stopping the 200-tonne aircraft even harder - both are used to slow down once a plane hits the tarmac.
• Such an accident should never have happened. Preliminary information indicates the Dash 8 may have also been on the runway, likely in preparation for takeoff en route to provide supplies to northwest Japan, struck by an earthquake on Monday.
• Japanese officials said Tuesday evening they were investigating the cause of the incident and how it could have been prevented. The transport ministry’s safety board will seek to determine whether any miscommunication occurred in the air-traffic control operation, with NHK reporting that the smaller plane was ordered to hold short of the runway while the larger aircraft was given permission to land.

Channel News Asia

How American Airlines Is Using Machine Learning To Reduce Taxi Times By 20%

KEY POINTS:

• Launched back in 2021 for testing, American Airlines’ Smart Gating technology was implemented during the hectic Thanksgiving travel season this year, with the system reducing taxiing times and limiting carbon dioxide emissions.
• According to the airline, Smart Gating, developed by its in-house Technology and Operations team, slashed the time spent on the taxiway at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) by up to 20%, reducing systemwide taxiing time by up to 17 hours each day. The system utilizes a mix of real-time flight information and other operational data to ensure aircraft are assigned the closest gate, limiting the need to taxi further across the terminal and reducing gating conflicts by 50%.
• Smart Gating has since been deployed across its major hubs at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), Miami International Airport (MIA), Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA), and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), with the system adjusted to meet each airports varying requirements.
• In a statement shared by the carrier, Vice President of Operations Planning and Performance, Anne Moroni, noted American Airlines’ continued commitments to innovating its operations and that it had become a “game changer” at its largest bases.

Simple Flying

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