Jordan Aviation Safety Department

ISSUE 16_ 03.05.2021

JAV Safety Newsletter Inside this issue

1. How Airlines Are Helping Tackle India’s COVID-19 Spike The Purpose of this Newsletter is to keep you aware of the 2. TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330neo latest news and updates related to Damaged In Guinea-Bissau the industry, which will make us 3. Chinese GX Airlines forced to cancel keeping high Safety Standard. flight after passenger throws coins into aircraft’s engine

Issue 16_03.05.2021 _page 1-5 HowTechnology Airlines at Arework Helping for you Tackle India’s COVID-19 Spike As India continues to fight a tsunami of new cases, airlines have stepped up to provide transport and logistics. From transporting healthcare workers for free to flying invaluable oxygen tanks, airlines have been flying internationally and domestically to boost medical supplies. Let’s find out more

Oxygen about how airlines are helping tackle India’s COVID-19 wave.

Currently, the most pressing need across India is a boost in oxygen supplies across the country to facili- tate this, airlines have begun flying special cargo flights to countries or companies offering or selling oxygen. Considering planes are the fastest way to move cargo, airlines have been stepping up.

SpiceXpress, the cargo arm of SpiceJet, transported 1,000 oxygen concentrators from yesterday, according to Mint. In addition to this flight, the carrier brought in another 800 from Hong In a statement, CEO Ajay Singh said, Kong last week as well. The airline has plans to fly in as many as 20,000 oxygen concentrators from vendors “Considering the current situation across the country, our across the globe as soon as possible focus is to airlift as many oxygen concentrators, BiPAPs and due to the demand in India. other medical devices as possible to cater to the increasing demand. SpiceJet and SpiceHealth are collaborating actively to contribute in our country’s dedicated efforts to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Issue 16_03.05.2021 _page 2-5 How Airlines Are Helping Tackle India’s COVID-19 Spike Cont. Staff

With new emergency hospitals and emergency facilities being set up every day, airlines are offering to help fly frontline healthcare workers. is currently offering all doctors and Vaccines nurses working for government organizations free tickets across India. Depending on seat availability, the One of the sharpest tools to fight the pandemic has been vaccines. To this healthcare workers can book any available flights when travel- end, nearly every Indian airline has ing for service. This includes a return flight once the duty is been flying COVID-19 vaccines from the Serum Insitute’s Pune mega hub over. and from Bharat Biotech’s facility in Hyderabad. Currently, IndiGo has In addition to offering tickets, Vistara also plans to work with emerged as the largest vaccine trans- porter across the country, accounting government hospitals and facilities to move cargo across its for 36.5% of all vaccines flown as of network. This includes any urgent medical equipment required April 12th. and is subject to available space on each flight. For now, India continues to add record levels for daily cases, further pressuring Currently, the Indian Air Force (IAF) remains the largest oper- the buckling healthcare system. However, support from airlines and ator of medical supply flights. The IAF is flying in oxygen cylin- companies is proving crucial to saving ders from Dubai, Singapore, Germany, and many other coun- as many lives as possible. tries to cope with the surge. Ref https://simpleflying.com/how-airlines-are-helping -tackle-indias-covid-19-spike/

Issue 16_03-05.2021 _page 3-5

TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330neo Dam- aged In Guinea-Bissau

Yesterday, a TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330neo sustained damage after a ground collision at Osvaldo Vieira International Airport (OXB) in Guinea-Bissau. The impact with a lamppost

What happened? while taxiing caused the aircraft involved to lose one of its wingtips. Portuguese flag carrier TAP is one of two airlines to fly from Lisbon to Osvaldo Vieira International Airport, along with euroAtlantic Airways. OXB serves Bissau, which is the capital of Guinea-Bissau, in West Africa. Yester- day, TAP flew an Airbus A330-900 on this route, touching down around half an hour late at 13:50 local time.

However, it appears that the aircraft ran into trouble while taxiing from OXB’s runway 03/21 to its stand. Indeed, Portuguese news site RTP reported that, while undergoing parking maneuvers, the flight in question struck a lamppost with its wingtip. This ground collision damaged the aircraft, causing its left RTP added that, with the plane unable to leave Bissau, the ‘sharklet’ to be sheared off by the impact. The airline confirmed to airline was sending a replacement aircraft out to operate the Portuguese news agency Lusa that: return flight back to Lisbon. This would also allow a mainte-

“The 232 passengers who were nance team to travel there to undertake the necessary repairs to onboard disembarked smoothly, and the aircraft to return it to service. Thankfully, the plane in their safety was never at stake. The causes will be properly investigated.” question has only been damaged cosmetically.

REF

https://simpleflying.com/tap-a330neo-damaged-guinea-bissau/

Issue 16_03-05.2021 _page 4-5 Chinese GX Airlines forced to cancel flight after passenger throws coins into aircraft’s engine

Guangxi Beibu Gulf Airlines (GX Airlines) was forced to cancel one of its domestic flights between Weifang and , China after a passenger threw coins into the aircraft’s engine. Many Chinese peo- What can to do to prevent Aircraft engine FOD? ple believe that tossing or throwing coins towards statues or bells means “good luck” and ward off evil The first step to preventing FOD is under- standing what it is, and what to do about it. spirits. That means everyone involved in aircraft operations, from pilots to maintenance crews Airport staff spotted the coin thrower and alerted should be provided with copies of the standard operating procedures. For example, mainte- the crew. The man, identified as mister Wang, was nance personnel should remove tools and detained by police. He admitted tossing a handful materials from work areas when they finish a task, and everyone should be on the lookout of coins wrapped in red paper into the engine. for foreign objects on airfields, A simple gesture like picking up an item off of the The airline was forced to cancel the flight, and the runway can be a lifesaver. 148 passengers had to wait until the next morning Before any initiation of air operations, a me- for the next flight. chanic, a pilot, or an inspector needs to make sure that the area where the aircraft is going to operate is clean – free of stones, sands, metal Coins in a aircraft engines can damage the blades or particles, wires or anything else that could even cause a fire. come in contact with the engine or the aircraft.

Ref https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/guangxi-beibu-gulf- Airlines airlines/forced-to-cancel-flight-after-passenger-throws-coins- into-aircrafts-engine/ http://www.jordanaviation.jo/ https://www.facebook.com/JordanAviationTours/ Head Office- Um Uthaina, King Fasal Bin Abdulaziz Sreet Contact Us; [email protected] +962 6 55 01 760

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