Sent to You as a Benefit of Your SFTE Membership www.sfte.org Join/Renew SFTE Membership International Flight Test News NASA's Newest Astronauts Ready for Space Station, Moon, and Mars Missions – Houston, TX 13 Astronaut candidates (ASCANs) from Group 22 graduated from NASA's astronaut training program on 10 January 2020. Nicknamed the "Turtles," the Group was made up of 11 NASA candidates and two from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Of the 13 incredible backgrounds of these new Astronauts, five have backgrounds in Flight Test: Raja Chari, graduated from the USN Test Pilot School (TPS) in Patuxent River, MD. Chari served as the commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards AAFB. Matthew Dominick, also graduated from the USN TPS and was a test pilot for the Carrier Suitability department at NAS Patuxent River. Bob Hines, graduated from USAF TPS and served as a test pilot on all models of the F-15 while earning a master's in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama. He has deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Prior to being selected as an astronaut, he was a Federal Aviation Administration test pilot and a NASA research pilot at Johnson. Jasmin Moghbeli, distinguished graduate of the USN TPS. She came to NASA from Yuma, AZ, where she tested H-1 helicopters and served as the quality assurance and avionics officer for Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1. Joshua Kutryk, holds a master's degrees in space studies, flight test engineering, and defense studies. Prior to joining CSA, Kutryk worked as an experimental test pilot and a fighter pilot in Cold Lake, Alberta, where he led the unit responsible for the operational flight testing of fighter aircraft in Canada. NBC News Pilotless Air Taxi from China’s Ehang takes flight in the US for the first time – Raleigh, NC Chinese drone maker Ehang demonstrated its autonomous air taxi in the US for the first time. The all- electric two-seater took flight for five minutes above a test track south of Raleigh, NC, on Tuesday afternoon, with approximately 100 people, including the state’s governor, Roy Cooper, looking on. It represents the first time that Ehang has received permission to fly from the US FAA, and it helped set the stage for it to receive approval for passenger demonstrations in the near future. The Ehang 216, powered by 16 electric rotors, flew along a pre-planned route at over 80 mph. The aircraft weighs about 600 pounds and can carry another 500 to 600 pounds of cargo or passengers, the company says. Ehang says it has conducted over 2,000 trial flights in China, Austria, the Netherlands, Qatar, the UAE, and now in the US. Ehang recently received approval from Chinese regulators to launch a commercial air mobility service in Guangzhou. As part of the pilot program, Ehang is working with the Guangzhou government to set up an air traffic control center. On the passenger front, Ehang has said it plans to use the pilot program to test more flight routes and “vertiports” from which its electric aircraft would take off and land. The company also plans to cargo deliveries of low-weight medical supplies, including blood and organs for emergency use. The Verge Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP) STRESS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION INFORMATION FOR FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS Share the following information/suggestions with those close to you. • Offer your assistance. Realize a crewmember who has been involved in an accident may not know what he or she needs or wants. • If you don’t know how to help, call for assistance from the CIRP. • Spend time with the traumatized person even if you don’t say anything. Just be there. • Listen carefully without offering advice. Don’t try to “fix” the situation. • Don’t take the person’s anger or other feelings personally. • Be prepared for mood swings. People experience trauma and cope with its aftermath in different ways. Respect these differences. • Give the traumatized person private time. • Go for a walk together outdoors. • Help them with everyday tasks. Most people will not call and ask for help. • Create an environment in which it feels safe to share. Don’t attempt to force traumatized persons to talk if they don’t want to. • Be sensitive to the fact that adhering to a pre-established routine sometimes helps reorient the individual to prior functioning levels. • A sensitive touch, a caring embrace, or someone sitting quietly nearby may also be supportive while individuals sift through some of their own issues. • Most of the time, a barrage of help is available immediately after a traumatic event. But, as days and weeks go on, your friend or peer may need your help even more. Stay in touch! • Don’t try to analyze the behaviors that may become apparent. Acceptance and support are the key elements of providing comfort. • If a loved one has died, we cannot make grief less painful. Avoid saying “I’m sorry for your loss.” Instead, simply say how sorry you are that they are going through such a difficult time. • Don’t avoid talking about the event because you don’t know what to say or fear you may say the wrong thing. A sincere expression of concern or asking how things are for them is very beneficial. • Don’t tell them that they are “lucky it wasn’t worse.” Traumatized people are not consoled by such statements. Instead, tell them that you are sorry such an event has occurred and you want to understand and help. • Don’t tell them, “It is God’s will.” They may not share your concept of life and God. • Don’t say, “You should be over this by now.” People may take months or years to recover from a serious trauma or the loss of a loved one. • Don’t say, “Everything will be okay.” You don’t know that it will. • Don’t say, “I know how you feel.” No one knows how anyone else feels without listening carefully. • Don’t talk about your own incidents or accidents even though theirs may remind you of yours. You may be surprised how difficult this is to do. • Don’t ask how they feel unless you really want to know and have time to listen. • Keep “curious questions” for your own self-satisfaction in their appropriate place. A later time might be more beneficial to everyone. Ask them if they mind talking about the event before you ask questions. Explain why you want to know what happened. Remember, CIRP volunteers are not interested in details of the event, but only reactions to the event. • Resist telling people how they should feel and try to let them know you have heard how they do feel. • Call for help for yourself when you feel overwhelmed. Remember, the CIRP is also designed to help family members and significant others. SFTE and SETP have been involved with CIRP for several years and have been providing assistance as requested for different incidences. The SFTE Board in 2020 will be trying to further organize and educate our members on what CIRP is and the benefits it can provide our members. Thanks to Boeing’s efforts over the last several years, numerous SETP and SFTE members have been trained, but the implementation by the two societies still needs improvement. SFTE is planning to continue development of this benefit for our members down to the chapter level. More information will follow in subsequent messages and will soon be posted to our website. New Episode - Flight Test Safety Podcast Channel The Flight Test Safety Committee has begun producing a monthly podcast to share valuable, relevant, and helpful information across our audience of SETP, SFTE and AIAA members and anyone who is interested in safety. Each podcasts will contain information from the latest issue of our digital publication, the Flight Test Safety Fact, and include a special topic of the month. These Specialty topics will include presentations from recent Symposia, interviews, panel discussions and much more. Click the links below to listen to the Second Episode of the Flight Test Safety Channel! Listen on iTunes Listen on Google Play Listen on Spotify Listen on Podbean 2020 Flight Test Safety Workshop - Call for Presentations 2020 Flight Test Safety Workshop 5-7 May 2020 Denver, Colorado DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Denver Tech Center Gene Kranz famously coined the term “Tough and Competent” in his “Kranz Dictum” to describe the “price of admission” to the ranks of NASA Mission Control. Would you argue with the guy that was central to bringing the Apollo 13 crew home safe? For him, “Tough” related to uncompromised responsibilities, and total accountability for actions. “Competent” related to knowledge and skill, and never being deficient in either. Transposing this to SMS Safety Promotion suggests that we are sufficiently trained to perform to the competencies required by our flight test organization and the SMS (you do have SMS don’t you?). Training underpins all critical functions and effective communications enables awareness and continuous learning. The 2020 edition of the Flight Test Safety Workshop will anchor on training, education and communication as it relates to flight test safety. Come join us in the Mile High City as we focus on Safety Promotion, the 4th major component of the Safety Management System (SMS). We want to hear from test organizations on their successes or challenges in providing necessary training for testers and the means to ensure safety-critical information is shared broadly.