unaligned

A federal investigation is underway into how a Southwest Airlines passenger jet suffered substantial damage after experiencing a rare phenomenon known as a Dutch roll at almost 38,000 feet. Flight N8825Q, a Boeing 737 Max carrying 175 passengers and six crew, was traveling from Phoenix to Oakland on May 25 when its tail began to yaw or wag left and right while the aircraft’s wings rocked side to side. Dutch roll is the name given to this potentially dangerous lateral asymmetric movement, supposedly inspired by the movements of ice skaters. The FAA said in a statement Thursday that it was working with Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the cause of the fault. Boeing declined to comment. A preliminary report from the FAA said the aircraft “experienced a Dutch roll, regained control and post flight inspection revealed the damage to the standby PCU,” referring to the power-control unit. The plane managed to land safely in Oakland and no injuries were reported. Federal aviation regulations state that a Dutch roll that happens below the allowed speed “must be positively damped with controls free, and must be controllable with normal use of the primary controls without requiring exceptional pilot skill.” In most cases an aircraft’s yaw dampener should correct the lateral movement. <br/>

A federal investigation is underway after a Southwest Airlines flight plunged toward the ocean off the coast of a Hawaiian island. The incident occurred April 11 aboard Southwest Flight 2786, but only came to light publicly on Friday after Bloomberg reported Southwest sent a memo to pilots about the incident. Bloomberg reported the memo indicated a “newer” first officer was flying at the time and inadvertently pushed forward on the control column. Flight tracking data from ADS-B Exchange shows the plane dropping at a rate of more than 4,000 feet per minute while only 600 feet above sea level. The Boeing 737 Max 8 flew as low as 400 feet before rapidly climbing. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than Safety,” the airline said. “Through our robust Safety Management System, the event was addressed appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement.” In a brief statement to CNN, Southwest acknowledged the incident but did not address the memo or why the incident took place. The FAA said it learned of the incident immediately and opened an investigation. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association has not commented. The flight was an inter-island hop from the main Honolulu airport to Lihue airport on the neighboring island of Kauai. The internal memo said the pilots decided to abort a landing there in bad weather, according to Bloomberg. Tracking data shows the plane then returned to Honolulu. In December 2022, a United Airlines flight departing a different Hawaiian airport also dove toward the ocean in bad weather, coming 748 feet from disaster, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB concluded the pilots miscommunicated about the settings of the airplane’s flaps. The NTSB has not yet said whether it will investigate this latest incident.<br/>

Pilots at WestJet Encore pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), have ratified a new five-year contract for pay increases with Canadian regional carrier. WestJet Encore operates a network of regional flights that serve the mainline WestJet Airlines, which is owned by Onex Corp.<br/>

Stephen Jones, the outgoing CEO of Flair Airlines, has a message for Canadian air travelers: the country needs viable low-cost carriers. But Jones warns under the current rules, trying to compete with what he calls the Big Two — Air Canada and WestJet — is "a really tough game." The 63-year-old airline executive, who's stepping down at the end of the month, dropped by CBC's Vancouver newsroom for a candid conversation about the future of Flair and the airline business in this country. "It's a tough industry globally, but certainly here in Canada, the industry has been dominated by the two big players for decades now," said Jones. "We think that Canadians were paying too much for too long and so we needed to come in and disrupt it. And I think we've done that." Flair promises customers "unbeatable fares every day." The Edmonton-based company says it operates 20 aircraft, serving 36 destinations operating, on average, 450 flights a week. But with the demise of Lynx Air earlier this year — joining the list of Canadian discount airlines that couldn't stay in business, Flair remains the only ultra-low cost airline flying within Canada. The problem has been flagged by Competition Bureau Canada, which said last month that low-cost carriers do lead to reduced fares, but "seem to face more difficulties in Canada compared to other countries."<br/>

IndiGo operator Interglobe Aviation said on Friday it would receive compensation from Pratt & Whitney through its affiliate for powder metal issues that grounded some of its aircraft. The company, which did not reveal the amount, said it will receive the compensation through the Pratt & Whitney affiliate, International Aero Engines. Over 70 IndiGo aircraft have been grounded due to Pratt engine issues, with more than 30 on ground due to a powder metal defect, while the rest are impacted by older issues. Pratt & Whitney said in July last year that a rare powder metal defect could lead to cracking of some engine components in the twin-engined Airbus A320neo and called for accelerated inspections. The checks are expected to lead to groundings of 600-700 of Airbus jets between 2023 and 2026.<br/>

Virgin Australia has made a last-minute decision to delay putting a controversial pilots’ enterprise deal to vote, after outcry about its plan to cut days off and concerns that pilot rostering was nearing unsafe limits. The decision comes as Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Casa) officials flagged they were aware of fatigue concerns over Virgin Australia’s pilot rostering after the Guardian revealed internal disquiet on the issue among senior pilots and frustration at what they felt was an inadequate response from management. Matthew Bouttell, the executive manager of Casa’s regulatory oversight division, told a Senate estimates hearing last month “there has been adjustments to [Virgin’s] roster where they’re getting closer to the limits of that fatigue risk management system”. Some pilots alleged they are routinely rostered to work maximum shift lengths – 12 hours and longer in the event of delays – on back-to-back days, while allowing for just the legal minimum rest period of 12 hours. Bouttell added that, in a recent 28-day pilot roster period, 45 crew removed themselves from duty due to fatigue – just under 5% of pilots at the airline. Casa later released a statement tempering the concern raised in Bouttell’s comments about rostering closer to approved anti-fatigue limits. It insisted Virgin was still operating on the safe side of the limits. However, Casa said “we are engaging with Virgin Australia on [fatigue] claims raised through the media”.<br/>

Canberra has its second post-pandemic international route with the commencement of a Batik Air service to Denpasar. Flight ID6015 arrived in Canberra just after 6am on Friday morning, 14 June, on board the 737-800 PK-LDK, and took off for Bali at 9:16am. Batik Air will operate three return flights per week between Canberra and Denpasar, with 162 seats in each direction including 12 business and 150 economy. The Canberra-Denpasar service comes after Fiji Airways became the first airline to offer international flights outside of Canberra post-pandemic last July. “The arrival of Batik Air offers Canberrans, and a million others in the wider region, access to a global network of more than 50 destinations, including Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and India,” the airport said in a press release. “Canberra is Batik Air’s fifth Australian destination, and the airport’s second international airline, with Fiji Airways offering a direct service to Nadi three times a week.” The route, announced in February, will open up more international connection options for Canberrans, with Denpasar as of this year hosting flights to 43 non-ANZ destinations.<br/>