Dear Members,

many dreams have come to an end in the past two weeks. With the liquidation of LGW and the end of SunExpress, the fate of two airlines has been sealed for now. TUIfly will shrink by half its size and pressure is also being built up at Laudamotion and Malta Air. A great many colleagues are therefore facing an unclear future. At this point I would like to confirm this: The pilots organized in the VC will stick together!

But there was also one good news this week which most of you have probably heard of already: At Lufthansa, a clear path for restoration has finally been paved. With the adoption of the state rescue package, the airline has gained a new perspective. Even if the results of our negotiations will be painful for many, our contribution to Lufthansa's future is inevitable.

In the current exceptional situation, flight safety proves to be a challenge of its own, too. Therefore, we have several safety topics in these Waypoints as well as the opportunity to test the app "EasyMemoryItem" free of charge for all VC members.

In addition, we would like to draw your attention to three surveys on the following topics:

• Psychological Impacts of COVID-19
• Aeronautical Decision-Making
• Educational interchange between pilots and air traffic controllers

You can also find more current news on our social media channels on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. We wish you a good read.

With kind regards,
Markus Wahl, VC Board and Team

Developments in the Airlines

Under the current situation we are in public demand on many fronts at the same time. In the German airline landscape things have evolved very rapidly and taken a turn for the worse. LGW, TUIfly, Ryanair/Malta Air, SunExpress Deutschland and Lufthansa have kept us pretty busy. Here is a selection of some of our current press releases:

25.06. Der Kranich bleibt in der Luft: VC begrüßt Zustimmung zum Rettungspaket (German) 

23.06. Nach SunExpress-Deutschland-Aus: Eigentümer müssen Verantwortung für den Erhalt der Arbeitsplätze übernehmen (German)

23.06. Ryanair abuses Corona to tighten the screws on Malta Air staff (English)

18.06. TUIfly-Aufsichtsrat begeht schweren Fehler mit Flottenreduzierung und Arbeitsplatzabbau (German)

15.06. Vereinigung Cockpit verurteilt Pläne zur LGW-Liquidierung als sozial verantwortungslos (German)

15.06. TUIfly: VC zu Ergebnissen des Runden Tisches im Wirtschaftsministerium Niedersachsen (German)

3 Months Free Trial of "EasyMemoryItem"-App

Dear colleagues,

the necessity of regular checks remains even in corona times. For all VC members, who would like to prepare a little more intensively for the next check, for example because of lack of practice, there is now the possibility for a 3 (+1) months free trial of the app "EasyMemoryItem"

Log in at www.easymemoryitem.com/vc until 15 July 2020 and follow the forwarding to the App-Store. If you are already training with "EasyMemoryItem", send your registration e-mail address to vc@easymemoryitem.com and you will automatically receive an extension! The free trial is of course also valid on the Android version which will be released in the next days.

General Assembly planned for 10 September

At the Board meeting on 24 June 2020, the new date of the VC General Assembly was set for Thursday 10 September 2020. We hope that the Corona situation will allow the meeting to take place.

Official preliminary Report on the Accident of PIA 8303 in Karachi

The Pakistan Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) has presented its preliminary report on the accident of Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 on 22 May 2020. Part 20 "Preliminary Findings" (page 10 onwards) of the report is particularly worth reading due to the description of the course of events.

According to the AAIB, after the approach into Karachi that was too steep and too fast, the engines of the Airbus A320 scraped along runway 25L because the landing gear had not been extended. During the subsequent go-around both engines failed on downwind at 2000ft and the crew declared an emergency. The aircraft crashed during the following attempt to land without engines 1340 meters before the threshold of runway 25L.

Read the entire report here.

Could this happen to you?

Excerpt from the German Aircraft Accident Investigation Agency Bulletin "Accidents and incidents during the operation of civil aircraft" (in German, page 10, departure of an A320 on 22 March 2020):

"During initial climb, the pilot flying ordered to set flaps to position 1. Instead of operating the flap lever, the pilot monitoring switched off engine No.1. This led to a loss of thrust. After that, he restarted engine No.1 and the flight was continued to the destination airport. The safety investigation was delegated to the aircraft owner state."

Especially in times of a low amount of flights, a certain loss of skill and knowledge is to be expected for everyone, even for routine tasks. Increased situational awareness in return to normal ops and awareness of safety risks is now increasingly important. See also the Flight Safety Special Newsletter dated 23 June 2020, which highlights selected safety aspects that are important when returning to normal flight operations. The challenges involved are as unique as the almost complete standstill of the global air traffic. The underlying EASA return to normal ops project is also actively supported by VC members in the context of safety risk management.

Mid Air Collision - Drone vs. Helicopter in Canada

During a joint operation of a drone and a police helicopter, a mid-air collision occurred in Canada in 300ft AGL. As a result, the helicopter had to make an emergency landing. This incident highlights the dangers of manned and unmanned aircraft operating in close proximity, even when they are operated together.

Survey: The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Pilot Mental Health and Wellbeing

Mental health can become a problem especially in times of crisis. In order to gain scientific knowledge, IFALPA recommends its member organisations and members to participate in the study on this topic conducted by aviation psychologist Karien Stadler. She will publish the results in an academic aviation publication and present them at the congress of the European Association of Aviation Psychology. The results will also be communicated to IFALPA.

The survey has a total of 25 questions, the deadline for participation ends on 30 June 2020.

Survey: Aeronautical Decision-Making, incl. Monitoring & Intervention in Practice

The Department of Psychology at the City, University of London is conducting a Joint Aviation Safety Survey on decision making in aviation. It is aimed at both civil and military professional pilots and air traffic controllers, their respective management levels, and regulatory authorities and organisations in the field of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Some of the contents:

• Monitoring and intervention during routine flights
• The pilot job and the roles as PM, PF, PIC and co-pilot
• Cooperation between pilots and air traffic controllers

The survey for pilots comprises 8 sections, each of which takes 2-5 minutes.

Click here for the survey.

Survey: Educational interchange between pilots and air traffic controllers

Two traffic controller trainees from the Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre are conducting research on the possibilities to promote cooperation between pilots and air traffic controllers by providing them with further opportunities to get an insight into what it is like to be on the other side of the radio. Topics include:

• Radio discipline, national languages, standard phraseology
• Flight phase in which misunderstandings occur most frequently
• Type and frequency of unrealistic clearances

The survey takes about 5-10 minutes.

Click here for the survey.