Introduction

This edition of the Aviation Watchdog Report is a bit of a diversion from the usual format. As we hope you have seen on our website or social media, the Foundation for Aviation Safety is hosting an Aviation Safety Conference on October 1-2 in Seattle. We mentioned this last month and since then the details have fallen into place and the schedule is nearing completion. We have an impressive lineup of keynote speakers and session presenters. We are putting a lot of energy into this event, so the usual articles have been limited to the “In The News” feature and some additional information about the conference. Registration is open so please sign up and become part of a very important conversation. After reading the conference details you will definitely want to be in Seattle on October 1!

As always, we thank you for your support of this foundation and aviation safety. Keeping our national airspace safe is extremely important for every person who travels by air, works in the industry, or knows someone who does. Practically speaking, this means aviation touches nearly everyone in the country and literally billions of others around the world. As we detail incidents, accidents, and other problems throughout the aviation ecosystem we understand how important it is to be well informed about the hazards and be advocates for improvement in areas that need attention. This is our primary mission and one that we are devoted to lead. We honor those who work hard to keep us safe and for those who have lost loved ones in aviation accidents and thus suffered a very personal tragedy.

Thank you for reading and I’ll be delighted to talk with you in Seattle!

Ed Pierson
Executive Director

On October 1-2 the Foundation for Aviation Safety will host an aviation safety conference at the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Seattle’s Southport. Our goal is to provide an open and honest conversation about aviation safety by gathering industry professionals from multiple disciplines throughout the national airspace system.

Conference registration is open and we hope to see you there! We have lined up an impressive list of presenters you will be hearing from as we work towards figuring out what’s broken and how to fix it.

Keynote Speakers
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Two of the most respected aviation insiders in the U.S. will be joining us to offer their perspective. We’re honored to bring you discussions with these experienced aviators and media creators.

Juan Browne —

Juan Browne is an experienced aviator, investigative aviation journalist, and YouTube creator best known for his Blancolirio channel, where he produces in‑depth accident analyses and aviation safety content.

Juan grew up in Grass Valley, California, working at the local airport pumping gas, washing planes, and restoring airtankers. He completed U.S. Air Force ROTC before entering military aviation and served 10 years flying a diverse fleet of aircraft including the C-141 Starlifter. This was followed by a 25-year airline career, most recently flying the Boeing 777. Juan also has extensive experience as an aircraft owner and has flown numerous light and vintage aircraft models.

Juan launched his YouTube channel in 2007 and now has over 630,000 subscribers, has produced over 2,200 videos and garnered 273,000,000 views. His no-nonsense incident and accident reviews reflect his commitment to saving lives through honest evaluation and by offering recommendations to all that touch the aviation industry in any capacity.

Dan Millican—

Dan Millican is a filmmaker, television showrunner, production company owner, and an avid aviation enthusiast. Dan is also a pilot earning certificates in both fixed wing and helicopters. He became a pilot in 2015 in order to fly drones legally for his production company. He immediately took the skies and continued his training, achieving his instructor rating in 2019. He and his film crew travel the country for film shoots in his own Cessna 210. After becoming a pilot, he combined his two passions—filmmaking and aviation, to create the TakingOff channel, which currently has over 250,000 subscribers along with a new channel in 2025 called In The Hangar. His factual and straightforward reviews of aviation accidents and current events are always presented professionally and compassionately.

Millican runs a film and video production company out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, specializing in corporate communications and television production. Serendipitous Films has developed a reputation for over-delivering creative video content, while being fun to work with. Among his strengths are resourcefulness to produce high value on sometimes limited budgets, as well as his people skills working with both professional and non-professional talent. Dan has won over 40 industry awards for his work in film, TV commercials, and corporate video.

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The keynote speakers are impressive but only the tip of the iceberg. Our planned breakout sessions include topics that cover a wide range of aviation activities and will be led by experts in their respective fields. FAS has drawn on aerospace engineers, aviation attorneys, manufacturing and supply chain veterans, air quality professionals, drone operations specialists, aircraft certification experts, professional pilots, and air traffic controllers. Even more importantly, you will hear from crash victim family members who are fighting for the truth behind these disasters and will forever live with the consequences of aviation safety failures. If you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

Here is a list of the planned sessions. Most will be offered on both conference days so attendees will have the opportunity to tailor their conference schedule. Final details are still underway, and these sessions are subject to change when necessary.

Aircraft Design & Certification Pressure – Will “PRISM” Cause More Crashes?
Manufacturing Mayhem
Supply Chain – Bottlenecks & Delayed Deliveries
Quality Control “Escapes”
Flight Operations – Trusting Each Other
FAA Continued Operational Safety – Unsafe Conditions & Dangerous Deadlines
Human Factors – Not Just for Pilots
Air Traffic Control – The Money Pit
Government Oversight – Regulators or Cheerleaders?
Air Quality – Toxic Fumes Not Dirty Socks
NTSB & The Broken ICAO International Accident Investigation Process
Aviation Law – A Duty of Care
Drone Safety – "But I Want to Fly My Drone"
The Dunseith Debacle – Is It Really Turbulence?
Part 91 General Aviation & Part 135 Commercial On-Demand – Systemic Issues
Safety Reporting & Slippery Statistics
Increasing Production – A Good Idea?

This conference presents a unique opportunity to not only attend presentations by these aviation experts but be given the opportunity to ask questions and express opinions or concerns. Aviation is extremely unforgiving and the safety margin we’ve earned through decades of experience is under stress. Together we can share knowledge and experiences that can translate into important safety improvements.

Please make plans to come to the beautiful Hyatt Regency Lake Washington on October 1-2 to participate in this extraordinary event hosted by the Foundation for Aviation Safety. Registration is open and seats are limited so please follow this link to sign up. We hope to see you in Seattle and please come with your questions.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

IN THE NEWS

Vietnam Airlines 787 Suffers Runway Overrun and Tail Strike During Takeoff in Munich

A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787‑9 departing Munich on 15 August 2026 experienced a serious takeoff accident involving a runway overrun, delayed rotation, and tail strike before becoming airborne. The aircraft, operating Flight VN34 to Hanoi, accelerated down Runway 26L and reached V1, but then acceleration slowed as it neared the end of the runway. Instead, it continued past the runway threshold, traveled approximately 400 feet into and past the paved overrun area before aggressively rotating and climbing away. Runway 26L is 13,000 feet long.
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After takeoff cockpit indications alerted the crew to a tail strike and abnormal tire pressures. It has also been reported that brake temperatures were peaked at the maximum. The pilots leveled off, entered a holding pattern, and dumped fuel for nearly two hours before returning to Munich. Two low passes allowed ground crews to visually inspect the landing gear, and the aircraft landed safely on Runway 26R although multiple tires were destroyed. No injuries were reported among the 271 passengers and 16 crew, but the aircraft sustained significant structural damage to its aft fuselage, landing gear, and tail strike protection structure.
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Investigators are examining whether incorrect takeoff performance data—such as weight‑and‑balance entries, thrust settings, or assumed temperature calculations—may have been used. Additionally, skid marks from the tires were clearly visible near the end of the runway in media reporting of this incident, suggesting a possible brake malfunction of some kind. Dragging brakes would explain the slow acceleration although there is no other information to verify this.
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Investigators from Germany’s BFU and Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority are investigating. The BFU has collected runway debris and documented damage to approach lighting structures struck during the overrun. Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has ordered a broader review of airline training, dispatch procedures, and operational oversight.
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The final report is expected to provide detailed insight into the chain of events that resulted in this runway overrun—a rare but high‑risk failure mode in commercial aviation.

New Airworthiness Directive Addresses Possible Fatigue Cracking in Boeing 787-8/9/10s

A new final rule, FAA-2026-2295-0001, focuses on 787 shim gaps that may have exceeded engineering standards. The FAA states, “high pull up forces on the components may cause fatigue cracks to form at the fastener holes.” The AD requires repetitive ultrasonic inspections and other detailed inspections of various splice plates, spar terminal fittings, lower chords, and jack pads for any fatigue cracking.

The Foundation for Aviation Safety submitted a comment to the FAA when this AD was in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) stage. Below is the entire comment:

‍"This sounds a lot like what Boeing whistleblower Sam Salehpour reported during his April 17, 2024, testimony before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI). At the time, Boeing vehemently denied there were any structural problems with 787 airplanes.

According to the CNBC article from April 15, 2024, "In a roughly two-hour presentation with reporters on Monday, two Boeing engineering managers detailed the company’s stress and safety tests for the 787, which include testing the plane for 165,000 cycles, each meant to provide an equivalent of a flight, with varying conditions. In addition, the fuselage skin was struck by a 300-pound pendulum, the engineers said.

Steve Chisholm, chief engineer for Boeing’s mechanical and structural engineering, said Boeing created damage to fuselage panels in intense tests that were repeated more times than what aircraft would experience in service, 'and the damage didn’t grow.'"

This is the same problem, just in a different location on the plane. Had Boeing acted on prior warnings from their employees, this unsafe condition could have been mitigated years ago. Now we are back to delaying repairs.

What is the FAA doing to hold Boeing accountable for these ongoing manufacturing quality defects?"

‍The final rule includes an FAA response to our comment that illustrates how feckless the agency is when it comes to holding Boeing accountable for their serious manufacturing errors. Here is their response:

‍The Foundation for Aviation Safety asked what the FAA is doing to hold Boeing accountable for ongoing manufacturing quality defects. The question did not request a change to this AD, and the FAA has not changed the AD as a result.

‍In omitting most of the comment in their reply, the FAA disregarded the obvious: they should have investigated the whistleblowers claims years ago which may have eliminated the source of this structural problem. Since the question did not strictly address the AD, it was not addressed at all.

Boeing Sells Three Subsidiaries to Archer

Boeing has sold off Wisk, Insitu, and SkyGrid to shed non‑core ventures and refocus capital and leadership attention on its core commercial and defense aircraft programs during a period of intense financial pressure, most of which is of their own making of course. If this improves their commercial aircraft manufacturing process it is a good move.
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Archer, the air-taxi company, has agreed to acquire all three Boeing subsidiaries, giving Boeing an ownership stake instead of purchasing with cash. Boeing will be paid mostly with new Archer shares and is expected to own about 16.5% of Archer. Boeing also agreed to invest up to $55 million in Archer’s next funding round. The deal lets Boeing reduce its advanced air-mobility holdings while retaining strategic exposure and access to Wisk’s autonomous flight technology. Wisk is best known for developing autonomous, electric air‑taxi aircraft aimed at creating a fully self‑flying urban air‑mobility service.
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Insitu operates in 35 countries and has built over 3,500 ISR drones. This gives Archer a revenue-generating defense business while its Midnight air taxi awaits commercial passenger certification.

SPEEA Rejects Boeing Contract Offer

Boeing’s engineers, scientists, analysts, designers, technicians and other specialists voted down contract offers from the company and authorized a strike, according to the workers’ union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace-IFPTE Local 2001. The current contracts expire on October 6.
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The vote to reject the contract was overwhelming despite the 29.4% pay raise over the next four years. There were some inflation adjustment caps that were unpopular; however, the overriding concerns seem to be around company culture and mistrust.
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According to My Everett News, Boeing Vice President Bobbie Egan wrote:
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“With the disappointing vote results, we are now diverting those dollars to execute our plan and prepare for a potential strike. That means the retroactive pay and higher incentive plan target for 2026 are no longer available."
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This statement clearly delineates the Boeing priorities. Rather than negotiate further (there are no talks scheduled) the company has reverted to strike preparations. This is an indication of the company culture and how it treats the nearly 17,000 employees within SPEEA.
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As reported by The Stand, union negotiators explained “It’s important to acknowledge how we got here; this mistrust was built brick-by-brick over the past several contracts. SPEEA-represented jobs eroded, quality and safety took a backseat to schedule, engineering and technical decisions were overruled or worse, ignored, and salaries failed to keep pace with both the market and inflation.” In addition to rejecting the contract, the membership authorized a strike that could begin as soon as October 7.

Introduction

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Keynote Speakers
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Introduction

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Keynote Speakers‍

Support Our Mission through Donor Advised Funds (DAF)

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Keynote Speakers
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