All Safety News – Page 1268
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Boeing tackles winglet erosion in MD-11 modification package
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing plans to complete work by the end of the year on improvements to tackle long-standing operational problems on the MD-11. They include new coatings to prevent excessive erosion to the winglets, modifications to stop skin cracks and changes to system fittings and valves to prevent ...
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UK police Islander will test anti-noise propellers
In response to growing environmental concerns over noise from general aviation aircraft in Europe, the UK's Britten-Norman plans a six-month trial of new generation propellers on a BN2B light utility piston-engined Islander. The test is part of a UK Government-backed programme. Designed by US propeller manufacturer Hartzell as part ...
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Digital data network software progresses
Aeronautical Communication International (ACI) has completed the first of three phases of aeronautical telecommunications network software for the communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management environment. The software will determine the routing of digital data messages between aircraft and air traffic control. ACI, which comprises Airsys ATM, AlliedSignal, Honeywell, Sextant ...
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Carriers put transpolar plans on ice
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC North American carriers are being forced to shelve plans for new non-stop direct services between US and Asian destinations as infrastructural and political problems delay the opening of transpolar routes . Trial flights over the North Pole have stopped only 12 months after the inaugural ...
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Free flight
The UK's new air traffic services supremo believes privatisation is the way forward for ATC David Learmount/LONDON Airlines are condemned to face serious air traffic control delay in European airspace for the foreseeable future unless there is a revolution in how policy decisions governing the continent's air traffic services ...
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African Star licence continues, despite troubles
Hilka Birns/JOHANNESBURG South Africa's Department of Transport (DoT) is continuing to process the licence application of African Star, despite the start-up's chief executive facing charges of contravening the country's Customs & Excise Act. Investigators refuse to comment on the case, but sources say that the diversion of duty-free ...
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Germany's DFS eyes Euro ATC liberalisation and NATS tie-up
Andrew Doyle/LANGEN German air traffic services provider Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS)is interested in forming a strategic alliance with the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS), as part of efforts to kick-start the rationalisation of Europe's fragmented air traffic control (ATC) infrastructure. "We think that, in the longer term, we ...
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GE90 secures exclusive position on 777X
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing plans to begin offering the ultra-long-range 777-200X/300X to airlines by the end of the year, following its selection of General Electric as exclusive engine supplier to the programme. The agreement with GE is for the life of the programme and comes ...
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Pratt & Whitney courts Airbus for A340 variant engine
Pratt & Whitney is in discussion with Airbus Industrie to offer the PW8160 geared fan engine on the A340-500/600 as early as 2003, in a direct challenge to Rolls-Royce's sole position on the aircraft and Boeing's selection of General Electric as its exclusive 777X engine supplier. R-R and P&W ...
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Ageing airliner census 1999
Time marches on for the world's ageing jet and turboprop airliners Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON The average age of the Western world's fleet of airliners that qualify for this year's census is 25 years. Some individual aircraft types have been subject to more intense scrutiny after recent events or incidents, as ...
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Sound solutions
BFGoodrich's campaign to quieten Boeing 727s is making rapid progress Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Spending serious money to extend the life of an airliner is tough, but spending more to re-engine it is harder. Despite the apparent economic headwind, BFGoodrich's Super 27 Boeing 727 re-engining programme is rapidly gaining momentum and ...
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SpaceDev and Lockheed Martin probe low-cost services scheme
SpaceDev and Lockheed Martin have joined forces to investigate the development and marketing of low-cost access to orbit for small payloads. The delivery service will be based on the Lockheed Athena booster and SpaceDev's standardised MiniSIL spacecraft buses. Two SpaceDev craft would fly on the Athena, carrying science and ...
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SAirGroup warns Switzerland on proposed noise penalties
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH SAirGroup is warning that Swiss Government plans to increase aircraft noise penalties around Zurich and Geneva airports threaten its ability to compete effectively internationally. The government is proposing that the two airports be forced to pay up to SFr1 billion ($658 million) over five years to ...
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Fairchild 328JET receives European certification
The Fairchild Aerospace 328JET has gained European Joint Aviation Authorities certification, with US approval set to follow before the end of the month. The certification comes as the company moves closer to finalising a 110-aircraft contract from a US carrier, believed to be Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA). The approval, ...
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Fit to survive
LanChile is determined to flourish in the an unpredictable economic climate that has already claimed two airlines David Learmount/SANTIAGO DE CHILE Latin American airlines are punch drunk. They have been successively hit by precarious home economies, a diving Brazilian currency, the Asia-Pacific economic crisis and a wave of ...
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Airline stance stalls UK-US bilateral talks
The UK has cancelled talks on a new air services treaty with the USA after failing to persuade UK carriers to adopt a position likely to lead to agreement on a liberal "open skies" bilateral. Formal negotiations had been due to resume in Washington DC during the week beginning ...
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Airlines continue Y2K compliance fight
The US airline industry has notified the Clinton Administration that all year 2000 (Y2K) compliance work should be completed by 31 August. The move comes as other organisations prepare to file their findings on the worldwide status of the industry. US aviation officials say the situation in the rest ...
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Korean Air signs for pilot training
Korean Air (KAL), struggling to improve its safety record, has signed a $30 million pilot training contract with FlightSafety Boeing, a joint venture between Boeing and FlightSafety International. The carrier has suffered 12 serious accidents since 1990, leading to a management reshuffle in April. The five-year contract, signed in ...
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BA 777 crews to get new rest area
A novel upper lobe crew rest area, designed by B/E Aerospace for the Boeing 777, has been launched into production with an order from British Airways. The airline is to retrofit 16 777-200ERs with compartments in overhead spaces above the main cabins. The compartment houses eight sleeping bunks and two ...
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Pilot fatigue probed in safety investigation at American
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC American Airlines and US federal aviation safety officials are reviewing the carrier's operations over the past six years to determine if any factors link two fatal crashes and some serious incidents in which it has been involved. A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation is ...