All Safety News – Page 1328
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Sempati suspends services as losses mount and traffic falls
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Indonesia's privately run Sempati Air Transport has suspended operations in the face of mounting financial losses, falling domestic traffic and after its shareholders failed to inject further capital into the business. Sempati's owners have said that, for now, the airline will not be liquidated and have ...
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IAE inspections start again after failure
The engine failure which caused one of British Midland's International Aero Engines (IAE) V2533-A5-powered Airbus A321-200s to return to London Heathrow on 15 May was caused by a sixth stage [high-pressure compressor] stator vane fracture resulting from an inclusion in the vane material. The incident has prompted IAE to ...
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Big losses put MAS deliveries on hold
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is to delay delivery of nine Boeing 747-400s and 777-200s on order by up to 36 months and dispose of an extra four surplus 737s, in the wake of a larger than expected end of year net loss of M$260 million ($67.3 million). ...
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Hydraulic loss spoils Global Hawk UAV test
Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical (TRA) is investigating a hydraulic failure which marred the otherwise successful third flight of the Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The aircraft lost hydraulic pressure on approach to the runway at Edwards AFB, California, after the 5h 22min flight on 30 May. The landing gear ...
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Multi-role machine
Peter Gray/SINGAPORE Eurocopter has brought two completely new turbine helicopters to the market in the past two years: the light single-engined EC120 and the light twin-engined EC135. Before putting pen to drawing board to design a new light twin, Eurocopter asked operators what they wanted. Later, during development, ...
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Geared Turbofan Basics
A conventional turbofan is divided into high and low pressure spools, each consisting of a compressor and turbine. The low-pressure spool drives the fan and provides most of the propulsive power. The fan works best at slower speeds, while the rest of the spool - the compressors and turbines - ...
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Preparing for partnership
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG This could finally be the year when the pieces start falling into place for South African Airways (SAA). If all goes according to plan, by the end of October the South African Government will have decided on a strategic partner to take a 20-30% stake in its ...
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Safer skies
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG Fears about air safety over Africa are not new, but a year ago the issue hit the headlines worldwide, following pilot complaints that air traffic control (ATC) was either inadequate or simply absent over much of the continent. An image painted by the media was one ...
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Relative progress
Tim Furniss/LONDON Lockheed Martin delivered the second major piece of NASA's $550 million Gravity Probe B (GP-B) spacecraft to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, on 27 May. The delivery marks a major milestone in the protracted development of a spacecraft which, in 2000, will attempt to verify two ...
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Datalink weather set for GA cockpits
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Weather graphics and other flight information could be widely datalinked to the cockpits of general aviation (GA) aircraft by year-end if a US Federal Aviation Administration initiative runs to schedule. The FAA believes the Flight Information Services (FIS) digital datalink will improve GA safety by ...
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Regulators get tough on Canada's taxi operators
Canadian air taxi operators have been presented with a list of 71 recommendations designed to improve safety by a task force set up by air transport regulator Transport Canada. The Safety of Air Taxi Operations (SATOPS) task force was set up in January 1996 following a Transport Canada review ...
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Air France calculates the cost of pilots' strike action
The pilots' strike at Air France has cost the airline around Fr100 million ($17 million) a day since 2 June. The strike has crippled airline operations in the build-up to the 1998 World Cup, for which it is the official carrier. On 5 June, the carrier was operating around ...
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MD-11 line will halt in early 2000
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has decided to terminate production of the MD-11, with the last delivery, possibly the 200th aircraft, scheduled for February 2000. The move was expected, even though the tri-jet gained a surprise seven-month reprieve last November when Boeing elected to continue marketing the freighter version ...
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Messier-Bugatti tests power by wire
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Messier-Bugatti has installed a prototype electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA) in an Airbus Industrie "iron bird" test rig at Aerospatiale's Toulouse systems development centre, as part of an industry drive to replace cumbersome hydraulics with electric cables. The EHA is a key technology for all electric, or power ...
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Last of the line
Guy Norris/LONG BEACH The roll-out of a new aircraft is a major event for any airframe manufacturer, but, for Boeing's Douglas Products division, the 10 June unveiling of the 717-200 is nothing less than pivotal. Coming hard on the heels of the news that the MD-11 line is ...
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CAL pursues big fleet revamp
Paul Lewis/Singapore Brent Hannon/Taipei China Airlines (CAL) has issued airframe and engine manufacturers with a fresh request for proposals for up to 36 new widebody aircraft, while rival Taiwanese carrier EVA Airways has postponed its decision on a new fleet of ultra long haul passenger aircraft. CAL has ...
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Noisy pilots face jail
Airline pilots whose aircraft infringe airport noise regulations in Israel will face $41,000 fines or six months in prison if a proposed law is approved. Put forward by the environment ministry, despite Civil Aviation Authority and pilot opposition, the law would double penalties for a second contravention. The International Federation ...
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Cathay rethinks 777-200 fleet
Paul Lewis/SEATTLE Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways plans to review the future use of its four Boeing 777-200s, following the introduction of the stretch -300 into service. The carrier is also disposing of an initial two surplus Boeing 747-200s to Virgin Atlantic Airways in an effort to rationalise types and ...
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Bombardier remains bullish on 70-seat turboprops
Bombardier flew the second de Havilland Dash 8-400 regional turboprop on 26 May from its plant in Downsview, Ontario. The aircraft is expected to join the first -400 at Bombardier's flight test centre in Wichita, Kansas, within a few weeks, according to the company. Despite having booked only 32 ...
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Unwanted Garuda MD-11s and A330s head for new homes
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Garuda Indonesia has reached agreement with Boeing to return six leased MD-11s, which in turn are being placed with Brazilian carriers Varig and VASP. Airbus Industrie is also assisting the Indonesian airline to find homes for six leased A330-300s. The Boeing tri-jets will be withdrawn from service within ...