All Safety News – Page 1345
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News
Continental angers Delta chief executive
Delta Air Lines chief executive Leo Mullin has attacked the "complete misrepresentations" made by Continental Airlines officials on the carrier's failure to reach a merger agreement. Despite three weeks of secret bargaining, Continental eventually snubbed Delta and agreed to forge a strategic alliance with Northwest Airlines. Continental's chief executive ...
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ICAO urges Asian action on airline safety
Asian states must improve their airline safety oversight standards, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has urged, following a spate of fatal accidents in Asia. "The Asia-Pacific region is increasingly, though regrettably, becoming owner of a series of catastrophic aircraft accidents," notes ICAO regional representative Lalit Shah. Specific regional ...
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IFALPA spotlights S American ATC dangers
David Learmount/LONDON South American air-traffic control (ATC) has been labelled as inadequate by the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA). The Federation plans to mount a campaign to pressurise national governments into taking action to improve the situation. IFALPA is becoming increasingly vociferous in its criticism of ...
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Cash rich KLM buys up Martinair and considers further deals
KLM is to spend part of its growing cash mountain on acquiring the remainder of shares in Dutch charter and cargo carrier Martinair. The flag carrier also says that it is considering other share deals, including buying back the 25% stake still held in the airline by the Dutch Government. ...
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BAe ponders RJ cockpit and engine changes
Kevin O'Toole/MANCHESTER British Aerospace Regional Aircraft is studying further developments for its Avro RJ family, including new avionics and engine options, with the intention of improving the aircraft's economics and keeping the programme up to date. Although the RJ is now effectively alone in the 85- to 100-seat regional ...
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Routes
-Sabena has signed a partnership with French airline AOM covering routes between Brussels and the French cities of Toulon, Nice and Marseille, but extending also to French overseas territories, enabling both airlines to offer more frequencies and co-ordinate schedules. -Japan Airlines (JAL) plans to launch a twice weekly non-stop ...
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New stretch of 747 defined
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has revised its future 747 growth studies to include a 500-passenger stretch version with a larger wingspan, known as the -400Y Stretch, while dropping another long range variant dubbed the -400ERY. The company stresses that the only new version of the 747 being formally ...
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Airbus puts back entry into service of A3XX
Julian Moxon/PARIS Airbus Industrie is to delay the entry into service of its planned 555-seat A3XX by at least nine months, to the third quarter of 2004. The consortium claims that the delay is "minor" and says that the current economic chaos in key Asian markets is not responsible ...
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Dash 8-400 flies
The Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400 had its maiden flight on 31 January from de Havilland's plant in Downsview, Toronto, under the command of de Havilland chief engineering test pilot Wally Warner and engineering test pilot Barry Hubbard. During the 3h flight, a speed of 200kt (370km/h) was achieved ...
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EC to decide on Alitalia state aid probe
Julian Moxon/PARIS Marco Messala/ROME The European Commission(EC) is to decide on 11 February whether to open an investigation into allegations that Alitalia has broken the state aid deal agreed in July 1997. EC transport commissioner Neil Kinnock has written to Italian minister for transport and navigation Claudio Burlando, ...
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Spotlight falls on SilkAir recorder 'failure'
The investigation into the crash on 19 December, 1997, of the SilkAir Boeing 737-300 is raising questions about why the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) both stopped operating in quick succession just before the aircraft entered its steep, fatal descent. Analysis of the CVR ...
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Tests reveal F/A-18 behaviour
Canada's National Research Council (NRC) is using a unique water-tunnel testing method to investigate the high-angle-of-attack behaviour of the Boeing F/A-18. Testing involves the NRC-developed OPLEC orbital-platform rotary-balance system, which consists of a rotating open-ended cylinder with a sting mounted on the outer surface. This eliminates the need for ...
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ICAO examines global aviation impact model
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is considering adopting a model developed by Dutch civil-aviation authority, the RLD, to predict the environmental and socio-political effects of aviation regulatory decisions. Richard Hancox, project manager for UK transportation modelling specialist MVA, believes that Project AERO represents "the only detailed global model ...
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Russia seeks $6.2 billion for International Space Station
Tim Furniss/LONDON Russia will need $6.2 billion funding over the next ten years to build and maintain its component of the International Space Station (ISS), according to Russian Space Agency (RSA) director Yuri Koptev. Some $3 billion will be spent on construction, with the remainder going on maintenance, he says. ...
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Jet age dawns for 328
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH When the completed Fairchild Dornier 328JET was first shown to Reinhold Birrenbach, head of the 328 project since its turboprop days, he must have felt a little self-satisfied. "This is the way the aircraft always should have looked," he said, observing the clean lines of the newly fitted ...
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Safety-authority plans detailed
Julian Moxon and Alan George/BRUSSELS New details of the planned European Air Safety Authority (EASA) have been revealed by European transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock. In spite of the progress, he admits that there remain "several very difficult political issues" to be resolved. The European Commission (EC) has called ...
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Myanmar F27 crash
A 20-year-old Myanmar Airways Fokker F27 600 suffered a fatal accident during take-off from Thandwe, Myanmar, on 28 January, killing 14 of the 45 people on board. An engine problem appears to have caused the aircraft to veer off the runway. Source: Flight International
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Crashed SilkAir 737 hinge bolt 'was installed'
Boeing says that an elevator hinge bolt, previously believed to be missing from the SilkAir Boeing 737-300 which crashed on 19 December, 1997, was installed at the time. In a letter sent on 27 January to all 737 operators, the manufacturer says: "An examination of the wreckage gives clear evidence ...
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US airline profits are 'best ever'
The major US airlines ended 1997 with their strongest profits on record, but the celebrations were accompanied by the promise of more turbulence ahead, with the fall-out from Asian economic crisis and the prospect of a renewed round of consolidation closer to home following the Continental/Northwest Airlines tie-up. With only ...
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The impossible target
David Learmount/LONDON Training to be a commercial pilot under the new joint European rules is going to be harder, the training industry warns. With the first of the new courses about to start, this is not exactly what aspiring fliers were hoping, or even expecting, to hear. Under the new ...