All Safety News – Page 1404
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News
Sabretech closes another plant in wake of Valujet crash
SabreTech, faced with losing its repair-station licence from the US Federal Aviation Administration, closed its Orlando aircraft repair station on 17 January. The company previously shut down its Miami centre which is alleged to have played a significant role in the crash of the ValuJet McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 on 11 ...
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Trent fixes introduced
The problem discovered in October 1996 with the Rolls-Royce Trent 800's leaking fuel nozzles has been attributed to cracking, possibly because of poor welding. As a precautionary measure, airlines have been sent additional nozzles as replacements. R-R Trent 700 operators are also in the process of modifying the engine's thrust ...
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Exit changes wanted
Investigation of the fatal 19 November, 1996, United Express Beech 1900 runway collision at Quincy, Illinois, has led the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to recommend exit-door improvements. It is believed that occupants survived the collision with a King Air 90, but all 12 died in a fire after ...
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Stage 3 727 without hushkits is certificated
Raisbeck Engineering has won US Federal Aviation Administration certification for a Boeing 727-200 modification which reduces noise below Stage 3 levels without hushkits or re-engineing. The package involves flat-rating the engines to 25íC, rather than the standard 29íC, "over-speeding" the take-off flap settings and restricting maximum take-off weight ...
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Airbus rolls prompt FAA to issue proposed airworthiness directive
Pilot reports of uncommanded rolls between 5¹ and 30¹ in Airbus A320s and A321s have led to a US Federal Aviation Administration proposed airworthiness directive (PAD) for fleet-wide modifications to the elevator and aileron computers (ELACs). Airbus, however, says that 90% of the world fleet and all US-registered ...
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Air Littoral orders more Regional Jets, evaluates CRJ-X
Air Littoral has signed a $133 million deal with Bombardier Aircraft for seven Regional Jets, with options on a further five. The Montpellier, France-based regional airline is also seriously evaluating the stretched 70-seat Bombardier CRJ-X regional jet. All seven aircraft, which are in addition to the nine Regional ...
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MDHS' MD 600N troubles increase
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) is meeting with the US Federal Aviation Administration to discuss design and certification options following another crash of an MD 600N on 18 January during the flight-test programme. The eight place helicopter should have received FAA certification by mid-December 1996, despite earlier delays ...
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Emergency exits: no new dangers
Sir - I refer to the last paragraph in the article "Emergency-exit changes foreshadowed" (Flight International, 18-31 December, 1996, P12). The UK Civil Aviation Authority requires (not recommends, as stated) operators to ensure that Type III exit row seats are allocated only "-to passengers who appear capable of ...
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Does the USA have worldwide rights?
Sir - I read with interest Capt de Piednoir's letter "Déja vu with age-60-years ruling" (Flight International, 8-14 January, P37), about a US Federal Appeals Court panel ruling on whether the US Federal Aviation Administration can continue to bar pilots aged 60 years old from commanding US passenger aircraft. The ...
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AlliedSignal wins $100 million APU/avionics deal
GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has selected AlliedSignal Aerospace to supply auxiliary-power units (APUs) and avionics for up to 80 Airbus Industrie A320s which the US leasing company plans to buy, in a deal worth around $100 million. The agreement means that GECAS is likely to be one ...
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Iridium launches will be further delayed after Delta explosion
The much-delayed maiden flight of the first of Motorola's Iridium mobile communications-satellites aboard a McDonnell Douglas (MDC) Delta 2 booster faces a further hold-up pending the investigation into the loss of a Delta 2, 13s after launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 17 January. MDC had planned seven ...
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JAA alarms GA operators with proposal for new ETOPS limit
General-aviation (GA) industry officials believe that a European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) proposal to impose a 120min extended-range-twin-engine-operation (ETOPS) limit on twin-engined business aircraft would severely hamper their operations. Late in 1996, a JAA Operations Committee issued a Notice of Proposed Amendment which would set a 120min ETOPS ...
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Virgin Express may pull out of its Brussels base
Virgin Express, one of the pioneers of Europe's low-fares air market, reports that it grew by one-third in 1996 and expects to report a profit despite the dramatic growth. The announcement comes, however, with a veiled warning that Belgium's high social costs could persuade the carrier to leave ...
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-Steps up tempo of long-range 777 work
Boeing has revealed new details of its plans for heavier versions of the 777, which will be led by the -200X effort, which the company hopes to launch, along with the -300X, at the time of the Paris air show in June. The projected entry-into-service date for the ...
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Record airline results
The US airline industry appears to be on course for net profits of around $2.5 billion, making 1996 the best year in its history. American Airlines is leading so far with $854 million, although Delta Air Lines has come close with $754 million before special charges, and Northwest Airlines notched ...
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Sabena denies Swissair rumours
Sabena chief executive Paul Reutlinger has denied growing speculation that Swissair is preparing to pull out from the alliance with its struggling Belgian partner if the carrier's unions fail to agree on new working conditions and wage structures. Rumours of a possible pull-out were revived by confirmation that ...
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Cathay will launch FANS 747 flights by year's end
Cathay Pacific Airways plans to finish equipping its entire fleet of Boeing 747-400s with future-air-navigation system (FANS-1) equipment by March and hopes to be operating on the first communications, navigation and surveillance/air-traffic-management (CNS/ATM) route across the northern Pacific Ocean by the end of the year. The Hong Kong ...
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The big issue
BOEING'S REVELATION that it will not be competing in the very-large-airliner market with a derivative of the 747, thus apparently leaving Airbus Industrie's A3XX with a clear run, has certainly raised more questions than answers. While attention has focused on Boeing's doubts about lack of "sufficient market demand" ...
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R-R and airlines wrangle over cost of -524G/H problems
Rolls-Royce is facing demands that it bear the brunt of the massive costs airlines are incurring because of reliability and performance shortfalls of their RB.211-524G/H engines. The problems, which affect more than 100 RB.211-powered Boeing 747-400s and 767-300s, are estimated already to have cost the airlines more than $200 million ...
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New Piper launches Seneca V
TWO YEARS AFTER starting work on the aircraft, New Piper Aircraft has unveiled its Seneca V cabin-class piston twin, its first new product since emerging from the bankruptcy of the former Piper Aircraft (Flight International, 8-14 January). "We look at the Seneca V as a dual-purpose aircraft, with ...