All Safety News – Page 1406
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News
DASA modifies antenna to cure EF2000's radar
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH DAIMLER-BENZ Aerospace (DASA) has overcome persistent problems with the Eurofighter EF2000's ECR90 radar by modifying the antenna design. According to DASA airborne-systems division vice-president Manfred Jacobsen, the radar suffered radome-compatibility problems, leading to "backflash". The high-energy emissions from the antenna were ...
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Lufthansa will attack costs
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON A SET OF RECORD figures for 1995/6 has ensured that British Airways reclaimed its title as the world's most profitable airline. The group shows no intention of letting its lead slip, making an immediate announcement of another massive drive to improve costs, further product upgrades ...
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BA plans to keep its profits rolling
Kevin O'Toole/FRANKFURT LUFTHANSA chairman Jurgen Weber has promised a renewed attack on costs throughout the group, warning unions that there will be tough decisions to make as they go into this year's round of wage negotiations. Speaking at the German group's annual press conference, Weber ...
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Advanced flightdecks
ALL FUTURE DOUGLAS (DAC) aircraft will share a common display and avionics architecture to be based around Honeywell's Versatile Integrated Avionics concept, VIA 2000. The MD-95 will be the first aircraft to be equipped with the full system, while the MD-90 is set to be changed to ...
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Swire pledges long-term involvement with Cathay
Paul Lewis/SEATTLE SWIRE PACIFIC, the UK parent of Cathay Pacific and Dragonair, is emphatic that it intends to remain a major participant in Hong Kong's aviation industry. It dismisses speculation that its grip may be weakening following the recent deal with China which will put a large ...
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Airlines challenge Brussels plan for weekend noise ban
AIRLINES ARE OPPOSING a plan by the Belgian transport ministry to ban noisy aircraft at Brussels Zaventem Airport during weekends. The curfew affects non-Chapter 3 aircraft, such as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, Boeing 727-100/200, 737-200 and the Fokker F28. No flights with these aircraft types will be allowed to depart ...
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CAL proposes to sell shares
TAIWAN'S CHINA Aviation Development Foundation (CADF) is to sell around 16% of its holding in China Airlines (CAL) to private investors. The sale will reduce CADF's stake in the carrier to 62%. It also plans to launch a rights issue of 200 million shares. The issue is expected to raise ...
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In the end, the safe way is to go-around
Sir - It is obvious, after reading the series of letters on non-precision and precision approaches, that a wide variety of pilots reads Flight International. All approaches, whether precision or not, start from an altitude where obstacle clearance is guaranteed and, from there, on descend towards the airfield ...
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NTSB investigates oxygen canisters in crashed DC-9
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Karen Walker/ATLANTADavid Learmount/LONDON FOCUS ON WHAT caused the ValuJet Airlines McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-9-30 accident in Florida, USA, is concentrating on oxygen-canisters wreckage is slowly recovered from the Everglades swampland into which the aircraft dived on 11 May. US National Transportation Safety ...
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Airlines force Boeing to raise 747-600X range
Paul Lewis/SEATTLE AIRLINE PRESSURE has forced Boeing to increase the range of its proposed 747-600X. The move is one of several changes in baseline performance which the Seattle-based manufacturer is considering for the 747X programme following input received from potential customers. Design range has been ...
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Boeing probe
The US Justice Department has opened an investigation into alleged bribes used by former Boeing subsidiary, de Havilland Aircraft, to secure a $64 million order for five Dash 8s from BahamasAir in 1991. The allegations came to light earlier this year after Canadian entrepreneur Craig Dobbin filed a $900 million ...
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British Midland reveals Eurostar impact
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON BRITISH MIDLAND (BM) admits that competition from the Channel Tunnel rail link from London to Paris and Brussels effectively halved its potential profits in 1995, but group chairman Sir Michael Bishop says that the airline has now weathered the worst of the Tunnel's impact. Although the airline managed ...
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Muddy waters
THE GREATEST problem of aircraft-accident investigation is not the disappearance of the evidence into a Florida swamp or the unreadability of data-recorder tapes. It is the demand by the mass media and its customers for instant answers, and the temptation of those on the periphery of the investigation to give ...
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FAA investigates ValuJet
IN FEBRUARY 1996, the FAA initiated a 120-day Special Emphasis Review because of the low-fare carrier's exceptionally high growth-rate and four safety-related incidents in January and February 1996. On 14 May, FAA administrator David Hinson denied that low-cost airlines, such as ValuJet, are in any way less safe ...
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Oxygen canister cargo
THE VALUJET DC-9's cargo manifest reveals that up to 60 oxygen generators of a type used to supply passenger emergency oxygen masks in DC-10s and MD-80s were being carried as cargo to Atlanta, ValuJet's base. If charged, the generators can produce considerable heat when activated, scorching nearby material or fabric, ...
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Unions up in arms over Air France Europe cuts
WAGE AND JOB CUTS designed to turn round Air France's heavily loss-making domestic operations have been roundly condemned by unions, which are due to meet the management on 22 May to discuss the latest survival plan. Air France chairman Christian Blanc, presenting details of the plan, played ...
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Planetary passport
Will there ever be a universal pilot's licence? David Learmount/LONDON LIKE THE "UNIVERSAL" language Esperanto, a world-standard for pilots' licences seems like a good idea, but no-one puts it into practice. Unemployed pilots dream of being able to follow work wherever in the world the ...
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Training must be a viable industry
Sir - I refer to your leader "Unique Internationalism" and story "AST becomes first victim of UK training policy" (Flight International, 8-14 May, P3, P6). Rumours of the demise of Air Services Training (AST) predate either National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) or foreign training. In fact, the school is ...
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JAR-FCL update
THE JAR-FCL COMMITTEE meeting to approve draft five of the regulations was held in Dublin, Ireland, during the week ending 10 May. Draft five, having taken account of all input, is intended to form the JAR-FCL regulation for fixed-wing-aircraft pilots. JAR-FCL Part Two, for helicopter pilots, is not ready yet. ...
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Wicat pulls in trainer sales
WICAT SYSTEMS has secured contracts for McDonnell Douglas MD-80, MD-90 and MD-11 part-task trainers and unveiled plans to develop similar devices for the Boeing 777. SAS Flight Academy, part of Scandinavian Airlines System, has ordered an MD-90 systems trainer for delivery in the third quarter of 1996. It ...