All Safety News – Page 1429
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News
JAA may reduce safety margins
David Learmount/LONDON A CRUCIAL European decision on airliner-cabin emergency-exit design, is expected to be announced on 12 December, is set to derail the US/European regulatory-harmonisation process. The European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) conclusion, by exploiting a regulatory loophole, may lead to a reduction of safety margins for ...
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Northwest crew is punished for Brussels miscue
NORTHWEST AIRLINES has taken stern action against the flight deck crew of a Frankfurt-bound McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40, which landed at Brussels Airport by mistake on 5 September. Northwest has completed its internal probe of the incident, which has resulted in the captain "taking early retirement" the first officer ...
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English speakers must learn anew
Sir - In reply to Eric Mowrey's letter (Flight International, 29 November-5 December, P51), I am an aviation professional and native English speaker, resident and employed abroad. English has become the lingua franca of international aviation, but this does not excuse the attitude that non-native English speakers in ...
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The dangers of down-wind turns
Sir - Although not always accepted by the flying establishment, the danger of the "down-wind-turn" phenomenon is accepted by pilots of light aircraft and gliders. The effect may be seen, as birds circle in windy conditions, when the rapid loss of height as the bird turns down-wind, becomes obvious. ...
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Cargo expansion
Polar Air Cargo plans to add six Boeing 747-200s to its fleet of 12 747-100 freighters, and is projecting that it will be operating 22-24 aircraft within two years. The Long Beach, California-based carrier operates cargo services to Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and South America. Source: Flight ...
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ATC deadline
Canada has set a 1 April, 1996, deadline for the planned handover of its air-traffic-control system to Nav Canada, a not-for-profit corporation owned by employees, airlines and business- aircraft users. Source: Flight International
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Safety comparisons with US record should be balanced
Sir - The article "Hull-loss accident rate climbing" (Flight International, 22-28 November, P22) calls for a response. It is correct to use the USA as a benchmark to trace the evolution of the frequency of this type of accident. The USA has been, and still is, a leader ...
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Psychologists: analyse thyselves
Sir - Experienced pilots applying for airline jobs are required to take an increasing number of psychological tests, but are these relevant to the job of flying an aircraft safely and efficiently? Do psychologists take their own tests to select themselves for jobs? As an established airline captain ...
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Is there an 'anti-poaching' scheme?
Sir - I believe that there are in existence "anti-poaching" agreements between some airlines whereby, when the imminent big recruitment drive comes, pilots will be prevented from getting better jobs with bigger airlines. This would be illegal, since it would restrict civil liberties, and managers involved in such ...
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Les Wilson
Les Wilson, managing director of Bristol Airport, Avon, in the UK, died in a car crash on 27 November. He was deputy managing director at London Luton Airport before joining Bristol in 1980. A previous past chairman of the Airport Operators Association, he was awarded an OBE in the 1995 ...
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T-tail, take three
McDonnell Douglas has finally launched its MD-95 into the hotly contested100-seat market. Guy Norris/LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) hopes to build a lot of future business on its newly launched MD-95. Not only will it lead the attack on the yet-to-be-realised 100-seat market, but the small airliner ...
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New members join in-trail-climb club
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES NORTHWEST, AMERICAN and Singapore Airlines (SIA) are set to join Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in operational trials of in-trail-climb (ITC) procedures over the Pacific. The use of ITC is being examined as a way of preventing one aircraft becoming "trapped" beneath ...
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Airport costs threaten Russian revival
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW HUGE INCREASES in airport charges and fuel costs are threatening to stifle the beginnings of a recovery in the Russian airline market, the country's carriers have warned. Russian airlines have been reporting signs of growth for the first time since 1990, when passenger traffic ...
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Growing up
Boeing has begun assembly of its firstnew-generation 737.Guy Norris/SEATTLE IT IS UNPRECEDENTED but, by mid-1997, Boeing's Renton site in Seattle, Washington, will be producing six different models of the same jet airliner. The aircraft is the best-selling 737, and the ramp-up represents the phase in its development when production of ...
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Osprey tilts the balance
A leaner, cheaper, V-22 tilt-rotor is taking shape, thanks to advances in manufacturing technology. Graham Warwick/FORT WORTH MAJOR PIECES OF THE FIRST production-representative V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor are coming together at Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing Helicopters, and confidence is growing that the dramatic cost and weight reductions achieved ...
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Boeing tackles 'tail-wag' problem on United 777s
Guy Norris/SEATTLE BOEING PLANS TO MAKE changes to the 777 gust-response system as part of efforts to eliminate a slow yawing motion, or "tail-wag", experienced by crews on the first few United Airlines aircraft. "We sent a team out to fly with the aircraft on revenue ...
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AlliedSignal wins 2h cockpit-voice recorder certification
A solid-state cockpit-voice recorder (SSCVR) made by AlliedSignal Aerospace, which stores 2h of digitally recorded sound, has received US Federal Aviation Administration certification. An SSCVR will be required on all Part 121 transport-category aircraft in Europe by April 1997, and AlliedSignal believes that the FAA will require the ...
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Sabena hit by strike
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS STRIKING SABENA workers closed down the airline on 29 November in the first of what is expected to be a series of industrial actions following the abrupt cancellation of all labour agreements on 27 November. The unprecedented contract move surprised observers who are ...
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Airbus extends widebody family
Julian Moxon/PARIS AIRBUS INDUSTRIE HAS launched the shortened, longer-range, version of its twin-engined A330 widebody and confirmed its development of the ultra-long range A340-8000. The A330-200 is scheduled to be flown for the first time in the middle of 1997, and to be ready for service ...
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FAA safety ratings sting Latin American/Caribbean carriers
SANCTIONS HAVE begun to bite at airlines in Latin American and Caribbean countries judged by the US Federal Aviation Administration to have inadequate safety oversights. An increasing number of carriers has been unable to put aircraft into service because bilateral agreements have been frozen by the USA until their safety ...