All Safety News – Page 1440
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Propulsion fault cuts Theseus first flight
The first flight of the Theseus unmanned aircraft, designed to support NASA's Mission to Planet Earth initiative, was cut short by propulsion problems after it lifted off from Rogers Dry Lake, California, on 24 May. "It was a propeller controller issue from what we can tell right now," ...
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Arcing cause of Tethered loss
THE ALENIA-BUILT Italian Tethered Satellite was lost in space during the STS75/Columbia Space Shuttle mission on 25 February, when its tether broke after suffering "arcing and burning", says an investigation team appointed by NASA (Flight International, 6-12 March). The arcing occurred because the tether was penetrated by either ...
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KLM renews growth effort in Europe with expanded fleet
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON KLM IS TO START A NEW wave of growth in its European operations, outlining plans for a $300 million short-haul fleet expansion and a new agreement with its pilots' union, which paves the way for greater use of wet-lease and codesharing with regional partners. ...
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FAA forced ValuJet cut in growth before crash
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC US FEDERAL AVIATION Administration concern over the effect on ValuJet's safety of its rapid expansion forced the carrier to rein back planned growth almost four months before the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 crash in Florida on 11 May, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act ...
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North Korea's IATA overtures on the brink of fulfilment
NORTH KOREA WILL sign a series of agreements shortly with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is expected to lead to opening up of Pyongyang's airspace to international traffic. Discussions between IATA and North Korea on future co-operation are at an "advanced" stage, according to IATA regional ...
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Schonefeld is Germany's choice for Berlin Airport
Andrej Jeziorski/MUNICH THE GERMAN Federal Government and the Berlin and Brandenburg local governments have opted to develop Schonefeld Airport as the site of the proposed new Berlin hub. The DM10 billion ($6.8 billion) expansion plan was favoured, on cost grounds, over a proposal to build a ...
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ARINC launches its 'FANS for classics'
Kieran Daly/SINGAPORE A MAJOR US operator is the launch customer for an ambitious programme designed by US avionics and communications specialist ARINC to make "classic" long-haul aircraft compatible with the air-traffic system of the future. ARINC is offering to develop solutions for any classics which operators ...
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False pride
THE VERY PUBLIC LOSS of the prototype Ariane 5 on 4 June was not so much a setback for European space activities as it was for European space pride. It should also, however, make European space officials - and their paymasters - reflect on just what is the object of ...
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Lufthansa pilots unhappy with aircraft maintenance
LUFTHANSA PILOTS are unhappy with the technical state of some of the aircraft they fly, according to an internal report leaked to the German press. The pilots complain that technical problems on aircraft are left unresolved because of "lack of parts, time pressure and lack of personnel". Although ...
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ESA could launch second Ariane 5 in September
Tim Furniss/LONDON THE EUROPEAN SPACE Agency (ESA) plans to proceed with the second launch of an Ariane 5 in September as scheduled, despite the loss of flight 501 on 4 June. The demise of the first Ariane 5 over the skies of Kourou, Guiana destroyed its payload of ...
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NTSB urges 757/767 changes after Birgenair crash
BOEING 757 AND 767 pilots should be given better information about faulty airspeed indications and training to cope with them, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has told the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The NTSB recommendation follows the 6 February Birgenair 757 accident in which all ...
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What's on
Equipping & Supporting Rapid Reaction Forces 13-14 June, London, UK. Contact: HSA/RRMLC, H Silver & Associates (UK), 2nd Floor, Africa House, 64-78 Kingsway, London WC2B 6BD, UK; tel: +44 (171) 413 0936; fax: +44 (171) 413 0937. Second European Aircraft Valuation Seminar 13-14 June, London, UK. Contact: Commercial ...
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Where you train is not always where you end up flying
Sir - As a licensed US Federal Aviation Administration commercial pilot, I support the plea for international standards for flight training in the article "Unique Internationalism" (Flight International, 8-14 May, P3). There are some points which need taking up, however. Firstly, there is the argument that a UK ...
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Slow start
Six months after opening, Macau International Airport is struggling to generate business. Terence Hardeman and Brent Hannon/MACAU WITH FANFARE and speeches, the $1.1 billion Macau International Airport was officially opened in December 1995. Apart from the arrival of Dr Mario Soares, president of Portugal, and a Lockheed Martin ...
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European airlines return to profit but warn on delays
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON EUROPE'S AIRLINE industry has turned in its first profit since 1989, but any celebrations over the news were quickly tempered by stark warnings over the congestion and pending European legislation which the carriers believe could damage progress. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) reports ...
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...and Honeywell brings manual data into the picture
HONEYWELL HAS introduced a headband-mounted display which will allow ground crew to see troubleshooting data as they carry out airliner-maintenance work. The display, which is connected to a processor on the maintenance-worker's belt, is an addition to Honeywell's Airline Maintenance and Operations Support System (AMOSS). Fault ...
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Ametek introduces monitor to keep track of regional-turboprop balances
AMETEK AEROSPACE Products has introduced a system to give fast, accurate propeller balancing, allowing regional-turboprop operators to keep down damaging vibration levels throughout an aircraft's life. The Balance Monitoring System automatically stores vibration data in flight. These data are then downloaded to a ground-based lap-top computer which calculates ...
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Lufthansa tests remote maintenance system...
Martin Hindley/LONDON LUFTHANSA SYSTEMS is testing an airport-based remote diagnostic system designed to provide ground engineers with an incoming aircraft's maintenance history and repair requirements. The company has teamed with Berlin-based software house Sietec Systemtechnik to develop the tool, as part of a telecommunications-research programme sponsored ...
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ValuJet CVR confirms fire-in-cabin theory
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The existence of an intense fire in the cabin has now been confirmed by the cockpit-voice recorder (CVR) as being a likely cause of the ValuJet McDonnell Douglas DC-9 accident in Florida on 11 May. Flight- and cabin-crew exchanges indicate that the fire ...
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MAS profits recovery fails to impress
MALAYSIA AIRLINES (MAS) again saw profits leap for the 1995/6 financial year, but the extent of the improvement failed to impress market analysts, who had been hoping for more. The airline ended its financial year to March showing a 68% increase in net profits, to M$233 million ($93 ...