All Systems & Interiors news – Page 770

  • News

    Greek minister killed in Falcon 900 flight incident

    1999-09-22T00:00:00Z

    Greece's deputy foreign minister and five others were killed when the Greek Government-owned Dassault Falcon 900B presidential jet suffered an unexplained flight incident on descent into Bucharest, Romania on 14 September. The Falcon 900 (SX-ECH) descended rapidly from 15,000ft (4,600m) to 2,000ft, where the crew recovered control. Although ...

  • News

    Zeppelin heads for airship approval

    1999-09-22T00:00:00Z

    Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Zeppelin's new-technology airship flight test programme has passed the halfway mark with over 300 flying hours chalked up. The milestone comes 60 years after the German company halted development of its original family of rigid machines following the loss in May 1937 of the Zeppelin Hindenburg after a ...

  • News

    Four form joint union

    1999-09-22T00:00:00Z

    Cabin crew unions from the Netherlands and Italy have formed a new joint organisation in the wake of the KLM/Alitalia strategic alliance. The Wings Cabin Crew Union (WCCU) ties together VNC of the Netherlands and Italy's SULTA, ANPAV and UGL, with the Dutch union claiming the four represent the ...

  • News

    Airbus roll-out

    1999-09-22T00:00:00Z

    Germany's Lufthansa Technik has rolled-out the first of two Airbus A319CJs for the Italian Air Force in its full livery. The Frankfurt-based maintenance and completion centre, which took delivery of the aircraft on 24 August, will outfit the cabin for January delivery. The second aircraft is due for delivery in ...

  • News

    'Free' launch for Australia's FedSat

    1999-09-22T00:00:00Z

    Australia's experimental FedSat micro-satellite will be launched free of charge by the Japanese National Space Development Agency (NASDA) in return for access to scientific data. The satellite will be carried as a piggyback payload aboard an H-IIA rocket launch planned for the last quarter of next year, with a ...

  • News

    Joining the jet age

    1999-09-22T00:00:00Z

    Turbofan power is giving the 328 regional airliner a new lease of life Andrew Doyle/OBERPFAFFENHOFENIt is an unconventional way of bringing a regional jet to the marketplace. Fairchild Aerospace has created a capable 30-seat aircraft by re-engining the Dornier 328 turboprop with turbofans. First deliveries of the 328JET were made ...

  • News

    Unmanned alternatives

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    II(AC) Sqn pilots see unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) as a viable alternative to the manned aircraft for certain missions, particularly suppression of enemy air defences, and because of the political pressure to avoid casualties. A flight commander says the difficulty with UCAVs "is the physical pushing of the button. ...

  • News

    GE Harris signs Comair CRJs for datalink trial

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    US regional Comair has committed two Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs) to test a high-speed wireless datalink system developed by General Electric-Harris joint venture GE Harris Aviation Information Solutions. GE Harris Aviation's automated On, Off, On, In (OOOI) datalink will be installed on the first CRJ in mid-November. The second ...

  • News

    BAe to relaunch regional jet family with update of RJ85

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC British Aerospace expects to launch development of the re-engined Avro RJ-X programme with the RJ-85 as a result of stronger market interest in the smallest version of the regional jet family. Two unbuilt RJ airframes have been allocated to the development programme, aircraft serial numbers ...

  • News

    Uzbekistan takes first 757-200

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    Uzbekistan Airways has received the first of two Boeing 757-200s for international scheduled services. The 184-seat aircraft, which includes a 26-seat business-class cabin, will be used on services from Uzbekistan to points in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The new 757-200 joins two 767-300ERs, three Airbus A310s, three Avro ...

  • News

    Parachute deployment cuts short first flight of Helios

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    NASA and AeroVironment, makers of the huge and unconventional Helios flying wing, are investigating the inadvertent deployment of the flight termination system parachute. It brought to a premature end a successful first flight of Helios at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, California, on 8 September. The 75.3m (247ft)-span ...

  • News

    Mission possible

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    EW aircraft, tankers and AWACS turn the impossible into the achievable Stewart Penney/RAF Brize Norton & RAF Waddington DeeDee Doke/Aviano AB & RAF Mildenhall Missions over Iraqi and Yugoslavia would not be possible without force multipliers such as the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), electronic warfare (EW) assets ...

  • News

    Air France closes on new allies

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    Chris Jasper/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS Air France is moving closer to enlisting new airline allies to launch a global grouping alongside Delta Air Lines. Austrian Airlines is thought to be close to defecting from the Swissair-led Qualiflyer alliance and British Midland (BM) is being targeted as part of the recruitment offensive. ...

  • News

    DC-9 detection

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    Securaplane has received US Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certification for its wireless smoke detection system on McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s. Arizona-based Securaplane's wireless fire detection system has been cleared for "D" and "E" class lower cargo compartments. Source: Flight International

  • News

    Swissair files against IFE firms

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    Swissair has filed a legal complaint against in-flight entertainment (IFE) system manufacturer Interactive Flight Technologies (IFT) relating to the crash of a Boeing MD-11 last September off the Canadian coast. The carrier says that, while there are "no new findings" on the cause of the accident to flight SR111, ...

  • News

    ACA orders 328JETS for new subsidiary

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) Holdings has ordered a further 25 Fairchild Aerospace 328JET regional aircraft to equip a planned new subsidiary carrier to partner Delta Air Lines on north-east USA services. Under a newly concluded 10-year partnership, the new airline will operate as a Delta ...

  • News

    Embraer to develop armed RJ-145 jet

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Embraer plans to develop an armed maritime patrol (MPA) version of its RJ-145 regional jet on the back of an expected launch order from the Mexico for six aircraft. The proposed EMB-145 MPA would be closely modelled on the modified airframe of the remote sensing ...

  • News

    UK approves merger of BAe and MES

    1999-09-15T00:00:00Z

    The UK Government has approved the merger of British Aerospace and GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) division, imposing conditions that BAe says are acceptable. The merger will create the world's third largest aerospace player, with a turnover of over $20 billion. Concerns were raised over the merger's impact in ...

  • News

    MD-11 wiring to be tested for arcing

    1999-09-08T00:00:00Z

    The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSBC) is devising tests to find out whether cockpit ceiling wiring from the crashed Swissair Boeing MD-11 suffered from electrical arcing before or after it was exposed to fire. "Tests are under way to assess the significance of arcing found on 14 segments ...

  • News

    USA limits chemical tank numbers

    1999-09-08T00:00:00Z

    The US Department of Transportation has put into force new restrictions on the transport of chemical oxidisers and compressed oxygen aboard commercial air transports. The regulations bar carriage of chemical oxidisers in an inaccessible aircraft cargo compartment that does not have a fire or smoke detection and fire suppression ...