All Systems & Interiors news – Page 801
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News
Navajo gear
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended the US Federal Aviation Administration to require recurrent inspections of Piper PA-31 Navajo inboard door hinge assemblies until they are replaced by a stronger hinge unit. The NTSB's advisory results from a 1997 regional airline incident in which a Cape Smythe ...
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Air New Zealand rolls over ATR fleet
Air New Zealand has reached agreement with ATR to replace its seven four-year-old ATR 72-210s with a similar number of improved -500 versions. The aircraft will be operated by its fully owned domestic operator, Mount Cook Airline. The "500 series" versions of the ATR 42/72 have a redesigned interior, advanced ...
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BWIA plans cash injection to expand fleet
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON BWIA International Airways will undertake a major fleet expansion programme in 1999, funded by a soon-to-be-unveiled initial public offering (IPO). The move follows the successful implication of a restructuring plan earlier this year by chief executive Conrad Aleong, as the airline prepares for the first profit in ...
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Delays continue for Europe's air traffic
Air traffic delays in European airspace during the summer were "among the worst on record",according to the Association of European Airlines (AEA). The figures, which reveal that 25.9% of intra-European flights were delayed by more than 15min, come despite traffic growth being 2% less than the predicted 7%. ...
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737 avionics setback
Meggitt Avionics has lost a contract with Boeing to supply solid state integrated standby flight systems for Next Generation 737s, because Optical Imaging Systems, the US company which makes the liquid crystal glass in the units, has gone out of business. The glass was unique to the Boeing specification for ...
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American races to Reno Air
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC American Airlines has acquired Reno Air in a deal worth $124 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 1999, after which the airlines will begin integrating the route networks and work forces. American, the second-largest airline in the USA, plans to ...
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Chinese regional jet joint venture seeks international link
Undeterred by previous disappointments, China's regional jet ambitions are taking new shape with the formation of a six-company joint venture which is searching for a foreign partner to launch a 70-seat jet programme. The NRJ joint venture comprises Xian Aircraft Design and Research, the Shanghai Aircraft Research Institute, Shanghai ...
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Challenger order
Croatia's Ministry of the Interior has ordered a second Bombardier Canadair CL-415 turboprop amphibian waterbomber, with an option for another. The aircraft will be delivered in mid-1999. Croatia also operates two piston-powered CL-215s. Source: Flight International
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SAirGroup buys 49% of LTU and eyes full access to EU market
Andrew Doyle/DÜSSELDORF SAirGroup has finally completed its long-awaited acquisition of a 49.9% stake in German tour operator LTU as the latest step in its plans for a major expansion of its operations in the European leisure travel market. The deal comes as senior executives at the Swissair parent are expressing ...
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Common theme
Graham Warwick WASHINGTON DC Can airlines agree to buy a standard aircraft, in the hope of reducing costs, or will each continue to demand hundreds of custom changes that set its aircraft apart from any other carrier's? That is the question facing an airline task force which is to ...
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Adventure star
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin's venture to develop and operate a fully reusable launch vehicle has always been acknowledged as risky; just how risky was brought home by the news that engine manufacturing problems have delayed the first flight of the X-33 technology demonstrator by six months, to December ...
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Raytheon teams with Angel on HALO-Proteus
Raytheon has signed a teaming agreement with St Louis-based Angel Technologies to develop stratospheric broadband wireless services, using the High Altitude Long Operation (HALO) aircraft. The prime electronics systems integrator will be Raytheon, with responsibility for the airborne and ground segments of the HALO network. Angel will deliver fixed and ...
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Airbus may ditch A3XX thrust reversers to slow down costs
Andrew Doyle/LONDON Airbus Industrie is discussing with airlines a plan to remove the thrust reversers from its A3XX ultra-high capacity airliner design as part of efforts to further reduce the aircraft's direct operating costs. Airlines have generally reacted favourably towards the idea of dropping the system from the outboard engines ...
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UK airlines renew call for air rage research and funding
David Learmount/LONDON Efforts to undertake research into the causes of air rage attacks on cabin crew are being held up by a reluctance to fund the work, it has emerged at a Passenger Behaviour seminar held at Heathrow Airport, London, on 29 October. The UK's Cranfield University has ...
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Universal targets corporate jet market with flightdeck family
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Universal Avionics has launched a bid to become a major supplier of flightdeck equipment for corporate and commercial aircraft with the introduction of its System-1 product line. Building on its UNS-1 flight management system (FMS), Universal's System-1 includes flat panel displays, a terrain awareness and warning system ...
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SAir Group acquires major Air Europe stake
Marco Messalla/MILAN Swissair parent SAir Group is to grow its increasing portfolio of small European airlines by taking the maximum permitted stake in Italian long-range charter carrier Air Europe, through the purchase of 49.9% of Dutch-based holding company Tegel. The move follows the recent purchase of 44%of France's Air ...
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Calm down
A new and unsettling problem for the airlines - dubbed "air rage" by the media - has been emerging over the last few years. The problem is unsettling because it appears to be global and growing rapidly, and although the airlines can describe it, they cannot define it. This intractable ...
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Muscular Malibu
Dave Higdon/WITCHITA In developing the Meridian, a turboprop derivative of its Malibu high-performance piston single, New Piper Aircraft is counting on the fact that customers will find the transition to turbine power both attractive and manageable. To test this premise, Flight International evaluated the Malibu turboprop conversion developed by JetProp ...
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Ion cruiser
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA's Deep Space 1 (DS1) spacecraft is being propelled to its rendezvous with an asteroid by an ion propulsion system, the first use of such a system in the history of interplanetary exploration. The DS1, which was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 24 October, is the first ...
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Socata's diesel range kicks off with petrol prototype
Andrzej Jeziorski/SEOUL Socata has begun construction of the first prototype of what will eventually become a range of diesel-engined aircraft. The French manufacturer hopes to fly its MS250 Morane light single at next year's Paris air show in June. The prototype of the four/five-seat Morane will have a ...