All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow – Page 139
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NewsUnidentified phenomena pose flight-safety threat and potential broader risks: US government
Preliminary US intelligence analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena has concluded that such incidents are at least a threat to flight safety and potentially present a broader hazard. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released an initial assessment of UAP – more commonly dubbed UFOs, or unidentified flying ...
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In depthIl-114-300 set to become Russia’s local hero
Russia’s Il-114 is approaching service entry in its -300 guise, almost 30 years after the Ilyushin design’s emergence – and with local demand rising, it looks set to make a successful return.
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In depthMC-21 programme spearheads Russian industry revival
Irkut’s MC-21 is on track for first delivery this year with imported key components – but the programme is championing near-term readiness with Russian engines and homegrown composites.
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NewsRussia’s SKOL claims medical fleet restriction endangers patients
Russian operator SKOL is protesting that moves to seize its leased fleet risks the health of individuals in need of medical evacuation, particularly in the current pandemic crisis. SKOL has turned the Russian ministry of transport for assistance following federal aviation regulator Rosaviatsia’s decision to remove 35 aircraft and helicopters ...
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NewsIcelandic start-up Play details IPO ahead of small growth market listing
Icelandic budget start-up carrier Play is seeking to raise IcKr3.9-4.3 billion ($32-35 million) from an initial public offering, with its shares listing on a small-company stock market. Play is launching its first flights on 24 June, coinciding with the opening of its share subscription period. The offering will comprise two ...
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NewsInvestor Bain Capital backs Icelandair with plan to take 16.6% stake
Investment firm Bain Capital is to take a 16.6% share in Icelandair Group, through the IcKr8.1 billion ($66 million) acquisition of new shares in the company. Bain Capital has entered a binding agreement to subscribe to 5.66 billion new shares. Its acquisition is conditional upon shareholders agreeing to the transaction ...
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NewsRussian lessor GTLK redistributes repossessed SKOL fleet
Thirty-three of the 35 aircraft and helicopters at the centre of a lease payment dispute involving Russian carrier SKOL have been assigned to new operators. Russian state lessor GTLK is transferring five Let L-410 twin-turboprops, as well as 21 Mil Mi-8 and seven Kazan Ansat helicopters under the new contracts. ...
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NewsA320neo crews told to stay alert for abnormal take-off airspeeds
Airbus is emphasising the importance of A320neo-family airspeed checks during take-off, after developmental simulations identified potential effects on aircraft response from consistent erroneous airspeed indications. Erroneous indications within the same speed range could arise from false information being derived from two or three blocked pitot probes. Airbus computational simulations, conducted ...
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NewsRussian-powered MC-21 heads for painting at Ulyanovsk
Irkut has sent the first Russian-powered MC-21 for painting at the Spektr-Avia facility located within Ulyanovsk’s Vostochny airport. The twinjet – number 73055, the first example of the MC-21-310 variant – is fitted with Aviadvigatel PD-14 engines. It carried out its first flight in December last year and Irkut intends ...
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NewsRussian medical helicopter operator SKOL's fleet stripped over debts
Russian federal aviation regulator Rosaviatsia has withdrawn 35 aircraft from the operating certificate of diverse operator SKOL, after claims by state leasing firm GTLK that the carrier has failed to keep up payments for its fleet. SKOL is based in the exclave of Kaliningrad and offers a variety of services ...
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NewsNorwegian names new chief executive after voting to end Schram’s tenure
Scandinavian budget carrier Norwegian has named Geir Karlsen, the airline’s chief financial officer, as its new chief executive with immediate effect. The airline’s board voted on 20 June to end the tenure of previous chief Jacob Schram, who was appointed little more than 18 months ago as the beleaguered carrier ...
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NewsAt least four fatalities after L-410 crash in Kemerovo
Russian investigators are probing a fatal accident involving a Let L-410 turboprop which crashed in the Kemerovo region during a sports flight. At least four of the 19 occupants did not survive the 19 June accident, with another four suffering serious injuries. Kemerovo’s regional government states that the aircraft suffered ...
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NewsCanadian authority warns operators over 5G risk to radio altimeters
Canadian authorities are warning operators of the potential risk of interference to radio altimeters arising from 5G communications networks, following auction of part of the frequency spectrum. The country’s spectrum regulator, ISED, is auctioning the 3.45-3.65GHz band during June and will allow mobile wireless systems to operate in the adjacent ...
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NewsHold-up to AOC forces start-up Green Africa to postpone initial flights
Nigerian start-up carrier Green Africa Airways has been forced to postpone initial services, after a delay to its air operator’s certificate. The Lagos-based regional operator had been aiming to commence flights on 24 June across a network of seven domestic destinations using ATR turboprops. But while it has been in ...
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NewsBA 787 damaged in nose-gear incident while parked at Heathrow
One of British Airways’ Boeing 787-8s appears to have suffered a nose-gear retraction or collapse at London Heathrow. Images purportedly from the scene, circulating on social media, show the twinjet (G-ZBJB) with its forward fuselage in contact with the ground. They also show a mobile passenger staircase still elevated to ...
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NewsUK ordering Jetstream fix to block throttle levers while gust locks engaged
Operators of British Aerospace Jetstream turboprops are set to be told to fit a stronger rod to the type’s gust-lock system, to prevent the possibility of the throttle levers being advanced while the locks are engaged. Gust locks are designed to prevent damage to control surfaces while the aircraft is ...
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NewsRolls-Royce to ensure civil aircraft engines can operate with 100% sustainable fuel
Rolls-Royce is to ensure all in-production civil aircraft engines are proven compatible with wholly-sustainable fuel by 2023, as part of near-term measures to achieve decarbonisation targets. The manufacturer states that, under the strategy, it will enable its products to be “used in a way that is compatible” with net-zero carbon. ...
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NewsCongolese authorities probe fatal take-off crash involving L-410 freighter
Congolese government officials have identified a Let L-410 turboprop involved in a fatal accident during take-off as being operated by local carrier Kin Avia. The aircraft (9S-GRJ) had been conducting a 16 June freight flight from Kavumu, in the far east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the Rwandan ...
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NewsA321neo tail-strike after overwater approach spurs radio-altimeter logic tweak
Airbus is aiming to introduce a revised radio altimeter after US investigators determined a logic glitch contributed to an A321neo tail-strike at Los Angeles. The Hawaiian Airlines aircraft had been conducting an overwater approach, in visual conditions, to Los Angeles’s runway 06R on 13 August 2018. According to the National ...
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NewsIrkut outlines remaining tests for MC-21
Irkut has identified evacuation and electrical discharge protection among outstanding tests for its MC-21-300 twinjet, as the aircraft edges towards certification.