All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow – Page 222
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NewsAuditor general’s office details ‘dire’ state of SAA organisation
South Africa’s auditor general’s office has testified to the chaotic condition of South African Airways’ organisation during a judicial commission examining allegations of corruption and fraud in state companies. The office participated for the first time in the audit of SAA’s full-year financial statement covering 2016-17. SAA was experiencing liquidity ...
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NewsFrench probe low-speed incident during A350 go-around
French investigators are probing an incident involving a French Bee Airbus A350-900 during a go-around at Paris Orly. The twinjet (F-HREV) had been conducting its approach to runway 25 on 4 February, following a service from San Francisco. French investigation authority BEA states that the approach was aborted owing to ...
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NewsAnimation reveals Bek Air Fokker 100 crash sequence
Kazakhstan’s government has released an animation detailing the take-off sequence of the Bek Air Fokker 100 involved in a fatal accident at Almaty. The sequence clearly shows the difficulties the crew experienced in controlling the aircraft as it rotated from runway 05R while departing for Nur-Sultan on 27 December. It ...
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NewsFokker 50 crash crew ignored multiple alerts during take-off roll
Kenyan investigators have disclosed that the crew of a Fokker 50 continued a take-off roll, despite multiple alerts apparently warning of a serious engine problem, before the aircraft crashed some 50s after becoming airborne. The inquiry into the accident, involving a Skyward International Aviation turboprop departing Nairobi’s main international airport, ...
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NewsFrance's Groupe ADP to take 49% of Indian airport operator GMR
Parisian airports operator Groupe ADP has provisionally agreed to take a 49% shareholding in the Indian company GMR Airports. The agreement, conditional on regulatory approval, will involve acquisition of an initial shareholding of just under 25% within a few days. ADP states that a further stage will result in its ...
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NewsCondor tie-up with LOT cleared by German authorities
German competition regulator Bundeskartellamt has cleared Polish firm Polska Grupa Lotnicza’s acquisition of leisure carrier Condor. The regulator has determined that there is “no relevant overlap” between the activities of Condor – formerly part of Thomas Cook Group – and Polish flag-carrier LOT, a subsidiary of PGL. Bundeskartellamt president Andreas ...
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NewsBelavia steps up to E2 under new lease deal
Belarussian operator Belavia has signed for three of the re-engined Embraer 195-E2 regional jet, expanding its operations with the E-Jet family. Belavia is to take the first of the three Pratt & Whitney PW1900G-powered aircraft in December this year. The airline has reached the lease agreement with AerCap, the lessor ...
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NewsAir France-KLM takes €126m charge for A380 withdrawal
Air France’s withdrawal of the Airbus A380 fleet has resulted in its parent taking a €126 million ($136 million) impairment on the aircraft type. The flag-carrier disclosed last year that it would retire its A380 fleet by 2022, just 13 years after introducing the double-deck type. Air France originally ordered ...
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NewsAeroflot A350s and 777s spearhead three-year expansion
Aeroflot Group is nearing delivery of its first Airbus A350-900, a central part of the Russian operator’s fleet modernisation and international expansion strategy for the next three years. It will receive its first 316-seat Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered A350 at the end of this month, gradually using the twinjet type to ...
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NewsEager first officers pose risk at difficult Nepalese airports
Nepalese investigators have expressed concern over the potential risks of prematurely giving first officers operational experience at difficult airports, in their inquiry into a fatal accident at Lukla. The first officer of an Aircraft Industries Let L-410 had been the flying pilot during a short take-off departure at Lukla last ...
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NewsThrottle lever slip preceded fatal Nepalese L-410 excursion
Nepalese investigators have attributed a fatal take-off excursion, involving an Aircraft industries Let L-410, to differential thrust following retardation of one throttle lever – but have been unable to determine the reason why the lever slipped back. The Summit Air turboprop had commenced its take-off roll from Lukla;s runway 24, ...
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NewsTarom starts turboprop upgrade with first new ATR 72-600
Romanian flag-carrier Tarom has started taking delivery of a batch of ATR 72-600s it is receiving under a lease agreement with Nordic Aviation Capital. The operator disclosed last year that it was introducing nine of the turboprop type to modernise its fleet. Tarom has unveiled a revised colour scheme for ...
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News‘Definitely not in situ’: Tower confirms wheel missing to fly-by A319
Canadian investigators are probing the loss of a main landing-gear wheel from an Air Canada Airbus A319, confirmed during a tower fly-by as the aircraft prepared for arrival at Toronto. The aircraft (C-GAQL) had been operating the AC715 service from New York LaGuardia on 18 February. Its crew had advised ...
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NewsIrish division of GTLK to lease A220s to Green Africa
Nigerian start-up carrier Green Africa Airways has agreed to lease three Airbus A220s from Irish-based lessor GTLK Europe. The airline says the pact will enable it to “set course” to open commercial services this year. GTLK Europe is based in Dublin, and is affiliated with the Russian state leasing company ...
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NewsBelgium latest to evolve towards remote digital towers
Belgium’s air navigation service, Skeyes, is to establish digital control towers at six airports in the country, including the main Brussels hub and the secondary Charleroi airport. Skeyes says its board has formally chosen to open a tender procedure which will also cover phased introduction of digital towers at Antwerp, ...
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NewsRussian analysis highlights recent upward trend in hard landings
Russian safety analysis has revealed a disturbing upward trend in the number of hard landings by large transport aircraft which, it concludes, is not simply the result of a rise in traffic. The federal Aviaregister Russia – through a decision by air transport regulator Rosaviatsia – conducted a study into ...
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NewsSecond Austral E190 suffers nose-wheel detachment
Argentinean investigators have opened a probe after an Embraer 190 apparently lost its left-hand nose-wheel in Rosario. The Austral Lineas Aereas twinjet (LV-CHQ) had arrived at Rosario following a service from Buenos Aires on 16 February. Argentinean accident investigation authority JIAAC says the incident occurred at about 23:10 local time ...
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NewsLate action on weak flare preceded IndiGo A320 hard landing
Indian investigators believe inadequate flare by the first officer of an IndiGo Airlines Airbus A320 led to a hard landing by the twinjet at Raipur. The aircraft (VT-IGK), arriving from Delhi, had been conducting an ILS approach to runway 24 with the first officer – who was undergoing supervised line ...
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NewsAir-conditioning tests start for ‘Russified’ Superjet
Sukhoi’s civil aircraft division has commenced testing of a new Russian-built air-conditioning system as part of its development of a revised Superjet 100 with greater domestic content. The ‘SSJ New’ is intended to have a higher proportion of Russian-supplied systems and components, under an import-substitution strategy for the country’s aviation ...
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NewsTariff hike only deepens US airlines’ misery: Airbus
Airbus has criticised the US government’s decision to increase tariffs on imported aircraft, claiming it simply exacerbates problems for the country’s own airlines. The US Trade Representative decision – which hikes tariffs from the previous 10% to a level of 15% – is a consequence of the long-running transatlantic subsidies ...