DISPLAY OF THE Boeing 777 at FIDAE '96, as part of a Latin American sales tour, was delayed when the forward passenger-door was torn off by an air bridge at Bogota, Colombia, on 8 March. The jetway fell, ripping the open door from its hinges.
The door is designed to break away, and no damage was done to the aircraft. A replacement door was flown from Seattle and installed at Bogota. The aircraft was then displayed, with an unpainted door, before continuing to Buenos Aires, San Pablo, Rio de Janeiro and San Salvador.
Airbus Industrie displayed an A319, which was to be flown to Bolivia after the show for hot-and-high flight-testing already scheduled as part of the certification programme. The aircraft was also demonstrated to airline officials in Brazil, the company says.
Airbus believes, that most of the near-term sales in the region, will be of the A319 and larger A320, to replace Boeing 727s and 737s, and says that airlines in the region are interested in range, rather than capacity, and the flexibility to operate domestic and international routes with the same aircraft. Embraer displayed the second pre-series EMB-145 regional jet.
Source: Flight International
