Draft report into A340 overrun finalised
Probe Canadian investigators have finished their draft report into last year's Air France Airbus A340-300 landing accident at Toronto Pearson airport, but have yet to disclose details of its findings. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada's draft will be reviewed and, once approved, distributed to interested parties for validation. No publication date has been given. Air France flight AF358 from Paris Charles de Gaulle overran Toronto's runway 24L on 2 August 2005 and came to rest in a ravine. Although the aircraft was destroyed by fire, there were no fatalities among the 297 passengers and 12 crew.
CEV contract award confirmed
Exploration NASA administrator Michael Griffin confirmed at last week's International Mars Society Convention in Washington DC that the downselect for the agency's Crew Exploration Vehicle's (CEV) phase two development would take place in September. The award was due to have been made on 7 August. Industry understands the new date is likely to be 8 September. Griffin also announced that in 2007 his agency would undertake manned Mars mission studies.
THY gets on board Star Alliance
Partner Turkish Airlines (THY) has chosen Star Alliance as its intended global partner after the airline's board met late last week to finalise its alliance strategy. Negotiations with Star are expected to begin shortly. THY, formerly linked with the ill-fated Swissair-led Qualiflyer alliance, began initial discussions with Star and rival SkyTeam last year.
CAE wins $40m US Navy simulator deal
Training CAE USA has won a contract to design and manufacture MH-60R and SH-60B tactical operational flight trainers (TOFT) for the US Navy. Valued at $40 million, the contract calls for CAE to develop one MH-60R and one SH-60B TOFT. If options for two additional MH-60R TOFTs are exercised, contract value would rise to $82 million. CAE has also won a contract valued at more than C$15 million ($13.3 million) from AgustaWestland to design and manufacture an AW139 helicopter flight simulator for the Finmeccanica unit's training centre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Peru to liquidate TANS
Shutdown Peru's government has opted to liquidate the military-controlled civil airline TANS, which has been grounded since January over a failure to comply with safety regulations. The decision comes in the wake of the release of the Peruvian air accidents investigation agency's report into the August 2005 fatal loss of a TANS Boeing 737-200, which criticises the crew for failing to observe standard operating procedures.
AgustaWestland distributor in Mexico
Sales Aerolineas Ejecutivas of Mexico has signed a five-year deal to distribute AgustaWestland helicopters and has placed an initial contract for five aircraft, comprising two A109 Powers, a A119 Koala, a Grand and an AW139, plus 37 options. Aerolineas Ejecutivas was appointed an authorised service centre by the Finmeccanica-owned manufacturer earlier this year.
Industry team delivers on Sesar
ATM The industry consortium managing the Single European Sky research programme Sesar has submitted the first of six deliverable items in the project's definition phase. The completed task was to define the shared industry view of the present air traffic management environment, using the combined experience of airspace users, regulators, air navigation service providers and other industry representatives. Sesar is a wide-ranging programme to create a masterplan for European air traffic management development, based on the principles of interoperability, harmonisation and unification.
Source: Flight International
