All Ops & safety articles – Page 104
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NewsSmartwings 737 captain 'hid' engine failure to continue flight to Prague
Czech investigators have revealed that a Boeing 737-800 captain misled air traffic control over a serious engine failure and ignored the first officer’s urging a diversion, in order to press on to Prague, the flight’s original destination. Investigation authority UZPLN states that the captain’s poor decision-making – disregarding several crucial ...
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NewsPandemic interrupts UK charges row over space-based ADS-B
Full resolution of a dispute over a new UK airspace charges, intended to pay for controversial space-based oceanic surveillance, has been deferred after the coronavirus crisis interrupted the effort to settle the clash. The dispute between en route navigation provider NERL and the Civil Aviation Authority – which has been ...
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NewsUS lawmakers request FAA safety culture survey results
Two US lawmakers have asked the FAA for results of an employee survey about the regulator’s safety culture as part of its investigation into the design, development and certification of the troubled Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
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NewsIcelandair orders pilots to take over after dismissing all its cabin crew
Icelandair Group is dismissing its entire cabin crew corps and placing the responsibility for on-board safety with Icelandair’s pilots, after efforts to reach a new collective bargaining agreement failed. Cabin crew members with the FFI union rejected a tentative agreement on 8 July and Icelandair Group says subsequent talks have ...
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NewsMC-21 undergoes series of water-ingestion tests
Russian airframer Irkut has commenced water ingestion tests of the MC-21-300 twinjet on a runway at Ulyanovsk. The tests involve creating a pool of water 70m in length and some 20m wide, with a depth in line with international certification criteria. Irkut states that one of the MC-21 test aircraft ...
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NewsAirbus arm signs carriers to new aircraft-derived runway-condition monitor
Airbus’s specialist flight-operations division, Navblue, has unveiled a new runway contamination reporting system which uses the aircraft as a condition sensor during landing roll-out. Over 10 carriers have signed up for the system, designated RunwaySense, covering a total of more than 880 aircraft. Airbus had signalled to FlightGlobal more than ...
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NewsUnstable approach rate rose sharply as air transport crisis unfolded
Analysis of flight operations data during the downturn in air transport activity has revealed a sharp increase in the proportion of unstable approaches. The number of unstable approaches per 1,000 operations increased to around 28 in April and 37 in May, two months in which air transport was badly affected ...
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NewsFAA bans Pakistan-based carriers from US airports
The Federal Aviation Administration has banned airlines from Pakistan from flying to US airports due to safety concerns.
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NewsAirline Business podcast: Challenges as airlines return to skies
As airlines begin to ramp up operations, Graham and Lewis discuss the demand situation and the possible pitfalls ahead.
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NewsATR 72 struck sea surface after crew turned off ground-proximity system
Investigators have determined that a Royal Air Maroc Express ATR 72-600 twice struck the surface of the Mediterranean Sea during an extraordinary botched approach to Al Hoceima airport, badly damaging the turboprop before its crew diverted to Nador. Analysis of the incident showed the pilots had proceeded with an unstable ...
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NewsUIA 737 shot down as command chain broke after defence system blunder
Two missiles were fired at a Boeing 737-800 over Tehran after a misaligned defence system, and a breakdown of communications and procedures, led the aircraft to be misidentified as a hostile intruder. Evidence from Iranian investigators indicates that only the first missile hit the Ukraine International Airlines aircraft, although the ...
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OpinionWhy piston pilots should have a modern cockpit canary
Some safety issues are only solvable with sophisticated solutions, but the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning in general aviation are easily abated
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NewsPilots’ dual-control obstructed A320’s collision-avoidance manoeuvres
Dual-control inputs from a Condor Airbus A320’s pilots badly obstructed its response to collision-avoidance orders during a low-altitude conflict, investigators have determined. The incident culminated in a serious air-proximity encounter and a terrain alert, shortly after departure from Kavala airport in Greece on 16 August 2018. After the aircraft (D-AICD) ...
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NewsFAA says 88 air traffic control facilities affected by coronavirus
Since the coronavirus pandemic reached the United States earlier this year, air traffic control (ATC) staff at almost 90 facilities across the country have tested positive for the virus, causing regular disruptions to this crucial network.
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NewsTrent-powered 787 operators to check for disc fin cracks
Operators of Rolls-Royce-powered Boeing 787s are set to be instructed to conduct inspections of certain Trent 1000 low-pressure turbine discs, over a possible cracking risk. Assessment of certain discs in service has revealed that rubbing contact with interstage static seals can lead to cracks in the front seal fins – ...
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NewsTaiwanese probe A330 computer failure after wet runway landing incident
Taiwanese regulators are advising Airbus A330 operators to consider the effects of wet runways on aircraft deceleration after a near-overrun incident at Taipei’s Songshan airport. As the aircraft landed on the wet runway and the thrust reversers were activated, says the Taiwan Civil Aeronautics Administration, the crew “noticed the loss” ...
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NewsEthiopian 787 hit lighting mast after being sent to wrong de-icing stand
Norwegian investigators have revealed that a de-icing vehicle driver vainly attempted to stop an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-9 from taxiing onto the wrong de-icing stand, before the jet’s right wing struck and felled a lighting mast at Oslo Gardermoen. The aircraft (ET-AUP), which was preparing for departure to Stockholm and ...
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NewsControl-check ‘routine’ led E190 upset crew to miss reversed ailerons
Investigators have suggested that familiarity with routine, combined with expectation bias, led the crew of an Embraer 190 to miss clues that the jet’s aileron cables had been cross-rigged during maintenance. The Air Astana aircraft had emerged from maintenance at Portuguese firm OGMA during which the aileron cables were inadvertently ...
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NewsCarbon monoxide poisoning clue emerges in fatal DHC-2 crash probe
Australian investigators have urged operators of piston-engined aircraft to carry out inspection and repair of exhaust systems, after finding that the pilot of a crashed De Havilland Canada DHC-2 floatplane had elevated levels of carbon monoxide in his blood. The Sydney Seaplanes aircraft, with six occupants, had departed Cottage Point, ...