All Ops & safety articles – Page 1164
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Jet power
The potential for Indian air transport has never been greater Julian Moxon/MUMBAIWith a population of close to 1 billion people, most of whom travel by train, India offers immense potential for air transport. That potential was unlocked with the Indian Government's liberalisation of the domestic civil aviation industry in 1990. ...
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Hard landing
Egyptair has suffered its second serious Boeing 767-300ER accident in six months. A 767 (SU-GAO) landing at Harare, Zimbabwe, touched down hard in windy conditions. The port wing touched the ground, causing the engine to separate. The aircraft left the runway and came to rest with serious damage to its ...
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Power problem delays IMAGE
Concern about the condition of DC-to-DC power converters on the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite has delayed the 15 March launch of the spacecraft aboard a Boeing Delta II from Vandenberg AFB, California. Launch preparations for the $153 million Lockheed Martin-built satellite have been halted after an ...
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On-time software keeps FAA datalink on track
Key software for the US Federal Aviation Administration's controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) programme has been delivered to prime contractor Computer Sciences (CSC). The on-time delivery of router software for the aeronautical telecommunications network (ATN) keeps the CPDLC programme on track as the FAA struggles with budget and schedule problems ...
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Data overload
Current flightdecks can reduce pilot situational awareness David Learmount/LONDON Flightdeck avionics are supposed to give pilots "situational awareness", but there is evidence that modern systems can reduce it. Situational awareness is the pilot's mental picture of the aircraft relative to its three-dimensional operational environment, including navigation and terrain, the ...
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Warrior gears up for Centaur challenge
Warrior (Aero-Marine) has secured half of the required investment from North American and UK-based sources to fund development and certification of its single-engined Centaur light seaplane. The £15 million ($22 million) cash injection, derived from a mixture of private and public investment, is conditional on the UK company providing ...
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Star seeks busier fleet
Julian Moxon/PARIS French charter carrier Star Airlines has isolated improved aircraft utilisation as the key to matching 1999's financial performance during the current year. Star posted an after-tax profit of Fr11.72 million ($1.75 million) last year, up 128% on 1998, with operating profit up even more sharply, increasing to ...
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BBA buys training school
David Learmount/LONDON Diversified industrial conglomerate BBA has bought Europe's largest professional pilot training organisation, Oxford Aviation of the UK, marking the first move in an expected trend towards the consolidation of the continent's fragmented nationally orientated training sector. London-based BBA, which has several aviation-related subsidiaries, says the £55.4 million ($88.5 ...
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Boeing unwraps avionics upgrade technique
Boeing has demonstrated a low-cost avionics upgrade technique that allows existing software to run unmodified on new commercial processors. The technique involves a computer program which "wraps" around the legacy software and allows it to operate with new commercial software and hardware. Boeing's demonstrations involved the C-17 Globemaster ...
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Russian ATM update is key to polar flights
The preliminary results of a joint Canadian-Russian feasibility study into the use of the new transpolar routes has identified potential traffic of up to 5,000 flights a year between North America and Asia. Their future depends, however, on funds to modernise Russia's air traffic management (ATM) system being secured. ...
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UK investigators slam Emerald Airways, query CAA
Two aircraft close to disaster at same spot within three hours
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Airsys ATM consortium to carry on EC research into airspace capacity
Emma Kelly/LONDON The European Commission (EC) has awarded an Airsys ATM-led consortium a contract to continue a datalink evaluation programme which is ultimately aimed at increasing airspace capacity and safety, reducing air traffic controller workload and improving air traffic flow planning. The EC is contributing €2 million ($1.9 ...
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e-commerce drives USA on airspace redesign
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NASA and the US Federal Aviation Administration have begun to define the airspace system that needs to be in place in the USA by the middle of this century. The "aviation system after next" is expected to be influenced heavily by the demands that e-commerce ...
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Air transport 'contributes' to warming
Commercial aviation contributes significantly to global warming, and the problem will worsen with industry growth despite technical improvements, a US General Accounting Office (GAO) report has concluded. The Congressional watchdog agency found that, in the USA, aviation emissions in 1997 accounted for only about 3% of greenhouse gases and ...
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Small increase in US accidents revealed
Preliminary US airline accident figures for 1999 indicate a slight increase in the total accident rate. The statistics, from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), reveal the accident numbers and rate for US Federal Aviation Regulation Part 121 (large aircraft) scheduled operators were up slightly on 1998, with 48 ...
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Boeing goes ahead with 777 variants but declines to reveal customers
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing is to go ahead with the ultra-long range 777-200LR and -300ER derivatives, previously called the 777 200X/300X. The company plans to deliver the first aircraft in September 2003. News of the long-delayed launch was dampened by Boeing's refusal to name a launch customer. Candidates ...
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Passenger Priorities
ANNIE REDMILE LONDON Corporations may be forcing their employees towards cheaper travel options, but business passengers remain attached to perks. They are also increasingly online savvy In the latest round of business travel surveys airlines have been sent mixed signals - some sobering, others encouraging - about the concerns, ...
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Domestic fares fall as Japan deregulates
NICHOLAS IONIDES ATI SINGAPORE Japan's major carriers are to introduce new discount fares for domestic travel from April following a revision to Japanese aviation laws. The changes to aviation laws were made official on 1 February, when the current approval system for domestic fares was replaced with a filing ...
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Three's a crowd
MAX KINGSLEY-JONES LONDON In the aero-engines stakes, market dynamics appear to favour a two-horse race. Two may be company, but three is a crowd. It is a message on which the world's three main aircraft engine manufacturers have had cause to dwell. They know only too well the damage that ...
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Drafting a new contract
TOM GILL LONDON Europe is rapidly catching up with the USA with its own passenger rights proposals First it was the turn of US politicians to get fired up about passenger rights. In fact, it looks as though the major US carriers have pre-empted that initiative with ...