All Ops & safety articles – Page 1189
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News
UPS wins Alaska FAA ADS-B contract
The US Federal Aviation Administration has awarded UPS Aviation Technologies a contract for at least 150 shipsets of avionics to be made available to small commercial operators in Alaska, finalising plans for an operational evaluation of free flight. The three-year Capstone programme will involve most of the aircraft operating ...
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IATA calls for industry action to fight threat to radio spectrum
Emma Kelly/AMSTERDAM The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging the aviation industry to increase efforts to protect its radio frequency spectrum in preparation for next year's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). The aviation industry's vital radio spectrum was threatened by mobile satellite communication operators at ...
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CAL accident report highlights crosswind factor
An interim report on the China Airlines (CAL) Boeing MD-11 crash at Hong Kong details a well flown final approach which turned to disaster within seconds of touchdown. Three people died and 50 were injured in the 22 August accident. With typhoon "Sam" nearby, air traffic control reported the ...
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Boeing details revised growth 777 schedule
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing has unveiled a detailed revised timetable for development of the growth 777-200X and -300X, calling for delivery of the first General Electric GE90-115B-powered aircraft within 44 months of formal launch. The schedule is based on a formal launch for the programme by the end ...
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Qantas 747-400 drives into the rough
A Qantas Boeing 747-400 (VH-OJH) overran Bangkok's runway 21L following a 23 September night landing in rain. Aquaplaning is believed to have been a factor, but the wind was light and the visibility reasonable, according to the airline. The aircraft, which was making a technical stop whilst en-route from Sydney ...
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Key 717 deals close as Hawaiian takes 20
Guy Norris/LONG BEACH Boeing is closing on potential major 717 deals with British Airways and US low fare airline Vanguard, following the conclusion of a key deal from Hawaiian Airlines for up to 20 aircraft. "Three or four" orders for up to 50 aircraft are being finalised, says ...
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ATAG attacks Europe's $10 billion ATC delays
The Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) has slammed Europe's lack of progress in rationalising its fragmented air traffic control (ATC) system, which it says has resulted in flight delays reaching "overwhelming proportions". The group says the delays will cost the industry at least $10 billion this year. The industry ...
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Step by step
A year after ICAO's global CVS/ATM gathering, progress towards the ultimate goal of global implementation is slowly being made Emma Kelly/LONDON In May last year, more than 800 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) states and aviation decision makers met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss communications, navigation and surveillance/air ...
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Volga-Dnepr ponders new strategies
Chris Jasper/SHANNONOutsize cargo specialist Volga-Dnepr plans to launch scheduled freight services as part of a major expansion of its operations. The Russian carrier, which offers cargo charters with its Antonov An-124-100 freighters marketed through the UK's HeavyLift Cargo Airlines, may take four Ilyushin Il-96Ts freighters to launch the service, but ...
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Marketplace
Air Maldives is to acquire three secondhand Airbus A310-300s on three-year leases from Airbus. The first aircraft, an ex-Air Jamaica, Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered example, will be delivered on 15 October, with others due for delivery at one-month intervals. Schreiner Airways has taken delivery of two ATR 72s on lease ...
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Customs dash
Adelaide-based Surveillance Australia has ordered two Bombardier Dash 8Q-200s for the Coastwatch programme it operates on behalf of the Australian Customs Service. The aircraft will be fitted, by Field Aviation of Toronto, with long-range fuel tanks, search radar, forward-looking infrared television camera and satellite communications, and will join three Dash ...
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Zeppelin heads for airship approval
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON Zeppelin's new-technology airship flight test programme has passed the halfway mark with over 300 flying hours chalked up. The milestone comes 60 years after the German company halted development of its original family of rigid machines following the loss in May 1937 of the Zeppelin Hindenburg after a ...
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NTSB/FAA at odds over aircraft wiring
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration have disagreed on the potential safety threat posed by deteriorated electrical wires running through old commercial transports still in service. The difference of opinion was aired during a Congressional hearing on advances in aircraft electrical systems. Faulty wiring ...
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SAA's Sun Air bid is rejected
Pretoria has vetoed South African Airways' (SAA) planned take-over and closure of Sun Air after refusing to write off R20 million ($3.3 million) owed by the defunct regional. The UK's Virgin Atlantic Airways is touted as a possible alternative investor. The South African Government says the proposed sale of ...
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Joining the jet age
Turbofan power is giving the 328 regional airliner a new lease of life Andrew Doyle/OBERPFAFFENHOFENIt is an unconventional way of bringing a regional jet to the marketplace. Fairchild Aerospace has created a capable 30-seat aircraft by re-engining the Dornier 328 turboprop with turbofans. First deliveries of the 328JET were made ...
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NTSB rejects ADS-B for cargo fleet TCAS
US cargo aircraft should be compelled to fit traffic and collision avoidance systems (TCAS) following two recent near collisions, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration. An alternative system favoured by the US Cargo Airline Association, automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B), ...
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Britannia 757 breaks up after Spanish storm landing
A Britannia Airways Boeing 757-200 (G-BYAG) aquaplaned and skidded off the right side of runway 20 at Gerona, north eastern Spain on 15 September following hours of frontal thunderstorms. The accident happened just before midnight local time on a charter flight from Cardiff, UK. The aircraft, with 245 passengers ...
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AirTran pins hopes of return to profit on introduction of 717
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES AirTran Airways is poised to introduce the first of up to 100 117-seat Boeing 717s to support its efforts to become profitable this year for the first time since 1995, says chairman and chief executive Joe Leonard. The arrival of the 717 "will be ...
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Maverick opts for CT58s for Twinjet
Maverick Air is looking to fit derated General Electric CT58 engines to its five-seat Twinjet 1500, rather than wait for the Williams FJX-2, in an attempt to push forward certification and first deliveries of the factory-built version of the kit aircraft. The CT58-powered Twinjet 1500 composite kit plane, which ...
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Boeing seeks to overturn China Eastern A340-500/600 deal
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing is attempting to overturn a decision by China Eastern Airlines (CEA) to acquire Airbus A340-500/600s. It is proposing a deal similar to the controversial agreement the US company sealed with Singapore Airlines earlier this year, which will take the carrier's A340s in return for ...