All Ops & safety articles – Page 1278
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News
Boeing perseveres as EVA discusses A340 order
EVA Airways has opened contractual negotiations with Airbus Industrie on ordering six A340-500s, plus six options, but has not ruled out placing orders with Boeing. It holds an unsigned letter-of-intent (LoI) for a similar number of proposed 747-200ERXs. Despite EVA having earlier signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ...
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Asian crisis sees Asiana drop A330
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Asiana Airlines is scrapping its plans to purchase Airbus A330s and is cutting back drastically on an Airbus A321 order. Overall, the number of cancelled aircraft orders and deferred deliveries in Asia continues to grow, with Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) rescheduling Boeing 777-200 deliveries and Thai Airways ...
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Fairchild Dornier flies 328JET
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Fairchild Dornier flew its prototype 328JET for the first time on 20 January, bringing it a step closer to entering the emerging 30-seat regional-jet market. The aircraft took off at 11:16 local time from the company's Oberpfaffenhofen site near Munich, and was flown for nearly 2h over the ...
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Airbus set for A319 order from Royal Brunei
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) has reached a tentative agreement with Airbus Industrie to place an initial order for two A319s, in a move which will affect its wider-ranging selection of a new fleet of widebodies. The airline has accepted an Airbus offer on two A319s available ...
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NTSB calls for software rethink after A300 lost speed in descent
Software redesign following investigation of an in-flight upset to an American Airlines Airbus Industrie A300-600R has been recommended by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The aircraft's airspeed was allowed to decrease dangerously when it levelled out at 16,000ft (4,900m) during descent, before the stall-warning sounded and the aircraft ...
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Out of control ?
Yet again, too many passengers and crew who died in airline accidents in the last year died in aircraft which, until the moment at which they hit the ground or water, were functioning perfectly - but whose crews were not. These accidents are classed as Controlled Flight Into Terrain, or ...
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Order boom peaks
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON If the latest round of year-end order announcements from Airbus and Boeing seemed to lack some of the high drama of previous years, perhaps it comes as recognition that there may be some tougher times ahead. Quite apart from the internal restructuring issues that pre-occupy both manufacturers, the ...
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Asia-Pacific pathfinders
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE The Asia-Pacific region has been at the forefront of promoting the new communications, navigation and surveillance/air-traffic-management (CNS/ ATM) system since the concept emerged in 1983. These efforts will begin to bear fruit in 1998, with the planned opening and start of trials on key new routes between Asia, ...
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Asiana and MAS attempt to offload widebody orders
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Asiana Airlines is circulating a letter to rival international carriers offering newly ordered and existing aircraft for sale or lease. There appear to be few takers in Asia, though, with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) offering its Boeing 777 delivery positions in 1998 to Delta Air Lines and other struggling ...
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Northwest talks with Continental approved
Leaders of the Northwest Airlines chapter of the US Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have endorsed the carrier's proposed partnership with Continental Airlines, which includes the option of a 14% shareholding. After stalling on the initial proposals, which were first mooted in early December, ALPA has given its blessing ...
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UK's Lucas reveals ambitious plans following R-R deal
Lucas Aerospace, fresh from its Rolls-Royce engines-control deal, has put down its marker as a potential leader in the expected consolidation of the industry. "We have very ambitious plans for Lucas Aerospace," says Victor Rice, chairman of Lucas Varity, the parent company formed by the Anglo-US link-up of the ...
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EasyJet targets Air Holland as a way in to mainland Europe
EasyJet is seeking to establish a hub in mainland Europe by acquiring the Schiphol, Amsterdam-based charter airline Air Holland. EasyJet has been looking to establish a Dutch hub and already serves Amsterdam from its Luton base and its secondary hub in Liverpool. The airline also operates a weekend service ...
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African carriers gear up for next round of privatisations
Kevin O'Toole/ZIMBABWEAfrican airlines have begun the new year with preparations for a renewed round of privatisations. The main event is the planned sale of South Africa Airways (SAA), but there is a growing impetus throughout the region taking in Air Zimbabwe, Air Madagascar and Air Uganda. South Africa made ...
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US airport introduces firefighting advances
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Connecticut's Bradley International has fielded the "Snozzle", a firefighting device manufactured by Crash Rescue Equipment Service of Dallas, Texas, and mounted on one of the airport's two new fire trucks . The Snozzle's adjustable boom can apply fire retardants on hard-to-reach aircraft areas, concentrating firefighting ...
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737 is back under FAA quality control microscope
Boeing is expecting, on 21 January, the results of a US Federal Aviation Administration audit of its quality control which was triggered - along with inspections of 211 Boeing 737s - by the unexplained crash of a SilkAir 737-300 on 19 December. The FAA's quality-assurance audit is focused on ...
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Airbus firms up A3XX freighter
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Airbus is firming up its plans for combi and all-freight derivatives of its proposed A3XX airliner, as it works towards a launch decision by early 1999. As envisaged, both cargo versions of the baseline 560-seat, A3XX-100 will feature a main-deck 3.43 x 2.54m cargo door in ...
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FedEx accepts TCAS 2 and awaits ADS solution
Federal Express has accepted the need to equip its fleet of jet-powered freighters with the traffic-alert and collision-avoidance system (TCAS 2) to meet pending international regulations, but is still backing the US Cargo Airlines Association (CAA) effort to develop an automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B)-based system. The airline, ...
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1997 showed highest CFIT death total
David Learmount/LONDON Having caused a record 640 fatalities in airline accidents during 1997, controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) has been confirmed as the accident category which poses the greatest danger to life. The latest figures reveal that, despite new technology and a well-orchestrated international campaign to reduce the mistakes ...
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Forced landing in Iran
All 104 passengers and nine crew of an Iran Air Fokker 100 are safe following a night emergency landing on flat ground about 10km (5nm) from the pilot's planned diversion airport at Isfahan, Iran. Loss-adjuster Airclaims confirms that the aircraft was in landing configuration and that the gear was destroyed. ...
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Bucharest Airport upgrade progresses
The first phase of modernisation of Bucharest's Otopeni Airport has been inaugurated by Romanian transport minister Traian Basescu. The $120 million project was carried out by Romairport, a consortium led by Italian Milan Airport managing company SEA. The programme includes the construction of a terminal, developed from an unfinished ...