All Ops & safety articles – Page 1286
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MD-11 line will halt in early 2000
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has decided to terminate production of the MD-11, with the last delivery, possibly the 200th aircraft, scheduled for February 2000. The move was expected, even though the tri-jet gained a surprise seven-month reprieve last November when Boeing elected to continue marketing the freighter version ...
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757-300 prepared for flight test
Guy Norris/SEATTLE The first Boeing 757-300 is being prepared for flight testing, provisionally scheduled to begin with a maiden flight on 1 July, following the roll-out ceremony at the company's Renton site on 31 May. Three 757-300s are due to take part in the test effort, which is ...
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Costa Rican start-up chooses A300 freighter
Costa Rican start-up carrier JHM Cargo Airlines has leased seven Airbus A300B4 freighters from C-S Aviation Services (CSAS) for all-cargo operations to begin by the end of June. The carrier plans to start with twice-daily services between San Jose and Miami, Florida, says general manager Capt Roberto Escalante. The ...
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Boeing studies extending 767-400ER range
Guy Norris/SEATTLE Boeing is evaluating the case for increasing the range of the 767-400ER to about 11,100km (6,000nm) in response to requests from Britannia Airways. The UK charter operator is interested in operating the stretched version of the twin on non-stop operations to Asia-Pacific destinations. The -400ER, which ...
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Air France calculates the cost of pilots' strike action
The pilots' strike at Air France has cost the airline around Fr100 million ($17 million) a day since 2 June. The strike has crippled airline operations in the build-up to the 1998 World Cup, for which it is the official carrier. On 5 June, the carrier was operating around ...
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IAE inspections start again after failure
The engine failure which caused one of British Midland's International Aero Engines (IAE) V2533-A5-powered Airbus A321-200s to return to London Heathrow on 15 May was caused by a sixth stage [high-pressure compressor] stator vane fracture resulting from an inclusion in the vane material. The incident has prompted IAE to ...
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Geared Turbofan Basics
A conventional turbofan is divided into high and low pressure spools, each consisting of a compressor and turbine. The low-pressure spool drives the fan and provides most of the propulsive power. The fan works best at slower speeds, while the rest of the spool - the compressors and turbines - ...
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Big losses put MAS deliveries on hold
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is to delay delivery of nine Boeing 747-400s and 777-200s on order by up to 36 months and dispose of an extra four surplus 737s, in the wake of a larger than expected end of year net loss of M$260 million ($67.3 million). ...
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CAL pursues big fleet revamp
Paul Lewis/Singapore Brent Hannon/Taipei China Airlines (CAL) has issued airframe and engine manufacturers with a fresh request for proposals for up to 36 new widebody aircraft, while rival Taiwanese carrier EVA Airways has postponed its decision on a new fleet of ultra long haul passenger aircraft. CAL has ...
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Regulators get tough on Canada's taxi operators
Canadian air taxi operators have been presented with a list of 71 recommendations designed to improve safety by a task force set up by air transport regulator Transport Canada. The Safety of Air Taxi Operations (SATOPS) task force was set up in January 1996 following a Transport Canada review ...
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Cathay will lead US/Asia transpolar flights
Cathay Pacific Airways is planning a record breaking non-stop flight from New York to Hong Kong in early July, which is intended to lead the way to the opening up in 1999 of four new transpolar routes between the US East Coast and Asia over the Russian Far East. ...
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Datalink weather set for GA cockpits
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Weather graphics and other flight information could be widely datalinked to the cockpits of general aviation (GA) aircraft by year-end if a US Federal Aviation Administration initiative runs to schedule. The FAA believes the Flight Information Services (FIS) digital datalink will improve GA safety by ...
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Sempati suspends services as losses mount and traffic falls
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Indonesia's privately run Sempati Air Transport has suspended operations in the face of mounting financial losses, falling domestic traffic and after its shareholders failed to inject further capital into the business. Sempati's owners have said that, for now, the airline will not be liquidated and have ...
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Hydraulic loss spoils Global Hawk UAV test
Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical (TRA) is investigating a hydraulic failure which marred the otherwise successful third flight of the Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The aircraft lost hydraulic pressure on approach to the runway at Edwards AFB, California, after the 5h 22min flight on 30 May. The landing gear ...
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Last of the line
Guy Norris/LONG BEACH The roll-out of a new aircraft is a major event for any airframe manufacturer, but, for Boeing's Douglas Products division, the 10 June unveiling of the 717-200 is nothing less than pivotal. Coming hard on the heels of the news that the MD-11 line is ...
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Multi-role machine
Peter Gray/SINGAPORE Eurocopter has brought two completely new turbine helicopters to the market in the past two years: the light single-engined EC120 and the light twin-engined EC135. Before putting pen to drawing board to design a new light twin, Eurocopter asked operators what they wanted. Later, during development, ...
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Marketplace
-Air Europa has leased an ex-Carnival/Pan Am Boeing 737-400 from International Lease Finance (ILFC) for four years. The Spanish carrier leases two 737-300s and two 737-400s from ILFC. -KLM uk has extended the terms on five British Aerospace 146-300s on lease from BAe Asset Management - Jets, but is returning ...
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Messier-Bugatti tests power by wire
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Messier-Bugatti has installed a prototype electro-hydraulic actuator (EHA) in an Airbus Industrie "iron bird" test rig at Aerospatiale's Toulouse systems development centre, as part of an industry drive to replace cumbersome hydraulics with electric cables. The EHA is a key technology for all electric, or power ...
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MetroJet takes on Southwest
Ramon Lopez/BALTIMORE US Airways launched its low-cost MetroJet operation at Baltimore/Washington International Airport on 1 June, leaving industry analysts waiting to see whether Southwest Airlines drops its already low ticket price to protect its market share. MetroJet's initial fares match those of Southwest, but that could change if ...
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Preparing for partnership
Kevin O'Toole/JOHANNESBURG This could finally be the year when the pieces start falling into place for South African Airways (SAA). If all goes according to plan, by the end of October the South African Government will have decided on a strategic partner to take a 20-30% stake in its ...