All Ops & safety articles – Page 1297
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News
FADEC is replaced on Eurofighter engine
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Initial production-standard Eurojet EJ200 engines installed on the Italian DA3 Eurofighter EF2000 prototype have been fitted with a new full-authority digital engine-control (FADEC) system after the original unit was found to be overweight and unreliable. The engines are undergoing ground runs in Turin before ...
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New ICAO protocol tackles cross-border leasing 'nightmare'
David Learmount/London An international "regulatory nightmare" has been resolved by a new International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) protocol on cross-border aircraft leasing. The protocol, Article 83 bis, clears the state of the aircraft's registration to agree transfer of the responsibility for the aircraft's safety oversight to ...
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FAA hopes to find clues to TWA crash at fuel-safety conference
A three-day fuel-systems-safety conference scheduled for early October may produce clues to the cause of the 17 July, 1996 crash of Trans World Airlines Flight 800, the US Federal Aviation Administration hopes. The Boeing 747-100 crashed off Long Island after leaving New York's Kennedy Airport. In the year ...
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Taiwanese tourists boost CAL
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON A return in confidence among Taiwanese travellers has lifted profits at China Airlines (CAL)over the first half of 1997, and the airline expects better to come during the rest of the year, which includes Taiwan's peak holiday season. CAL posted pre-tax profits of nearly ...
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AlliedSignal reveals China manufacturing plans
AlliedSignal Aerospace is aiming to finalise the first of three planned manufacturing joint ventures with Chinese industry by October, strengthening its bid to participate in the Sino-European Airbus/Avic/Singapore Technologies AE31X programme. The first joint venture involves a partnership with China Aero Technology Import & Export (CATIC) to produce ...
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Boeing looks again at plans for NLA
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has restarted efforts which could lead to the rebirth of the New Large Airplane (NLA) concept, dropped in 1995 in favour of plans to develop the stretched, re-winged 747-500X/600X. One of the initiatives is aimed at creating "faster, cheaper", processes which would ...
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AI(R) holds talks on 70-seater plans
Aero International (Regional) (AI(R) is in last-minute talks with potential partners on its planned Airjet family of regional jets as it nears a decision on whether to go ahead with the 70-seat aircraft. Embraer, Saab and Aerostructures are all competing to supply the wing, although the US firm ...
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P&W effort to improve PW4000 reliability starts to pay dividend
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Pratt & Whitney says that an upgrade effort to counter reliability problems on more than 1,600 PW4000 engines is showing results, with a "dramatic reduction" to in-flight shutdown rates. The upgrade effort, known as the Number 1 reliability programme, involves around 100 service ...
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BA aims to fly Qantas 747-400s in stopover periods
British Airways is seeking clearance from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to allow its pilots and cabin crews to operate Qantas Boeing 747-400s on routes from London Heathrow Airport for an unlimited period. An application to the CAA from BA says that the approval is "-initially to facilitate ...
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Boeing may install new cockpit on 767-400ER
Boeing is considering the introduction of a new cockpit on the recently launched 767-400ER, in a move which could result in existing versions of the 767, the 757 and, eventually, the 747-400, being updated. Air Transport Intelligence, the new Reed Aerospace on-line news service, says that a decision ...
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Saab pushes 35-seat option
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Saab Aircraft president Gert Shyborger says that Europe should look at the 30- to 35-seat market for its next regional jet, rather than the 70-seat sector being pursued by Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)). The comments come as Saab re-assesses its future in the regional-aircraft ...
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STAe thinks again on AE31X
Paul Lewis/BEIJING Singapore Technologies Aerospace (STAe) is having second thoughts about participating in the planned joint Sino-European AE31X aircraft programme because of financial and workshare uncertainties. According to industry sources, STAe has in recent weeks voiced reservations to partners Airbus Industries Asia (AIA) and Aviation Industries ...
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Vietnam Airlines Tu-134 crashes on bad-weather approach at Phnom Penh
David Learmount/London Vietnam Airlines suffered its fourth serious accident since 1990, when a Tupolev Tu-134B crashed on 3 September during a daylight final approach in stormy weather to Phnom Penh's Pochentong Airport in Cambodia, killing all but two of the 66 people on board. Although the ...
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World 'ignores' life-saving equipment
The Korean Air (KAL) Boeing 747-300 fatal crash at Guam on 6 August has highlighted the need for use of minimum safe-altitude warning (MSAW) systems at airports worldwide, says the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF). There was a fault in the Guam MSAW software when KAL's 747 hit a ...
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ValuJet probe shows cockpit shortcoming
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Improved cockpit emergency training might have prevented pilots of a ValuJet McDonnell Douglas DC-9 from being overcome by smoke and fumes from a cargo fire, says the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The verdict follows its probe into the fatal crash of ...
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Two captains could enhance safety
Sir - The crew of the Korean Air Boeing 747 which crashed 5km (2.5nm) short of the runway at Guam on 6 August was executing a non-precision approach at night and in poor visibility. The instrument-landing-system glidepath was known to be inoperative, and there were no visual-approach-slope indicators. ...
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Asiana gains widebody approval
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Asiana Airlines has finally been given government approval to order its first tranche of 14 new Airbus and Boeing widebody aircraft, following commitments from the manufacturers to meet last-minute South Korean demands for offset work. Tentative agreement on the question of industrial concessions has ...
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Global Aircraft puts flexible propeller under test
A flexible self-optimising propeller which combines the advantages of fixed-pitch and constant-speed units is being tested by US firm Global Aircraft of Starkville, Mississippi. Production of the Quasi-Constant-Speed (QCS) propeller, priced at $3,500, is set to start this month, initially aimed at experimental aircraft. Production of units certificated for general-aviation ...
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Dasa's Airbus conversion orderbook expands
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) Airbus will subcontract six Airbus A300B4 cargo conversions to its French partner Sogerma in 1998, as its orderbook swells and it seeks additional conversion capacity. The company expects its A300B4 conversion to be certificated by mid-September. It has recently taken orders and commitments for a ...
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Garuda take-off abort was 'a mistake'
Japan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (AAIC) is reportedly set to blame the pilot for the June 1996 fatal crash of a Garuda Indonesia McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 at Fukuoka, southern Japan. Japanese newspaper reports say that the AAIC investigators have concluded that the captain incorrectly decided to abort the ...