All Ops & safety articles – Page 1303
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News
Tight rein forecast
Max Kingsley-Jones and Kevin O'Toole/LONDON for Flight International It is one of the ironies of the airline cycle that just as the manufacturers are gearing up to record production levels, the market runs into trouble. Last time round it was the Gulf war which heralded a dramatic and damaging descent ...
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Industry launches safety initiative
Airlines, aerospace manufacturers and pilots have formed a coalition to help the airline industry and government regulators prioritise leading safety issues. The Commercial Aviation Safety Strategy Team (CASST), which includes the Air Transport Association, Aerospace Industries Association, Air Line Pilots Association, Airbus Industrie, Boeing, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney ...
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Tests reveal F/A-18 behaviour
Canada's National Research Council (NRC) is using a unique water-tunnel testing method to investigate the high-angle-of-attack behaviour of the Boeing F/A-18. Testing involves the NRC-developed OPLEC orbital-platform rotary-balance system, which consists of a rotating open-ended cylinder with a sting mounted on the outer surface. This eliminates the need for ...
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Russia seeks $6.2 billion for International Space Station
Tim Furniss/LONDON Russia will need $6.2 billion funding over the next ten years to build and maintain its component of the International Space Station (ISS), according to Russian Space Agency (RSA) director Yuri Koptev. Some $3 billion will be spent on construction, with the remainder going on maintenance, he says. ...
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Airbus puts back entry into service of A3XX
Julian Moxon/PARIS Airbus Industrie is to delay the entry into service of its planned 555-seat A3XX by at least nine months, to the third quarter of 2004. The consortium claims that the delay is "minor" and says that the current economic chaos in key Asian markets is not responsible ...
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Jet age dawns for 328
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH When the completed Fairchild Dornier 328JET was first shown to Reinhold Birrenbach, head of the 328 project since its turboprop days, he must have felt a little self-satisfied. "This is the way the aircraft always should have looked," he said, observing the clean lines of the newly fitted ...
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Dash 8-400 flies
The Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-400 had its maiden flight on 31 January from de Havilland's plant in Downsview, Toronto, under the command of de Havilland chief engineering test pilot Wally Warner and engineering test pilot Barry Hubbard. During the 3h flight, a speed of 200kt (370km/h) was achieved ...
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New stretch of 747 defined
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has revised its future 747 growth studies to include a 500-passenger stretch version with a larger wingspan, known as the -400Y Stretch, while dropping another long range variant dubbed the -400ERY. The company stresses that the only new version of the 747 being formally ...
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Malaysia offers its unwanted 777s to Brazilian carrier VASP
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is offering its unwanted Boeing 777-200 delivery positions to Brazilian carrier VASP, following the collapse of similar talks with Delta Air Lines. At the same time, Thai Airways International says that it is looking to defer some of its later deliveries. The Malaysian ...
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ICAO urges Asian action on airline safety
Asian states must improve their airline safety oversight standards, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has urged, following a spate of fatal accidents in Asia. "The Asia-Pacific region is increasingly, though regrettably, becoming owner of a series of catastrophic aircraft accidents," notes ICAO regional representative Lalit Shah. Specific regional ...
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EC to decide on Alitalia state aid probe
Julian Moxon/PARIS Marco Messala/ROME The European Commission(EC) is to decide on 11 February whether to open an investigation into allegations that Alitalia has broken the state aid deal agreed in July 1997. EC transport commissioner Neil Kinnock has written to Italian minister for transport and navigation Claudio Burlando, ...
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Qantas ponders proposal for Papua's Air Niugini
Senior Qantas executives visited Papua New Guinea (PNG) capital Port Moresby in early February to study a PNG Government proposal for the Australian carrier to take control of Air Niugini under a management contract, in an attempt to ward off the collapse of the airline. The review follows an ...
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IFALPA spotlights S American ATC dangers
David Learmount/LONDON South American air-traffic control (ATC) has been labelled as inadequate by the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA). The Federation plans to mount a campaign to pressurise national governments into taking action to improve the situation. IFALPA is becoming increasingly vociferous in its criticism of ...
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Continental angers Delta chief executive
Delta Air Lines chief executive Leo Mullin has attacked the "complete misrepresentations" made by Continental Airlines officials on the carrier's failure to reach a merger agreement. Despite three weeks of secret bargaining, Continental eventually snubbed Delta and agreed to forge a strategic alliance with Northwest Airlines. Continental's chief executive ...
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ICAO examines global aviation impact model
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is considering adopting a model developed by Dutch civil-aviation authority, the RLD, to predict the environmental and socio-political effects of aviation regulatory decisions. Richard Hancox, project manager for UK transportation modelling specialist MVA, believes that Project AERO represents "the only detailed global model ...
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BAe ponders RJ cockpit and engine changes
Kevin O'Toole/MANCHESTER British Aerospace Regional Aircraft is studying further developments for its Avro RJ family, including new avionics and engine options, with the intention of improving the aircraft's economics and keeping the programme up to date. Although the RJ is now effectively alone in the 85- to 100-seat regional ...
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Italians object to new ban on night flights
Italian airlines and airports have objected to a Government decision to re-activate a 1995 law banning non-military night flights at all national airports except Rome Fumicino and Milan Malpensa. The law comes into effect on 26 July, and imposes a total ban on flights between 23:00 and 06:00, as ...
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Cash rich KLM buys up Martinair and considers further deals
KLM is to spend part of its growing cash mountain on acquiring the remainder of shares in Dutch charter and cargo carrier Martinair. The flag carrier also says that it is considering other share deals, including buying back the 25% stake still held in the airline by the Dutch Government. ...
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Spotlight falls on SilkAir recorder 'failure'
The investigation into the crash on 19 December, 1997, of the SilkAir Boeing 737-300 is raising questions about why the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) both stopped operating in quick succession just before the aircraft entered its steep, fatal descent. Analysis of the CVR ...
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Utilicraft negotiates first Freight Feeder orders
American Utilicraft (AUC) says that it is negotiating a 50-aircraft launch order for its FF-1080-200 Freight Feeder with an unnamed US air cargo operator. Funding for the programme is tied to securing a launch customer for the twin-turboprop aircraft, says AUC president John DuPont. "We are in pretty strong ...