All Ops & safety articles – Page 1306
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News
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Insurers warn on 1997
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Aviation insurers are again warning that they face a serious shortfall for 1997 following estimates which have put the cost of losses at close to $1.4 billion, despite a relatively encouraging year for air safety. The preliminary year-end figures from the UK Airclaims consultancy, widely used ...
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Swissair 'back in profit' in 1997
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH The SAir Group says that its core Swissair airline operations are due to show a profit for the first time in eight years when the 1997 results are revealed. The airline points to soaring load factors, which have climbed to 70% from just above 60%, as ...
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P&W tests new combustor design for JT8D-200
Pratt & Whitney is testing a new combustor design for the JT8D-200-series engine. The new design is expected to reduce nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions by 20% as part of a drive to keep the engine compatible with imminent emissions legislation. The revised combustor is aimed at new-build -200s and ...
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MEA revises A310 lease agreement
Middle East Airlines (MEA) has agreed a revised deal with Singapore Aircraft Leasing (SALE) over the five-year lease of three Airbus A310-200s. The new agreement reduces the price of the lease from $39 million to $34 million. Agreement has been reached as investigations by the Lebanese public prosecutor into alleged ...
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Boeing firms up the flightdeck design of stretched 767-400
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has completed the firm design configuration of the stretched 767-400ER, revealing an upgraded flightdeck and a new-look cabin based on the 777 interior design. The bulk of the design was fixed by September 1997, but airline pressure drove Boeing to conduct trade studies on the additional ...
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FAA orders 737 checks after wrecked tail find
Precautionary checks on certain Boeing 737-300s, -400s and -500s have been ordered by the US Federal Aviation Administration following the discovery of tailplane wreckage from the crashed Silk Air 737-300. Fasteners are missing from sections of the horizontal stabiliser, and bolts from elevator attachments. The accident occurred on 19 ...
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SAA prepares to rethink 777 purchase
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON South African Airways (SAA) has widened the brief of the task force set up to re-evaluate its fleet plan to include new Airbus A330/A340 types. This confirms that the long-delayed order for Boeing 777-200s could be revised. The airline says that it will include a smaller ...