All Ops & safety articles – Page 1323
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News
Airmanship is still a crucial element
Sir - The reported comment of the UK Civil Aviation Authority in the article "Pilots can expect harder tests, CAA warns" (Flight International, 19-25 March, P31), to the effect that European Joint Aviation Requirements will demand higher academic standards for flightcrew licensing, is another symptom of how this body is ...
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TWA 800 inquiry
The public hearing on the July 1996 Trans World Airlines Boeing 747-100 crash near Long Island, USA, is to start "in late summer", says the US National Transportation Safety Board. It adds that an explosion definitely occurred in the centre-wing fuel tank, but the cause is still not known and ...
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Delta JT8D fan finding
Failure of inspection techniques at manufacture, assembly and in service were responsible for the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-200 fan-hub failure which killed two passengers on a Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas MD-88 in July 1996, according to findings from a US National Transportation Safety Board hearing. A minor flaw caused ...
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Maintenance mistake threatened Transavia Boeing 737 flight
A third-party-maintenance error came close to disabling a Transavia Airlines Boeing 737-300 in flight with 146 passengers on board, and could have resulted in a crash but for the quick action of the crew, say initial reports from German air-accident investigators. The incident is believed to be a one-off, but ...
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R-R, Boeing to draw up -524HT test plans
Rolls-Royce has signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing covering the formulation of a flight-test schedule for the RB.211-524HT "hybrid" turbofan, although the timing of the programme remains uncertain as the UK manufacturer works to locate a suitable testbed aircraft. The -524HT, which uses the core of the ...
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SIA is first to order FANS-A upgrade for Airbus A340s
Singapore Airlines (SIA)has become the first customer for the Airbus future-air-navigation system-A (FANS-A), with a commitment to install it on its fleet of long-haul A340-300s. Airbus aims to gain certification of FANS-A equipment on the A330/340 in April 1998, with ßight trials using its A340 testbed due to ...
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More stoppages may hit TAT and Air Liberté
STAFF AT British Airways' French subsidiaries TAT and Air Liberté are threatening further strike action following stoppages over pay and working conditions on 9/10 April. The action follows strikes at Air France over the merger of its domestic operations with the Air France Europe/Air Inter subsidiary. Unions claim ...
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Crossair modifies LF507s on Avro RJ85s and RJ100s
Crossair is now half way through the process of making the engine modifications needed to improve unsatisfactory dispatch reliability on its AI(R) AvroRJ85/RJ100 fleet in a bid to (Flight International, 16-22 October, 1996). President Moritz Suter confirms that the Swiss regional airline has had "serious problems" with the ...
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Supplying a total system
DEVELOPING SUPPORT and training systems concurrently with the aircraft and engine has allowed designers to take advantage of the capabilities of the F-22's integrated avionics. The aircraft has extensive onboard diagnostics, required for sensor fusion and fault tolerance, which can be used to eliminate ground-support equipment, while the flight software ...
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Supplying a total system
DEVELOPINGSUPPORT and training systems concurrently with the aircraft and engine has allowed designers to take advantage of the capabilities of the F-22's integrated avionics. The aircraft has extensive onboard diagnostics, required for sensor fusion and fault tolerance, which can be used to eliminate ground-support equipment, while the flight software is ...
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SIA/Tata plans suffer setback...
THE PROPOSED JOINT domestic-carrier venture between Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the TATA Group has been dealt another major blow by the Indian Government's endorsement of a new aviation policy barring foreign-airline investment. The cabinet's decision to throw its support behind civil-aviation minister C M Ibrahim's controversial new policy ...
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Painting by numbers
BUILDING L-64 AT Marietta is not a paint shop, although it is here that F-22s will be finished before being towed across the road for radar cross-section verification ready for first flight. Each F-22 is expected to spend about 20 days in this building, where the elaborate, ...
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Kapustin Yar is revived for launches
Russia's launch base at Kapustin Yar, in the sparsely populated area close to the Caspian Sea, will end 12 years of retirement when it is used again as a satellite-launch station in 1999. The base was first used for a missile launch in 1947 and its first orbital ...
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FAA demands an inspection of...
Following in-flight separation of a large section of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 wing-flap, more than 200 of the type worldwide have to undergo emergency inspection. The event occurred on a 27 March approach to Dallas/Forth Worth (DFW) Airport, Texas, and the pilots reported no problems countering the resulting ...
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Euro liberalisation could still cause problems
The final stage of European air-transport liberalisation came into effect on 1 April, to the accompaniment of predictions that airlines will be unlikely to take full advantage of the increased market access contained within the legislation. "In most important respects, the European market has been fully liberalised since ...
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BFGoodrich plans a low-cost GATCAS...
BFGOODRICH PLANS to launch a low-cost traffic-alert and collision-avoidance system (TCAS) for general-aviation aircraft at the Experimental Aircraft Association's Sun 'n' Fun fly-in, which is taking place in Florida until 12 April. The Skywatch system is aimed at high-end piston singles and twins and is expected to cost ...
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NATS bargain...
Air-traffic-control (ATC) user charges have dropped by 18% on North Atlantic routes within UK oceanic-control areas. Also cut by 7% are UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS) ATC user charges at UK operator BAA's three London airports. Charges are cut by 13-16% at Scotland's main airports. ...
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Auditors warn on TWA losses
TRANS WORLD Airlines (TWA)has been dogged by further poor financial news, with a warning from the group's auditors over the carrier's future in the light of mounting losses and falling cash reserves. The warning from KPMG Peat Marwick accompanies TWA's official filing of its annual results with the ...
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DoT refuses pleas to delay American-BA consideration
THE US Department of Transportation (DoT) has begun to consider the American Airways-British Airways (American-BA) alliance, brushing aside requests by rival carriers to put the inquiry on hold pending the signing of a UK-US open skies bilateral agreement. Delta Air Lines and Trans World Airlines had both pressed ...
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Building affordability
PROVING THAT THE F-22 can be produced affordably is an increasingly important part of the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) effort. "It's E-M-D, not E-D," emphasises Randy Simpson, director of production operations at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems (LMAS). He is responsible for the F-22 assembly line, where the first aircraft ...