All Ops & safety articles – Page 1326
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News
IFALPA: It's not a row, just concern
Sir - The article "IFALPA sparks row over use of TCAS logic in RVSM airspace" (Flight International, 12-18 March, P8) is slightly misleading. The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) is concerned that the UK Civil Aviation Authority has published guidelines for the North Atlantic (NAT) ...
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Blanc warns pilots
Air France president Christian Blanc has warned pilots that he has no intention of changing current salaries as a result of proposed strike action over pay scales. He says the move threatens 450 new pilot jobs and would cost Fr1 billion ($200 million). Air France wants to reduce ...
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737 AD issued
US Boeing 737 operators are being ordered to retrofit their fleets with four newly developed rudder-system components, following the formal issue by the US Federal Aviation Administration of two airworthiness directives (ADs). The announcement follows a US National Transportation Safety Board report, urging the FAA to make its proposed AD ...
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Untenable situation
Western national carriers British Airways, KLM of the Netherlands and Germany's Lufthansa have recently begun direct flights to Azerbaijan capital Baku, in anticipation of an oil boom which is expected to increase passenger and cargo traffic to the region. Bina International Airport in Baku, however, is dogged by ...
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United signs up for warning system
UNITED AIRLINES has placed a $14.6 million order for AlliedSignal Aerospace's enhanced ground-proximity warning system (EGPWS). The US air carrier had previously won US Federal Aviation Administration approval to install the safety device in 12 Airbus A320s for evaluation. AlliedSignal says that the contract covers more than 400 ...
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TWA sees losses soar
News that a Saudi Prince has taken a 5%stake in Trans World Airlines (TWA)did little to lift the gloom surrounding the struggling airline's heavy losses posted for 1996. Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, a member of the Saudi royal family, picked up the stake for $14 million and helped ...
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Global goes quiet
Both BMW Rolls-Royce BR710 engines were inadvertently shut down in flight during testing of Bombardier's second Global Express prototype. The engines were restarted from the AlliedSignal RE200 auxiliary power unit. One BR710 had been shut down for relight tests when the crew accidentally attempted to relight the operating engine, causing ...
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Northwest ponders feeder take-over
MESABA AIRLINES says that it is in favour of the possible purchase of fellow Northwest Airlink regional airline Express Airlines I by Northwest Airlines. Minneapolis-based Mesaba was commenting on speculation that Northwest, which owns a one-third stake in Mesaba, is negotiating to acquire the Atlanta, Georgia-based regional air carrier. ...
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There is still a need for flight engineer
Sir - The absence from the cockpit of the flight engineer has once more been placed in question by the story "Airbus fits switch guards after A340 hydraulic incident" (Flight International, 12-18 February, P16). This incident took place in a reputable aircraft, belonging to a reputable airline, with an all-pilot ...
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Emirates' pilot
There is an infectious buzz about Dubai. The country is awash with new construction on a grand scale. Among other things, the tiny Gulf state will soon have the world's tallest and most exotic hotel to add to its tally of international golf courses, race tracks and shopping malls. It ...
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Ministers support fuel-tax change
Dutch and Belgian transport ministers have spoken out in favour of abolishing the European airline industry's exemption from fuel taxes. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has responded quickly, saying that such a tax would do nothing to help the environment, as its supporters argue. At a meeting ...
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Japan calls for Northwest maintenance probe
The US Federal Aviation Administration has been asked by the Japanese ministry of transport to investigate maintenance practices at Northwest Airlines, following a series of incidents reported at capital Tokyo's Narita Airport. The ministry's Japan civil-aviation bureau says that it is increasingly concerned by the number of incidents ...
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Lockheed Martin and Bovis win contract
Lockheed Martin and UK-based Bovis Construction have been named preferred bidders for the contract to provide the new Scottish Air Traffic Control Centre (SCATCC) located at Prestwick. Scheduled to become operational in 2001/2, the SCATCC will replace the existing Prestwick centre, which controls Scottish airspace and oceanic regions ...
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A fine balance
IT IS A BELIEF UNIVERSALLY held among airline managers that, in an upturn, their own particular airline will perform better than its competitors, and that in a downturn it will suffer less. In general, this is bunkum, but it is an unfortunate truth that it is on the basis of ...
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-plans IHAS avionics safety development
AlliedSignal Aerospace is discussing with airlines and aircraft manufacturers its plan to develop a so-called integrated hazard-avoidance system (IHAS). The IHAS would combine safety-related avionics systems, such as ground-proximity warning system, traffic-alert and collision-avoidance system and windshear detection, in a single box, with the aim of providing a ...
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Eurocontrol solves B-RNAV problem for ageing aircraft
Ageing aircraft not equipped with modern navigation equipment are likely to be allowed to use satellite navigation for basic area navigation (B-RNAV) after the January 1998 deadline for the introduction of B-RNAV in Europe. A programme of work being carried out by Eurocontrol, and now almost complete, appears ...
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Jeanniot warns against over-expansion
Pierre Jeanniot, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued a stern warning to airlines to think twice before expanding their fleets. The warning follows evidence from IATA that international airlines last year failed to repeat their record profits performance of 1995. The net result ...
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FAA Accepts DSR
The US Federal Aviation Administration has formally accepted the initial display-system replacement (DSR) developed by Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management. The delivery culminates 23 months of development and testing to assure operational performance of the next-generation air-traffic-control (ATC) system. Lockheed Martin will produce the controller workstations under an $898 million ...
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'Heavy-weight' MD-90 delivered to Great China
Great China Airlines has taken delivery of its first McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-90-30, which is also the first longer-range version certificated at the new optional higher maximum take-off weight (MTOW). The aircraft has strengthened wing structure, landing gear and flap mechanisms, enabling the MTOW to be increased by ...
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737-700 reaches new heights
The Next-generation Boeing 737-700 has reached an altitude of 41,000ft (12,500m) during flight testing, beating previous 737 altitudes by 4,000ft and attaining the target height which was planned for type certification. The record height was achieved by the crew of the second 737-700 flight-test aircraft on a test ...