All Ops & safety articles – Page 1350
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News
IPTN makes changes to N-250 after early flights
Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) is making minor changes to the fly-by-wire (FBW) flight-control system (FCS) of the N-250, Indonesia's first fully indigenously designed airliner, following early flight tests. IPTN test pilot Erwin Danoewinata says that the general handling characteristics are "very satisfactory", and that the FCS is ...
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R-R develops a low-emissions combustor for RB.211-535E4B
ROLLS-ROYCE is developing a new combustor for its RB.211-535E4B turbofan, which it claims will reduce the engine's nitrogen-oxide (NOx) emissions by up to 40%. The new variant is due to enter service, powering Condor's first Boeing 757-300, in the first quarter of 1999. According to David Snape, chief ...
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SAS to begin using ADS-B system in 1997
Scandinavian carrier SAS is to equip "at least" ten commercial aircraft, and ground vehicles, with automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) systems in 1997, and plans to equip its new Boeing 737-600s in 1998. The trials are part of the European-Commission-funded North European ADS-B Network programme, which has established a ...
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Lockheed Martin pushes C-130J flight envelope
Testing of the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules II is catching up on its delayed start, with rapid expansion of the flight envelope to all-new limits. The first four test aircraft have amassed more than 220 flight hours on 60 sorties. Eventually, nine aircraft will be involved in the ...
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An-124 crashes on approach to Turin
Andrea Spinelli/GENOA Paul Duffy/MOSCOW THE TWO PILOTS of an Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA)-operated Antonov An-124 were killed, along with at least two people on the ground, when the aircraft crashed into houses short of the runway while attempting to land at Turin's Caselle Airport, Italy, on 8 ...
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Power shares
Engine manufacturers had a successful 1996, with orders picking up and new programmes unveiled Andrew Doyle and Jennifer Pite/LONDON WITH THE AEROSPACE industry firmly out of recession, orders have finally picked up for aero engine manufacturers during 1996. This year has also seen ...
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Recommendations for improved safety
THE HUMAN-FACTORS TEAM makes a large number of recommendations for action by the FAA and other agencies. There are eight main headings, but some basic demands, like the need for better information-exchange on incidents, is repeated in varying forms under several of them. The principle recommendations for each heading include: ...
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Simulator helps students
A LOW-COST simulator, aimed at helping aeronautical- engineering students understand the mechanics of aircraft flight, is being used at London's City University, in the UK. The MP520-T, developed by UK-based Merlin Products, includes an enclosed, single-seat cockpit mounted on a three-axis hydraulic, or two-axis pneumatic, motion system. ...
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LucasVarity investment dispels doubts
Lucas Aerospace is to acquire the Boeing Georgia cargo handling systems operation, in a move, which appears to dispel speculation that the newly merged LucasVarity group would quit the aerospace sector. The acquisition will bring sales of around $90 million, taking the Lucas cargo-handling business above the $200 ...
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Unwanted demands
According to the FAA, flight-deck automation confuses pilots too often. David Learmount/LONDON HIGHLY AUTOMATED aircraft with digital flight-management systems (FMS) often surprise pilots and sometimes leave them dangerously confused. This is the basic conclusion of the US Federal Aviation Administration from its two-year review of modern airline flight-decks. ...
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You have control
Several recent airliner accident reports have identified problems with cockpit automation as principal or contributory causes of the accidents. Much of the conventional reaction (especially by pilots) to these incidents is of the "automation must be stopped" or "automation has gone too far" variety. That reaction, in human terms, is ...
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US Safety Board sees need for post-Cali crash modifications
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says that newly certificated long-haul commercial passenger aircraft should have an automatic system for retracting speed brakes if the pilots start an emergency climb. The system could have saved the American Airlines Boeing 757, which crashed ...
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Aviadvigatel
The Aviadvigatel/Perm Motors PS-90A turbofan programme has been severely crippled because of a lack of funding, which has severely compromised the manufacturer's ability to overcome technical problems which have left the engine with a reputation for poor reliability. Series production of the engine was conditionally approved by the ...
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Airbus puts on AIRS for human-factor reports
Airbus Industrie is to provide customers, free of charge, with the software and training to record and share information on human-factors (HF)-related incidents with the con- sortium's safety department. To be known as the Aircrew Incident Reporting System (AIRS), it will be the first such manufacturer-provided service. Four ...
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Honeywell talks to Lockheed Martin about APALS involvement
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES HONEYWELL IS IN talks about becoming involved in Lockheed Martin's Autonomous Precision Approach and Landing System (APALS). The US avionics company confirms: "There have been talks, and we are certainly kicking it around." The discussions are led by Honeywell's Business and Aviation Systems ...
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'Mechanical problem' confused crew of crashed Aero Peru 757
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON A possible flight-instrument or air-data-computer problem is likely to be the initial focus of the investigation into the 2 October loss of an Aero Peru Boeing 757, which crashed into the Pacific Ocean killing all 70 people on board. Peruvian transport minister Elsa Carrera de Escalante ...
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NTSB proposes more 737 rudder system changes
Boeing will have to revise the design of 737 rudder control system components, develop a cockpit display showing rudder position, and establish service life limits for certain rudder control parts if several proposals under study by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are made compulsory. The aim is to ...
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Sabena replaces noisy 737s
SABENA IS examining Airbus Industrie A320s as possible replacements for some of its Boeing 737s. One possibility being considered by the Belgian carrier is to acquire the aircraft on operating leases from US lessor International Lease Finance (ILFC). The airline and its regional subsidiary, Delta Air ...
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Passenger traffic stays on course for 7% growth
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Passenger traffic at the world's airports remains on target for annual growth of around 7%, according to half-year figures from the Airports Council International (ACI) industry body. Over the first half of 1996, the growth in passenger numbers continued to accelerate, rising by another ...
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Airbus pushes on with new versions of A340
David Learmount/TOULOUSE Airbus Industrie is to challenge Boeing's 777-300 stretch with an enlarged, rewinged A340 which carries as many passengers and flies further, says the European consortium's A330/ A340 commercial programme manager David Pound. The European consortium is effectively launching the -500 and-600 variants of the ...