All Ops & safety articles – Page 1378
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News
Documentation shortfalls force IPTN to delay certification N250
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) has been forced to delay the maiden flight of its first N250-100 certification prototype, as the result of component documentation falling below US Federal Aviation Administration requirements. The second prototype N250, had been due to fly in May, but ...
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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 ...
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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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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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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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'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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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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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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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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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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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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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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News
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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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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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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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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Hong Kong's CAA is independent
Sir - While acknowledging the past help and advice received over the years from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, I should like to make it absolutely clear that the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department is by no means an offshoot of the UK CAA as reported (Flight International, 11-17 September). ...
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Centralised ATM is on the cards for UK
David Learmount/LONDON THE UK CIVIL Aviation Authority is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to proceed with plans to build the Prestwick-based Scottish Air Traffic Control Centre (SCATCC). A review of the UK's two-centre air-traffic-management (ATM) policy by the CAA could result in the ...
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Boeing upgrades transonic tunnel
BOEING IS refurbishing its 52-year-old transonic windtunnel as part of efforts to reduce development times for new models. The upgrade comes as Boeing's product-development work approaches recently unprecedented levels. At the core of the windtunnel upgrade is a new drive system made by French manufacturer Cegelec. It includes ...
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Homing Harrier
McDonnell Douglas (MDC) has made the first successful flight tests of an advanced navigation software module which allows AV-8B Harrier pilots to make precision approaches to restricted landing areas in bad visibility. The self-contained approach system uses the aircraft's existing navigation systems to calculate position and velocity precisely, relative to ...