All Ops & safety articles – Page 1424
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Incident reporting
All airlines are subject to at least one level of compulsory incident reporting: this normally involves reporting to their national aviation authority those relatively serious events which result in physical harm to people, damage to equipment, or risk to safety. Less-serious incidents may be reported within an airline ...
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USA plans 'no-blame' incident reporting
David Learmount/LONDON AN AMERICAN AIRLINES aircrew "no-blame" voluntary reporting system is being studied for possible nationwide adoption in the USA. The US Air Transport Association (ATA) says that, if adopted, it would supplement the existing NASA-administered Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). Safety specialists ...
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Terminal Illness
"The new terminal will have a profound effect on the environment" Last week, a public inquiry began into the plans of the UK's major airport operator, BAA, to build a fifth passenger terminal at London Heathrow, the country's largest and most important airport. Some 300km (160 miles) ...
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GAO questions FAA over its GPS schedule
THE US GENERAL Accounting Office (GAO) is raising doubts over the Federal Aviation Administration's ability to meet its global-positioning-system (GPS) implementation schedule. The investigative arm of the US Congress has recommended that Transportation Secretary Federico Pena direct the FAA to come up with a comprehensive plan for augmenting ...
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The dangers of in-house training
Sir - Authorised Examiner (AE) courses conducted by the UK Civil Aviation Authority are due to end soon, because of the requirement to harmonise with European Joint Aviation Authorities Regulations. The AE course is to be replaced with a new concept, aimed more at the instructional element of ...
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Contran heads for FAA trials
THE US FEDERAL Aviation Administration is to begin trials of a system designed to prevent simultaneous air/ground voice-communication transmissions. UK purchasers of the system, however, are complaining about the UK Civil Aviation Authority's attitude to it. The FAA will shortly receive four examples of the ground version, and ...
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IATA urges consensus on raising passenger-liability restrictions
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON THE WORLD'S major airlines are due to meet in June in an attempt to break the deadlock over raising the international passenger-liability limits laid down in the Warsaw Convention. Insurers have welcomed the initiative to make the existing $75,000 limit more realistic, but ...
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Confidential safety
Airbus Industrie is the first manufacturer to set up confidential reporting. David Learmount/LONDON Even co-operative airlines often withhold some information when the report incidents to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Safety Information Exchange, according to its administrator, Bob Woodhouse. Fear of litigation explains at least a part ...
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Operating rules hit commuters with high costs
MANUFACTURERS AND operators of 19-seat regional aircraft are hoping to persuade the US Federal Aviation Administration to minimise the impact of proposals to raise commuter-certification standards. The FAA estimates that the commuter rule will cost $275 million over the next ten years, with operators of ten- to 19-seat aircraft bearing ...
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Change of mood
SAS president Jan Stenberg has brought a new realism to the airline Kirean Daly/LONDON Even in the difficult days of the early 1990s, few airlines saw their fortunes tumble quite so rapidly as did Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). Under the leadership of Jan Carlzon, the tri-national carrier ...
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Ready for business
Lockheed Martin is replacing its controversial Series 7000 bus with the new A2100. Tim Furniss/LONDON Most of the proposals for new satellite contracts being made by the Astro Space division of Lockheed Martin in New Windsor, New Jersey, feature the new A2100 spacecraft bus (Flight ...
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Hughes wants more cash for Canadian ATC work
CANADA'S DEPARTMENT of Transport and Hughes Aircraft of Canada are renegotiating the terms of a C$659 million ($488 million) programme to install an integrated air-traffic-control system across the country. Hughes' portion of the project is now valued at C$420 million. In documents filed with Transport Canada, however, Hughes ...
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Assertive cabin crew save lives
David Learmount/COPENHAGEN ASSERTIVE ACTION, by cabin crew, could greatly increase passengers' chances of survival after a crash-landing, new research has shown. Assertively applied emergency-evacuation drills can accelerate airline-passenger emergency-evacuation markedly, the study demonstrates, whereas, non-assertive cabin crew make little difference to egress rates. ...
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Northwest seeks deals to ease Asian worries
Paul Lewis/Tokyo NORTHWEST AIRLINES is working to strengthen its Japanese-based hub operation through new co-operation agreements with Asian carriers, as local criticism intensifies of US airline industry fifth-freedom rights in the region. The airline is looking to develop a strategic relationship with at least one ...
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Germany tests hydrogen fuel on APU
GERMAN SCIENTISTS are preparing to rig-test an auxiliary power unit (APU) fuelled by gaseous hydrogen as part of a study aimed at reducing the nitrous oxide component of aircraft-exhaust emissions. The tests, scheduled to begin later this year, will be carried out on an AlliedSignal GTCP 36/300 ...
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Aims of GAPAN Benevolent Fund
Sir - The aim of the Guild of Air Pilots Benevolent Fund is to relieve poverty among those who are, or have been, engaged professionally as pilots or navigators in commercial aviation, or who are Livery men or Freemen of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN). All ...
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Boeing acts to solve 757/767 pylon cracks
Guy Noris/SEATTLE BOEING IS notifying operators of a fleet-wide structural strengthening programme for 757 and 767 engine mounts, following reports of cracking in strut boxes and fuse pins. The programme, which will affect more than 1,200 aircraft in service, will be explained to operators on ...
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Boeing leans to enhanced 747 as NLA solution
DERIVATIVES OF the 747, and not a new design, are emerging as the leading options from Boeing's New Large Airplane (NLA) initiative. Meanwhile, studies of a Very Large Commercial Transport (VLCT) with the Airbus partners appear to be reaching a hiatus. President of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group Ron ...
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Australian judge rules out compulsory retirement at 60
AN AUSTRALIAN industrial-relations court, has overturned the compulsory retirements of two, 60-year-old Qantas captains. The judgement says that compulsory retirement should be replaced by a process of "individual screening of individual pilots, regardless of age." In supporting one (short-haul) captain's application, Chief Justice Wilcox found ...
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Iberia finishes 1994 in profit
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON IBERIA ENDED 1994 with its first operating profit in five years, leaving the ailing Spanish carrier optimistic that it can deliver the promised turnaround over the next two years. The state-owned group, which is still awaiting European Commission (EC) approval for its rescue plan, ...