All Ops & safety articles – Page 1430
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News
Showdown looms on JAA rules
A CRISIS IS EMERGING over the certification of derivative airliners in Europe as the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) declines to grant "grandfather rights" for key airworthiness requirements. McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-90s and Boeing's new 737 family are the primary aircraft affected by rules introduced since their forerunners gained ...
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Ice and poor management hit Viscount
THE OFFICIAL UK report on 1994's fatal crash of a Vickers Viscount freighter, following multiple engine ice-ingestion, severely criticises the crew's actions and the airline's emergency checklist. Two of the 36-year-old aircraft's four Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops flamed out after ingesting ice at 18,000ft (5,500m). The crew of the ...
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Rotary groups fight FAA Robinson rules
US AND AUSTRALIAN helicopter associations, are disputing new US Federal Aviation Administration proposals, governing Robinson helicopter-pilot qualifications, as "unnecessary and restrictive." The Australians believe that the rules should apply to all helicopters. The FAA recommends that "...additional specific pilot training is necessary for the safe operation of ...
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Long Division
Rather as the UK and USA are described as being divided by the use of a common language, it now appears that Europe's Joint Airworthiness Authorities (JAA) and the USA's Federal Aviation Administration are divided by the use of increasingly common standards. In the old joke about language, there was ...
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Fatalities In Kiwi Crash
A Beechcraft Queenair belonging to Kiwi West Aviation crashed near Hamilton in New Zealand on 29 March, killing all six passengers and crew. The twin-engine aircraft, under contract to Air New Zealand subsidiary Eagle Airways, was heading for New Plymouth when it crashed shortly after taking-off from Hamilton. ...
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Coming together
In a hangar in Marietta, Georgia, the prototype Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 air-superiority fighter stands amid an impressive array of sample parts and prototype components ranging from avionics connectors to fuselage bulkheads. "We were not talking viewgraphs," says F-22 programme general-manager Gary Riley, referring to the critical design-review (CDR), ...
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Minister confirms Tarom bomb threat
ROMANIAN TRANSPORT minister Aurel Novak has confirmed that bomb threats against the Romanian airline Tarom had been received from unknown sources during the months before the Tarom Airbus A310-300 crash at Bucharest Airport, Romania, on 31 March at 08.10 local time. On the day of the accident, which ...
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BA plans high-capacity fleet to fill Heathrow
BRITISH AIRWAYS has outlined radical plans to raise the size of aircraft, which it flies from London's heavily congested Heathrow Airport. As part of the plan, BA is increasing pressure on Boeing for a stretched, 500-seat, 747 to come into service within the next four years. It is ...
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European airports caution on passenger growth
EUROPE'S CONGESTED airports managed to overcome capacity constraints to post an 8% rise in passenger traffic during 1994, but the region's leading hubs at London and Paris warn that growth cannot be maintained without new infrastructure investments. Although passenger growth within Europe was close to the world average, ...
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Airbus settles Boeing suit out of court
AIRBUS INDUSTRIE and its member companies have settled out of court with Boeing over the US Company's lawsuit alleging patent infringement of a slat mechanism. Boeing demanded "an inquiry as to damages" or the payment with interest of Airbus profits related to the device when it sued in ...
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Violations trigger FAA action to close Arrow
US FREIGHT AND passenger airline Arrow Air is bitterly criticising the Federal Aviation Administration's proposed action to close it down. The carrier voluntarily grounded its 18 Douglas Aircraft DC-8s and Boeing 727s after the FAA reported "serious" violations in maintenance-record-keeping and a failure to show compliance with a ...
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Boeing notches 737 orders with another due shortly
BOEING HAS won orders for a further 14 737-700s and is virtually assured of at least another six commitments for the new 737 family. German charter operator Germania Fluggesellschaft has ordered 12 aircraft, worth about $512 million, and Bavaria Fluggesellschaft has confirmed an order for two more, which ...
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Keeping track
The Traxon cargo automation system is now well established, but some significant technical and political obstacles remain. Mark Lyon reports. Air cargo doesn't achieve its potential for most airlines. Industry critics want carriers to work more closely with air freight forwarders so these two partners ...
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Peace pays off for Jordan
The peace process in the Middle East has brought mixed fortunes for Royal Jordanian. While the carrier stands to gain from co-operation with El Al and Israeli overfly rights, the government is slow in its plans to commercialise the airline. From the summer schedule, Royal Jordanian and El ...
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Indian stake in question
The high hopes of ModiLuft's management to pull Lufthansa in as an equity partner appear threatened by a claim from a US consultancy on 40 per cent of the carrier's equity. ModiLuft has made no secret of its desire to have the German major as an equity partner, ...
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Follow the leader or fix?
Did US airlines agree to cap travel agent commissions and then stage their announcements to make it look as if they were simply following the leader as usual? That is the key question in an antitrust class action filed by US travel giant Travel Network against the major ...
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A firmer future
As the industry recovers, aircraft values are hardening and surpluses falling but some types are faring better than others. Clive Medland of SH&E explains why. Predicting the outlook for the commercial aviation industry is somewhat analogous to forecasting the weather. We can accurately predict that there will be winters and ...
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Overhauling costs
The US carriers are proving slow to react to calls for over-reliance on labour cost cuts to give way to a reengineering of the entire way in which airlines do business. Jane L Levere reports. While cost-cutting is nothing new to the US airline industry, the term 'reengineering' represents a ...
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Conditions: in your dreams
As the European Commission starts investigating Iberia's plan for a second state aid package from the Spanish government, it emerges that Aer Lingus was allowed to receive the second tranche of its £175 million ($270 million) aid package despite the breach of a key condition. Iberia is seeking ...
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A definitive lesson in competence
The US has split the European Union and pushed the European Commission further than ever in its attempts to obtain the right to negotiate air service agreements for its member states. But Mead Jennings and Mark Odell report that bloc negotiations are a long way off. Call it what you ...