All Ops & safety articles – Page 1434
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News
Oil loss forces down BMA 737
RAPID ENGINE-OIL loss on both engines forced a British Midland Airways Boeing 737-400 crew to make an emergency landing at London Luton Airport on 23 February. UK Civil Aviation Authority records show that blanking plates had not been replaced after borescope inspections of the two engines, and that ...
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ATR 72 crew 'knew about icing' snag
THE PILOTS of American Eagle Flight 4182 which crashed on 31 October, 1994, were aware that their ATR 72 was icing up, but did not believe that the problem was serious enough to cause them to lose control of the aircraft. A transcript of the aircraft's cockpit-voice recorder ...
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UK CAA backs breather for 707s/DC-8s
Kieran Daly/LONDON THE UK GOVERNMENT is considering recommendations which would give operators of Boeing 707s and McDonnell Douglas DC-80-50s temporary waivers from European noise restrictions. Civil Aviation Administration proposals now with UK transport secretary Brian Mawhinney would give 12-month dispensations to about 75% of the dozen ...
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FAA tightens training rules for R22/R44
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Following a rash of fatal accidents, the US Federal Aviation Administration has established new rules governing special training and experience requirements for pilots flying the Robinson R22 and R44 light piston-engined helicopters. The Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) seeks to improve pilot reaction ...
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GE90-powered 777 reaches Mach 0.96 in dive
THE GENERAL ELECTRIC GE90-powered Boeing 777 reached Mach 0.96 during a high-speed dive in February, as part of a faster-than-expected expansion of the aircraft/engine flight envelope. "We are well into the test schedule. In fact we're already at the point that we'd normally be at six weeks into ...
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Sizing up all the options
I agree with the basic message of 'Stop Downsizing' by Scott Brandt (Airline Business, October 1995). No significant improvement in the maintenance cost structure has been accomplished - not only over the last five years but in the last 25 years!Bearing in mind that the major ...
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Runway debate
Amsterdam/Schipol has received Dutch government approval for its fifth runway, with a stipulation the airport's capacity is limited to 40 million passengers annually. Meanwhile UK Secretary of State for Transport Dr Brian Mawhinney has ruled out a third runway at London/Heathrow. He wants attention focused on 'less environmentally damaging' options ...
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Rough and tough on top
Two of Asia's more prominent airline chiefs have discovered just how tough it is at the top. Garuda Indonesia's president Wage Mulyono and outspoken Philippine Airlines chairman Carlos Dominguez have both been ousted in the wake of boardroom infighting, disagreement over future directions and poor financial performances by their airlines. ...
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Tired Questions
NASA has added fuel to the burning issue, of airline pilot flight time limitations (FTLs), by claiming scientific evidence that maximum standard crew duty times, should be well below almost, all existing national limits. In doing so, it has probably wrong-footed Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) on a highly emotive ...
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Picking up the pieces
The impact of a major accident on an airline's traffic and revenues is often short lived but limiting the damage to the carrier's public image is a delicate exercise. Sara Guild examines the lessons learned by a selection of carriers. There is a true tale in aviation's not so ...
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Is safety really paramount?
Sir - The way James Weber blows his country's own horn, is in bad taste (Flight International, Letters, 8-14 February, P41). His arguments about safe air travel in the USA are invalid. Need we remind him about the way the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 was allowed to keep flying, despite accidents ...
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Now for the real Macau?
Nine months ahead of startup, fledgling international carrier Air Macau has run headlong into management problems, compensation claims and allegations of shady dealings which at presstime were being investigated by the Portuguese enclave's anti-corruption agency. The proposed carrier faces a barrage of legal action from expatriate managers whose ...
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Japan-China link
China and Japan have signed a new bilateral which allows for a 20 per cent increase in passenger services over current levels and a tripling of cargo capacity. The agreement gives three new carriers access to the market: China Southern, Japan Air System, and Nippon Cargo Airlines. Source: ...
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Touch and go
Time is becoming a critical factor in air traffic control. Harry Hopkins/BOSCOMBE DOWN Research and planning for more efficient European air traffic control (ATC) in the next century emphasises the precise use of the fourth dimension: time. The UK Defence Research Agency (DRA) at Boscombe Down, in ...
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FAA
The US Federal Aviation Administration has appointed Christopher Hart to a new post of assistant administrator for system safety. Hart will have overall responsibility for the FAA's safety programmes. Hart was formerly deputy administrator at the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Source: Flight International
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Swiss moves on twin entry
Swissair appears to want to have its cake and eat it, all at once: US open skies followed by access to the European aviation market, either directly or through a stake in Belgium flag carrier Sabena. But the contrast could not be greater. While the Swiss carrier is ...
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Endeavour prepared for longest Shuttle flight
Tim Furniss/LONDON THE SPACE SHUTTLE Endeavour/STS67 is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 01.27 local time on 2 March to attempt a 16-day mission, the longest by the Space Shuttle. Carrying the Astro 2 payload of three ultraviolet astronomy telescopes, ...
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Effects of more productivity
Sir - Mr Holubowicz (Flight International, Letters, 25-31 January, P52) asks, why should increased productivity be detrimental to safety? I am a captain flying Boeing 737s, and I shall answer this question. The cumulative effect of changing sleep patterns, altered rosters, 12-14h days, restricted or no summer leave, ...
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Delta rejigs home focus
Delta Air Lines' cost cutting efforts will see the downsizing of its domestic system, while Continental Airlines struggles to find direction after its traumatic foray into the short-haul, low-cost sector. Just prior to leading the cap on travel agent commissions in February, Delta announced a restructuring of its ...
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Ground-to-air control
The need to put many more aeroplanes safely in any given airspace sector implies smaller separations and much greater flying accuracy in all four dimensions, including time. That can be achieved only by pre-programming air-traffic-control computers with the aircraft's flight plan, and having the aircraft's flight-management system (FMS) continually feed ...