All Ops & safety articles – Page 30
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NewsVirgin Orbit launch failure hands early assignment to UK space accident investigators
Virgin Orbit’s airborne satellite-launch failure has led to an early task for the UK’s new Space Accident Investigation Authority, which will probe the incident in co-operation with the US FAA. The launch vehicle, dropped from a Boeing 747-400 carrier off south-west Ireland on 9 January, suffered an unexpected shutdown of ...
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NewsA350-1000 autonomy tests aimed at supporting dual-pilot cockpit: Airbus
Airbus has trialled further autonomous flight concepts using an A350-1000 test aircraft, including emergency diversion and automatic landing, but insists they are aimed at supporting a dual-pilot, rather than single-pilot, cockpit.
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NewsVirgin Orbit: UK inaugural launch failure traced to early engine shutdown
Virgin Orbit is to conduct its next space launch from the California site at Mojave, as investigation into its failed inaugural UK mission progresses. But it states that it expects to return to the UK’s Spaceport Cornwall, located in Newquay, and is holding discussions on potential opportunities which could emerge ...
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NewsRyanair revises inspection regime after 737 wheel-fire incident at Manchester
Ryanair has introduced a revised ultrasonic inspection method to detect internal wheel hub cracks, after a Boeing 737-800 wheel-fire incident at Manchester last year. The fire in the left-hand main landing-gear broke out as the twinjet, having landed on runway 23R, taxied to its stand on 17 March 2022. UK ...
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AnalysisFAA’s technology breakdown renews calls to upgrade ATC system
The US Federal Aviation Administration’s IT breakdown that led to a 90-minute nationwide flight ban early on 11 January has renewed calls to upgrade to the country’s air traffic control system.
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NewsCanadian NOTAM system shutdown comes on heels of FAA outage
Canadian air navigation service Nav Canada reported an outage of its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system on the same day a similar shutdown of the US Federal Aviation Administration’s system prompted a nationwide take-off ban.
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NewsUS air travel system starting to recover following system outage: FAA
US airline flights are “gradually” recovering from a nationwide take-off ban prompted by failure of a Federal Aviation Administration computer system.
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NewsRunway slope obscured visibility during Toronto incursion
Canadian investigators have disclosed that a runway slope would have prevented the crews of two aircraft from seeing one another during a recent incursion incident at Toronto. Transportation Safety Board of Canada states, in a newly-released bulletin, that a Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 had been cleared for take-off ...
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NewsCAA warns drone users after BBMF Hurricane near-miss
UK regulators have hailed the successful prosecution of a drone operator for threatening the safety of a vintage Hawker Hurricane fighter as a warning to other users of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs).
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NewsFAA mandates 5G-tolerant altimeters, warns of ‘catastrophic incident’
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to require all transport aircraft have updated altimeters by February 2024, citing concern about a potential “catastrophic incident” caused by interference from new 5G networks.
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NewsPobeda 737 suffers runway excursion as it commences take-off from Perm
One of Russian budget carrier Pobeda’s Boeing 737-800s has suffered a runway excursion during departure from Perm. Video footage circulating on social media, purportedly taken during the incident, shows the aircraft – bearing registration RA-73294 – at a standstill on snowy ground, with passengers disembarking by stairs. The aircraft had ...
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NewsAeromexico Embraer E190 hit by gunfire in Culiacan, Mexico closes some airports
An Aeromexico Embraer E190 was hit by gunfire at the airport in Culiacan, Mexico following violence after a suspected drug trafficer was arrested in that city.
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NewsFAA-formed panel set to begin evaluating Boeing’s safety processes
A 24-member panel formed by the Federal Aviation Administration will soon convene to begin evaluating the effectiveness of Boeing’s safety management processes.
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NewsComplexity of eVTOL designs leads EASA to study modelling for certification support
Europe’s safety regulator is to explore the expanded use of modelling and simulation to support certification of future eVTOL aircraft, given that the broad variation in designs makes assessment by flight-testing alone impractical. Part of a wider programme evaluating the effects of digital transformation on aviation processes, the project aims ...
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NewsUS takes steps to regulate wireless links used to control pilotless aircraft
The US Federal Communications Commission has revealed a plan to bolster the reliability of communication links between un-crewed aircraft and grounded-based aircraft operators.
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NewsRevised software to curb risk of A220 dual-engine shutdown on landing
Airbus A220 operators are being instructed to update engine-control software which revises logic to prevent a dual-engine shutdown on landing. The revision followed an incident in which an Air Baltic A220-300’s powerplants both shut down automatically as the aircraft landed in Copenhagen on 11 July 2021. According to the US ...
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NewsStick-shaker response shows Ethiopian 737 Max crash crew stressed from outset: BEA
French investigators believe the crew of the Ethiopian Boeing 737 Max which crashed nearly four years ago experienced rapidly-developing stress from a stick-shaker alert on take-off, even before they found themselves fighting against the aircraft’s MCAS stabiliser-trim system. Investigation authority BEA has highlighted crew failings which began when the loss ...
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NewsController cleared 737’s take-off from occupied runway during long solo shift
Portuguese investigators have found that a Boeing 737 was granted take-off clearance on an occupied runway by a controller who had worked alone and uninterrupted, in a unified approach and tower position, for 4h before the incident. The ASL Airlines Belgium 737-400 was departing Porto on 27 April 2021, its ...
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NewsA330 wing-tip carved into protruding tail after crew tried to skirt round 777
Nigerian investigators have determined that a Middle East Airlines Airbus A330-200 crew vainly attempted to skirt round an incorrectly-parked Boeing 777-300ER, instead of stopping and requesting guidance, before the two aircraft collided. The Turkish Airlines 777 had not been moved to the correct gate position at Lagos, and was left ...
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NewsEthiopian inquiry rejects bird-strike theory for angle-of-attack sensor failure on crashed 737 Max
One of the aspects of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max crash which had remained unclear during the investigation was the cause of the original angle-of-attack sensor malfunction that initiated the accident sequence. The sensor suddenly failed during the take-off run from Addis Ababa on 10 March 2019, transmitting flawed ...