All Ops & safety articles – Page 43
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NewsNo survivors as Bangladesh-bound An-12 crashes in northern Greece
Serbian authorities have identified the transport aircraft which crashed in Greece late on 16 July as a Ukrainian-operated Antonov An-12. The four-engined freighter was from the fleet of Ukrainian carrier Meridian and conducting flight MEM3032 from Nis, from where it departed at 20:40. It was bound for Bangladesh with around ...
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NewsEmirates climbs down from defiant stance over Heathrow capacity cuts
Middle Eastern carrier Emirates has backed away from its refusal to co-operate with newly-imposed London Heathrow capacity limits, following a meeting with the airport’s operator. Emirates had been infuriated by the airport’s request that airlines stop selling tickets for the summer season in order to cap daily departing passengers at ...
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NewsFurious Emirates to defy ‘unacceptable’ Heathrow capacity cap
Middle Eastern carrier Emirates is set to defy instructions by London Heathrow airport’s operator to impose a capacity cap, furiously rejecting the demand as “unacceptable”. It is accusing the airport of having “blatant disregard” for passengers by trying to enforce a daily capacity limit of 100,000 departing passengers. Emirates insists ...
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NewsEASA explores feasibility of screening for lithium batteries in baggage
Safety concerns over passenger transport of lithium batteries has propelled European regulators to explore whether they could reasonably be detected using airport security screening equipment. Lithium batteries have long been a concern owing to the potential for thermal runaway, and the generation of smoke and fire. “Given their ubiquitous application ...
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NewsA320 just 6ft from terrain collision after pressure-setting error
French investigators have disclosed that an Airbus A320 inbound to Paris narrowly escaped colliding with terrain short of the runway, after an incorrect pressure setting given to the pilots went undetected. Analysis of the serious incident – which took place in poor weather and low visibility – shows the A320 ...
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NewsPilots cautioned over terrain and weather effects during approach to new Hong Kong runway
Pilot representatives are urging crews to be particularly cautious when conducting approaches to Hong Kong’s new third runway, owing to potential weather effects and the proximity of terrain. The new runway 25R/07L is located to the north of the airport. Hong Kong’s previous northern runway has been redesignated as a ...
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NewsMaintenance procedures revised after 737 shed vertical fin structures
Boeing has amended removal and installation maintenance instructions for Boeing 737 dorsal fins after an incident in which a 737-800 arrived at San Diego with several structural components of the vertical fin missing. The aircraft (N820TJ), operating a Swift Air flight, had departed Victorville in California on 19 May 2020. ...
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NewsUS pilot union ALPA criticises proposals to alleviate pilot shortage
The largest pilot union in North America has filed a formal complaint against two proposals which could alleviate the pilot shortage currently plaguing commercial aviation and causing flight disruptions across the industry.
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NewsEuropean Parliament backs draft rules to increase availability of sustainable fuel
Members of the European Parliament have adopted new draft rules broadening the definition of sustainable aviation fuels and accelerating availability levels in a bid to achieve 2050 climate targets. Parliament has raised – from 32% to 37% – the European Commission’s original proposal for minimum availability of sustainable fuel at ...
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NewsZeroAvia tightens flight-test regime after Piper crash probe flags pressure points
ZeroAvia has tightened the experimental regime for its hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft testing, including management of commercial pressures, after a UK investigation into a serious loss-of-power accident uncovered safety weaknesses in the programme. The accident, at Cranfield on 29 April last year, involved a modified Piper M350 (G-HYZA) whose single piston ...
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NewsZeroAvia’s electric Piper force-landed after windmilling propeller locked out motors
UK investigators have determined that the windmilling propeller on an experimental Piper M350 – which had been modified with a hydrogen fuel-cell engine – locked out power to the electric motors, leading to a forced landing which badly damaged the aircraft. The ZeroAvia aircraft (G-HYZA) had been undergoing a flight ...
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NewsJet2 chair lambasts ‘atrocious’ service from ‘ill-prepared’ UK airports
UK budget carrier Jet2’s executive chair has issued a scathing opinion over the readiness of its base airports to deal with recovering passenger demand, describing them as being “woefully ill-prepared”. Philip Meeson says “most” of the airline’s 10 base airports in the UK have been “poorly resourced” for the volume ...
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NewsBiden appoints Denver airport CEO as new FAA administrator
US President Joe Biden has nominated Denver International airport chief executive Phillip Washington to lead the Federal Aviation Administration.
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NewsUnited 737 Max computer examined after ‘blanking’ precedes wrong-runway landing
US investigators are examining a United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9’s flight-management computer after an incident in which the system’s displays apparently blanked before the aircraft inadvertently landed on the wrong runway at Pittsburgh. The crew had needed to input a number of amendments into the flight-management computer during the ...
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NewsTAP A330neo threw up dust during near-overrun take-off from Angola
Investigators believe a take-off performance miscalculation at Luanda meant a TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330neo became airborne at the far end of the runway after a late increase in thrust. The A330-900 (CS-TUL), with a take-off weight of 191.3t, was bound for Lisbon on 12 April. Although the twinjet had ...
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NewsSAS warns 'reckless' pilots' strike threatens carrier's survival
SAS is warning that industrial action by pilots is reckless and threatens the survival of the company, after it failed to avert a strike by cockpit crews. Efforts at mediation had twice deferred a strike notice, pushing it back from 29 June until 4 July. But SAS says the members ...
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NewsEmirates A380 tyre rupture damages left wing fairing
An Emirates Airbus A380 suffered a tyre rupture during cruise, damaging a “small portion” of the aircraft’s aerodynamic fairing.
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NewsEASA spearheads rulemaking for VTOL-capable operations and licensing
Europe’s air transport safety authority has laid out pioneering proposals for integrating operation of air taxis within cities, using innovative vertical take-off aircraft, with rules complementing those previously drawn up for unmanned aircraft systems. The proposals cover airworthiness and flight-crew licensing, as well as air operations, and the European Union ...
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NewsUK airport operational issues are ‘primarily for industry to solve’: transport secretary
UK transport secretary Grant Shapps has unveiled a strategy aimed at tackling the operational problems at the country’s airports, but is resisting pressure to bring in European Union workers to fill staffing gaps. Shapps detailed a 22-point plan on 30 June, aimed at supporting recruitment, delivery of “realistic” schedules, and ...
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NewsAfrican airspace set to benefit from European satellite augmentation system
Vast regions of Africa and the Indian Ocean are set to benefit from satellite-based landing technology after the European Space Agency reached agreement with African air navigation service Asecna to deploy augmentation systems covering an area of 16.5 million km². Initial operational capabilities for the project – based on the ...