All Ops & safety articles – Page 64
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News
EASA recommends 48-72h post-vaccination pause for aircrew
European safety regulators are advising aircrew to wait at least 48h, and up to 72h for single-crew operations, before engaging in flight-related tasks after being vaccinated against Covid-19. The precautionary measure arises from uncertainty as to whether in-flight conditions at cruise altitudes – including lower air pressure and the hypoxic ...
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News
MC-21 transferred to northern Russia for natural icing test flights
One of the Irkut MC-21-300 test aircraft has been flown to Arkhangelsk in northern Russia to undergo natural icing certification tests. The aircraft, number 73051, is the same jet that was involved in a runway excursion at Moscow Zhukovsky in January while it was performing simulated single-engine approaches. Arkhangelsk is ...
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News
Pilot strike does not free SAS from compensation obligation: court
Scandinavian carrier SAS has lost a European court judgement over passenger compensation in the event of a strike by airline personnel, after a ruling that valid industrial action does not qualify as extraordinary circumstances. The European Court of Justice ruling contradicts a previous finding by Swedish consumer disputes board ARN ...
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News
E195-E2 engine software upgrade ordered after A220 failure incidents
Operators of Embraer 195-E2 twinjets have been instructed to upgrade electronic engine-control software following inquiries into rotor disc failures on Airbus A220s. Both aircraft types use Pratt & Whitney geared-fan engines, and the architecture of the PW1900G powerplant on the E195-E2 is similar to that of the A220’s PW1500G. Investigators ...
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News
Satcom radome vibrations prompt A220 ELT antenna checks
Airbus A220 operators are being instructed to check and replace emergency locator transmitter antennas, after incidents in which vortices from a communications radome generated vibrations resulting in antenna failure. One of the incidents resulted in the antenna separating from the aircraft and striking the vertical fin. Investigations have traced the ...
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News
Zig-zag microrelief on wings could reduce stall risk
Russian researchers are testing a wing surface modification with vortex generators aimed at reducing the risk of airflow separation and stall at high angles of attack. The work is being conducted at Moscow’s Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute and centres on surface microrelief featuring a zig-zag of vortex generators manufactured from polymer ...
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News
EASA rejects Superjet door directive over ‘twisted slides’ concern
Sukhoi Superjet 100s will not be permitted to operate in Europe if power-assist systems for their exits have been de-activated, following concerns that evacuation could be hampered by flight attendants’ inability to open doors quickly. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has chosen not to adopt a series of Russian ...
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News
Icelandair unconcerned after volcano erupts near Keflavik hub
Icelandair believes a volcanic eruption which commenced near Reykjavik’s Keflavik airport will have only a limited effect on the flag-carrier’s operations. The eruption is close to the Fagradalsfjall peak some 20km south-east of the airport, which serves as Icelandair’s hub. According to the Icelandic Met Office it began on 19 ...
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News
Did departure delays conspire to single-out shot-down 737?
One hazy aspect of last year’s fatal Iranian missile attack on a Boeing 737-800 centres on the circumstances through which the aircraft was singled out when other flights were also operating from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport. The Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation, which investigated the 8 January attack on Ukraine International ...
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News
UIA 737 shootdown: Simulation supported air defence ‘misalignment’ theory
Judicial investigators carried out a simulation of the air defence system error which, according to an Iranian inquiry, led to the missile launch that destroyed a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 over Tehran. Two air defence units were placed at the same location as the one involved in the shootdown ...
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News
Extent of initial missile damage to shot-down 737 remains unclear
Few details on the immediate effect of an Iranian surface-to-air missile strike that brought down a Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 over Tehran have emerged in the investigators’ final analysis. Although the Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation has published the flight-data recorder traces from the Ukraine International Airlines jet, shot down on 8 ...
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News
Ukraine sharply criticises Iranian findings over 737 shootdown
Ukrainian authorities submitted dozens of comments to Iranian investigators, many highly critical, regarding multiple aspects of the inquiry into last year’s fatal missile attack on a Boeing 737-800 shortly after take-off from Tehran. The Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation has formally attributed the destruction of flight PS752 to the misidentification of ...
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News
Nigeria’s Azman told to suspend 737 operations for safety audit
Nigerian carrier Azman Air has been ordered to suspend Boeing 737 operations in order to undergo a safety audit. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority says the measure – which takes effect from 15 March – affects all 737s across the airline’s fleet. It states that the decision follows a “series ...
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News
Snow-strike 737 crew did not correct altitude for low temperature
Investigators probing a Boeing 737-500’s below-glidepath approach to Usinsk, before the jet struck a snow bank upon landing, have revealed that the crew did not correct the altitude for the freezing air temperature. The Utair jet struck the 1.1m bank of snow, located 32m before the runway, after arriving from ...
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News
Fatalities as military An-26 crashes near Almaty
Kazakhstan’s government has disclosed that four fatalities resulted from a military Antonov An-26 accident at Almaty on 13 March. Radar contact with the aircraft, operating from the capital Nur-Sultan, was lost at 17:22 according to the country’s ministry of emergency situations. The An-26 came down near Almaty airport, it adds. ...
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News
Rotor disc hits workshop after A300 engine fails on take-off
Colombian investigators are probing a serious engine failure involving an Airbus A300B4 on take-off from Bogota. The incident occurred on 11 March, at about 00:30, as the Transcarga International Airways aircraft was departing for the Venezuelan city of Maiquetia. Colombian civil aviation authority Aerocivil says the twinjet (YV560T) aborted its ...
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News
Ethiopian Max crash probe in final stages: investigators
Ethiopia’s aircraft accident investigation bureau says its inquiry into the fatal Boeing 737 Max 8 crash near Addis Ababa is in its final stages. The accident involving Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 occurred two years ago, on 10 March 2019, five months after a similar loss in Indonesia – prompting civil ...
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News
Peruvian 737 excursion crew disoriented by lack of centreline lights
Pilots of a Peruvian Boeing 737-300 should have considered a go-around instead of proceeding with a landing in heavy rain and a crosswind at Iquitos where the jet experienced a runway excursion. The aircraft – with 121 passengers and seven crew members – had been cleared for an ILS approach ...
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In depth
A timeline of how Boeing 737 Max went from grounding to service return
A timeline of the twists and turns since the type’s grounding two year ago as Boeing, regulators and operators worked to return the Max to service
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In depth
Why the Max grounding challenged principle of mutual recognition
When the Boeing 737 Max was barred from the airspace of several countries by national authorities, a question arose as to whether this amounted to breaching a fundamental principle of ICAO – that of mutual recognition of airworthiness certification. National authorities have the right to act against aircraft on their ...