All Ops & safety articles – Page 67
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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 ...
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NewsEurocontrol lays out spectrum-efficiency strategies in wake of ‘5G’ concerns
Pan-European air navigation organisation Eurocontrol has outlined three strategies to improve efficient use of electromagnetic spectrum as it ponders whether increasing spectrum demand from the mobile connectivity sector could affect aviation safety. Eurocontrol has examined the situation following the conflict caused in the USA by roll-out of ‘5G’ technology, potential ...
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NewsAssistance snag preceded reduced-mobility passenger's fall from A350 stairs
Lack of capacity on a special-assistance vehicle during disembarkation preceded a reduced-mobility passenger’s fall from the staircase attached to an Air France Airbus A350-900 at Paris Charles de Gaulle, investigators have determined. The passenger was hospitalised with a broken arm and head injury after falling from the stairs on 29 ...
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NewsNo evidence Croatia Dash 8 damage caused by gunfire
Bosnian investigators have concluded that damage discovered on a Croatia Airlines De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400, following a service to Sarajevo, was not caused by weapons fire. The aircraft, arriving from Zagreb on 22 June, sustained damage to its fuselage which the Bosnia and Herzegovina prosecutor’s office initially said “might ...
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NewsUS ICAO ambassador Sullenberger to leave post after less than six months: reports
Chesley Sullenberger, the US ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), will leave his post on 1 July, less than six months after he took on the role, several media report.
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NewsCommittee urges FAA to improve safety risk assessments
A US safety committee has recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration improve its process for evaluating safety risks associated with in-service aircraft types.