UAE COULD DOUBLE APACHE FLEET
The United Arab Emirates could double its fleet of Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters to 60 aircraft, under a proposed follow-on buy and modernisation programme worth a combined $5 billion. In addition to providing its air force with 30 new Block III production-standard Apaches, the deal would also upgrade its current 30 examples to the same configuration.
PRATT ESCALATES LEGAL SPAT WITH ROLLS
Pratt & Whitney has accused Rolls-Royce of copying swept turbine blade technology covered by a 1995 patent. The complaint - pertaining to the Trent 900 and 1000 engines - has been filed by P&W parent United Technologies in US and UK courts. P&W has also asked the US International Trade Commission to block Boeing from importing the Trent 1000. In August, Rolls sued P&W for allegedly violating its patent rights. P&W counter-sued in September.
ISRAEL HALTS F-16I FLIGHTS
Israel suspended training flights with its Lockheed Martin F-16I "Sufa" strike aircraft on 10 November, after two crew members were killed in a crash. Air force commander Maj Gen Ido Nechustan has appointed a board of inquiry to investigate the cause of the mishap, which Flightglobal's MiliCAS database says reduces the service's F-16I fleet to 100 aircraft.
JAPAN'S SKYMARK EYES A380 PURCHASE
Skymark Airlines plans to start operating Airbus A380 aircraft on "major international routes" in 2014. The Japanese low-cost carrier, which operates Boeing 737-800 aircraft on domestic routes, says it has reached a "basic agreement" to purchase four A380s, taking two options. It foresees a contract signing in spring 2011.
PILOTS IRRELEVANT CHAT CAUSED PSA OVERRUN
"Non-pertinent conversation" between PSA Airlines pilots were the root cause of a runway overrun accident at West Virginia's Yeager Airport in January, having "led to their failure to correctly set and verify the flaps", says the US National Transportation Safety Board. Nobody was injured when the Bombardier CRJ200 exited the runway into a crushable concrete pad after a rejected take-off.
DEVICE PRIMED FOR ACTIVATION OVER EASTERN USA
Explosives discovered on a cargo aircraft at East Midlands Airport could have detonated over the eastern USA, says the UK's Metropolitan Police. The suspect device was removed on 29 October, at 02:13, and forensic examination has determined that if it had activated, it would have done so eight hours later, at 10:30 or 05:30EDT. It was "disrupted" by explosives specialists at 07:40.
BOEING PLUGS IN 787-8I POWER SYSTEM
Boeing has passed the power-on milestone for the 747-8 International, and says the variant is on track to complete final assembly in the first quarter and be delivered later in 2011.
ORBITAL LIGHTS ROCKET ENGINE
Orbital Sciences and its engine supplier Aerojet have conducted a test firing of the liquid-fuel AJ26 engine that will power the first stage of its Taurus II space launch vehicle, intended for commercial cargo flights to the International Space Station. The firing took place at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Source: Flight International
