HORIZON DEFERS Q400 DELIVERIES
Alaska Air Group subsidiary Horizon Air has reached agreement with Bombardier on a new schedule for Q400 turboprop deliveries, representing the first such deferral by a Q400 customer. Fourteen 76-seat Q400s were earmarked for delivery to Horizon as of November 2008. The carrier took a single Q400 in December and intends to accept delivery of five of the type in 2009. Two of the five Q400s will arrive in the first quarter and the final eight will be handed over to Horizon in 2010 and 2011. Horizon is trying to time deliveries to coincide with removal of its Bombardier CRJ700s.
UK TO EXAMINE CANADIAN ASTRONAUT PROGRAMME
The UK is evaluating Canada's approach to funding human spaceflight, which is to provide the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programmes with robotic technology in exchange for astronaut visits to space. According to the British National Space Centre, eight Canadians have made 14 flights. The UK government has agreed in principle to abandon a long-standing practice of rejecting human spaceflight proposals.
HONEYWELL RETRIEVES FLIGHT RECORDER DATA
Investigators have finally retrieved the data from flight recorders of the Airbus A320 that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in November after seeking the assistance of recorder manufacturer Honeywell. Data from the electronic the memory of both cockpit voice and flight data recorders was inaccessible after it was recovered from the wreckage off the French coast near Perpignan. None of the seven occupants of the A320 survived the crash.
GUN HOLSTER REPORT VALIDATES CONCERNS
The US Department of Homeland Security is recommending a new weapon locking system for federal flightdeck officers that is "simple and forgiving". Officers raised concerns following an accidental discharge by a US Airways pilot in March.
EMS ACCIDENT PROBE LAUNCHED
The US Flight Safety Foundation is to research the underlying cause of accidents involving US helicopter emergency medical services operators. The research will be the first project enabled by a $1 million gift recently made to the foundation by Manuel Maciel, owner of fixed-base operator Manny's Somoma Aviation.
CHINA'S ARJ21 FACES FURTHER SIX-MONTH DELAY
Flight testing will delay first delivery of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China's ARJ21-700 regional jet by a further six months, to mid-2010, for launch customer Shadong Airlines.
EADS PLANS TUNISIAN AEROSTRUCTURES PLANT
EADS's newly created aerostructures manufacturing subsidiary Aerolia is to open a Tunisian plant to cut costs and increase its geographical spread. Aerolia was formed from Airbus production sites in France as part of EADS's aerostructures reorganisation.
CORRECTION
In the 16 December issue Flight reported that the last and only time that NASA flight tested a lunar lander in low Earth orbit was its crewed March 1969 Apollo 9 mission, but in fact the unmanned January 1968 Apollo 5 mission tested the lander.
Source: Flight International
