ERA DEVELOPS EMERGENCY PLANNING INITIATIVE
STRATEGY The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) has teamed with crisis management specialist Kenyon International to draw up a set of emergency response preparedness standards, which it is urging all its member to adopt. The standards are divided into eight categories - management, human support and assistance, crisis communications, business continuity, alliances and codeshares, insurance, airports and ground handling agents. The initiative was unveiled by ERA at its annual general assembly in Athens.
Flight International has won this year's Hank McGonagle Journalism Award from the ERA for our "objective and rational coverage of environmental issues over the past 12 months".
VIRGIN PONDERS FLEET REPLACEMENT
DISCUSSION Virgin Atlantic Airways is in talks to acquire 10 Airbus A380s or Boeing 747-8s to replace eight 747-400s that fly on leisure routes from London Gatwick to destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando. Virgin says a decision on the order will be taken by next May, and deliveries would take place around 2012 - the year in which London is due to host the Olympic Games. Virgin Atlantic already has six A380s on firm order, although the airline has deferred delivery of these aircraft to 2013.
P&W OFFERS F100 UPGRADES
PROPULSION Pratt & Whitney is offering the F100-229 engine enhancement package, an upgrade to the F-100-229 used in Boeing F-15s and Lockheed Martin F-16s, to South Korea and all new customers. Seoul is expected to confirm an order for 20 Boeing F-15Ks by the end of the year, and possibly order another 20 by the end of the decade.
GKN CLINCHES 787 BOEING CONTRACT
CONTRACT GKN Aerospace has been awarded a contract by Boeing to develop and supply advanced titanium metal matrix composite thrust links for the Boeing 787. This represents the first use of the composite in a commercial application.
CARGO AIRCRAFT CRASH LANDS NEAR PHNOM PENH AIRPORT
ACCIDENT An Antonov An-12 cargo aircraft operated by Imtrec crash-landed on 17 October into a paddy field around 5km (2.7nm) from Phnom Penh airport. The pilot suffered minor injuries.
NTSB TO PROBE UAVS
FORUM The US National Transportation Safety Board says it will hold a public forum in April 2008 to "uncover issues" with the use of the unmanned air vehicles in civilian airspace. The disclosure came at the conclusion of the NTSB's review of a General Atomics Predator B operated by the US Customs and Board Patrol that crashed in Arizona in April 2006. NTSB blamed the accident on pilot error and lax Customs and Board Patrol oversight. Although no-one was injured in the crash, the NTSB uncovered numerous issues with how the Federal Aviation Administration and other public agencies use UAVs.
ARTHUR BOWBEER
OBITUARY Arthur Bowbeer, one of Flight International's most well-known cutaway artists, died on 13 October aged 85. A contemporary of Frank Munger and John Marsden, he worked for IIiffe in 1941-42 in the central artists' department on several journals, including Flight. He was called up in 1942 and served as a Royal Air Force pilot until 1946. After the Second World War, Bowbeer initiated a style of drawing influenced by Max Millar and Jimmy Clark, which went on to become the standard for our cutaways today. With Munger, Bowbeer pioneered the "probe" drawings that were produced from limited information in the public domain - but still led to questions being asked by the security services. He left IIiffe in 1963 having become head artist, and worked for Grampian Press until 1974, becoming editor of Ship and Boat International.
Source: Flight International
