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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 0934.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT US airlines avoid the Med NEW YORK US carriers were cancelling flights to the Mediterranean even before the American attack on Libya. Bookings to Spain are down by 85 per cent, accord ing to some reports; TWA says the figure is nearer 75 per cent, with Rome down by 35 per cent. Such a substantial fall in passengers means that airlines are cutting frequen cies. Eastern has shelved its new Miami-Madrid service, which was to run four times a week from May 1. TWA has halved its direct flights to the Mediterranean area com pared with last year's peak schedule. Frequencies to Rome and Athens are both down to seven a week instead of 14. Madrid has been cut from ten to seven, and Cairo from three to nil. TWA will continue to serve the desti nations with non-direct flights, it says. It is still too early to assess the impact of UK involve ment in the Libyan incident. Most carriers report fair levels of business to Northern Europe. Spain excepted, "bookings are holding up surprisingly well," says Eastern. "Flights are not affected as drastically as they might have been". Advance bookings to the UK and Ireland are normal to slightly lower, it says, and Scandinavian and Eastern European business is better than last year. Delta, which serves the UK, Ireland, Germany, and France, claims that "advance projections are looking good". It is putting on extra Gatwick, Munich, and Shannon flights. TWA inaugurates Los Angeles—Paris on June 1 and New York—Stuttgart this month. Spare capacity will be taken up on domestic sched ules, as more Americans vaca tion at home, and with new Honolulu and Anchorage routes. First cargo 146 British Aerospace's 146 freighter prototype will be on show at Farnborough. The conversion, being carried out by Hayes International in Alabama, will give a capacity of 22,0001b The airlines still maintain that any decline in Northern Europe is due to the weak ened dollar rather than to fear of terrorism. Arrow DC-8 was in a sorry state MONTREAL ~ So many things were wrong with the Arrow Air chartered Douglas DC-8 which crashed fatally at Gander last Decem ber 12 that it may be difficult to determine a single cause for the accident. The Canadian public inquiry into the accident, in which 256 US soldiers and crew were killed, is now complete, and the process of sifting the information and testing theories in simulators begins. The Canadian Aviation Safety Board tells Flight that it could be up to a year before the final verdict is published. Sabotage or explosive devices are ruled out as the cause, the inquiry has said. But the facts that both the flight data recorder and cock pit voice recorder were thor oughly faulty, and that the FDR is of a primitive type which would not be accept able under Canadian regu lations, are not going to make the investigators' jobs easier. Study of the weather condi tions at the time of the acci dent, and evidence given by witnesses from McDonnell Douglas, apparently put air frame icing at the top of a long list of possible contribu tory factors in the accident which are now to be examined further. But icing is definitely not the only factor. For example, icing's effect on aerodynamic efficiency may have combined with the (known) excess weight of the payload to bring the aircraft down. The DC-8 came down shortly after take off, hitting the ground with its nose high. The aircraft's all-up weight at take-off is known to have been 12,000-15,0001b heavier than that shown on the mani fest. The US Federal Aviation Administration has already acted on this finding by advising airlines—"particu larly Arrow"—that specialist groups of people like soldiers or football teams should have their actual weight taken into account, rather than using the 1701b average applied for a passenger plus baggage on an average flight. Aircrew testifying at the inquiry said that the 25-year-old DC-8's No. 4 engine was running slow, 40 °C too hot, and burning fuel 8001b/hr in excess of normal. It was due to be replaced at the end of this flight. Ground technicians both in the USA and from Europe, where the fatal flight began, gave evi dence of unprotected hydrau lic lines, leaking hydraulics, and even a completely unser viceable drinking water sys tem which leaked continu ously. An aviation medical specialist testified that during the 12 days before the crash the aircrew who were piloting at Gander had flown duty hours considerably in excess of legal limits. The US Department of Defence, following a review of the way military charter flights are being operated, is requiring closer inspection of airlines that bid for charters. At the same time the DoD's study says that it would not be practical to use more of its own aircraft to transport personnel. To make this shift from contract to military would cost more than $300 million a year, the study found. In addition, the military would have to find more than $1,000 million for new trans port aeroplanes. A better solution, the DoD study found, was to improve its own supervision of con tract carriers. This would be done by closer safety liaison with the FAA, by increasing the DoD's own safety inspec tor workforce, and by requir ing detailed examinations of each contract carrier every two years. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 26 April 1986
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