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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 0007.PDF
More A320s for India? MADRAS Indian Airlines, which expects the delivery of 19 Airbus Industrie A320s during the 11 months ending April 1989, may now also purchase 12 more to meet the needs of the ever-increasing flow of traffic, according to managing direc tor G. T. Pais. The agreement to buy 19 aircraft provides for the train ing of 152 pilots by Aero- formation, Toulouse, an Air bus sister company. The new fleet would need a large number of type-certificated pilots. Currently the airline employs about 465 pilots for its fleet of 52 aircraft, includ ing those on lease. The airline has decided to employ and train more than 200 pilots on its new fleet, taking the total to about 700. From the total fleet of 52 aircraft, ten turboprop air craft would be phased out in 1988. The pilots thus released would be made available for Boeing 737s, or could be sent for training on A320s. The airline's central train ing centre at Hyderabad plans to acquire an A320 simulator in the near future at a cost of $13 million. Pais says that negotiations are in progress for the lease of a Russian Ilyushin 11-86. This would be employed on the Delhi-Tashkent sector. Airline sets up with A300 600 MEXICO CITY A business venture backed by the Mexican Pilots' Associ ation's pension fund and the Promotora Mexicana de Hoteles (PMH) has signed a contract with Airbus Indus trie for a new A300-600 medium/long-range airliner. The aircraft, which Airbus says is a straight purchase as far as it is concerned, will be fitted out with 295 seats in a India's domestic market looks good for the Airbus A320 one-class cabin to be used for charter services. The venture is a new char ter airline called Linea Aerea Turistica (Latur), and the A300 will be its "flagship". It is the first Mexican operator to buy from Airbus. ASPA (the pilots' pension fund), initiator of the venture, and PMH intend to use the new aeroplane mainly on routes from US and Canadian East Coast cities and Mexican holiday resorts like Cancun, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Ixtapa Zihuataneo. An engine choice has not. yet been made, but delivery will be in July 1989. The fact that a pension fund will invest in a new airliner nowadays is perhaps an illustration of the fact that, whatever the vagar ies of the airline business, the hardware is currently main taining its value. Shorts 360 crashes MANILA The bodies of ten people were recovered from the wreckage of a Philippine Air Lines Shorts 360 which disappeared on a domestic flight with 15 aboard on December 13. The aircraft was carrying 11 passengers and four crew on a flight from the central city of Cebu to Iligan in Lanao del Norte province, Minda nao, about 500 miles south of Manila. An Air Force helicopter spotted the wreckage on 5,000ft Mt Munay, ten miles southwest of Iligan. The aircraft disappeared after the pilot radioed Iligan for land ing clearance in good weather. Airport security goes nuclear TEL AVIV Israel's Soreq Nuclear Research Centre has devel oped an X-ray detection system for airport security checks. It is claimed to be more effective at detecting weapons, reports Arie Egozi. The SDS 200 is a rotary- conveyor system, designed for continuous inspection of suit case-sized luggage. Dr Shmuel Bukshpan, head of the centre's non-destructive division, tells Flight that the SDS 200 en ables a suitcase to be scanned from several angles: "This is very important when, for example, a gun is concealed in a double-bottomed suitcase. The method we use produces an almost three-dimensional picture, which is vital in de tecting well concealed items." The SDS 200 uses a 250kVA X-ray tube and can penetrate 10mm of steel or equivalent. The system complies with radiation safety standards, but the radiation level will damage photo graphic films. The company is also devel oping its SDS 700 system for inspecting medium-sized palleted cargo. This'is moun ted on a 65-tonne.truck and uses a 300kVA X-ray tube. The cargo is placed on an inte gral conveyor and is scanned by a narrow beam. The trans mission profile is measured by a linear array of 512 or 1,024 high-efficiency solid-state detectors. A real-time radiog raphy system is connected, and processes the measure ments. Bukshpan says it can penetrate metal containers used by airlines. AIRTRANSPORT NEWS SCAN Gulf Air has started twice- weekly scheduled cargo flights between Amsterdam and Bahrain, using a McDonnell Douglas DC-8. Gatwick-based commuter airline Connectair has applied for four additional European routes, to Luxem bourg, Cologne, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. An Aeroflot Antonov An-2 with two pilots and 12 passengers on board was forced to land in a forest near Novosibirsk when its engine failed. There were no injuries, and all the occupants evacu ated safely. The single- engined biplane continues in passenger service pending its replacement by the An-28. The first non-stop flights from London to Mauritius, with a flying time of llhr, will begin on Friday April 11, with the launching by Air Mauritius of their new Boeing 767 flights from Heathrow. Increasing demand by both business and holiday visitors from Britain to Mauritius has convinced the airline's management that non-stop flights will be viable. Two 767s have been purchased, and construction work is already in hand for a new hangar at Plaisance Airport to house them. Newly knighted chairman Sir Harry Tirvengadum says that the new air terminal at Plaisance will be operational this month. Air Mauritius carried about 50 per cent of the 530,000 passengers who flew to Mauritius in 1986, and the company made profits of approximately £3 • 5 million for the year 1985/6. The University of Southern California is offering an 11-day course in Aircraft Accident Investigation, which will include data collection, wreckage recon struction, and analysis. Members of the Association of European Airlines have agreed to co-operate on the gradual integration of the Automated Ticket/Boarding pass (ATB). The ATB is a single card with a magnetic strip on the back which stores computer-readable informa tion. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 2/9 January 1988 5
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