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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 0534.PDF
BA seeks smokehoods by Kieran Daly British Airways has invited manufacturers to submit designs for smokehoods for use by passengers. BA issued the tender docu ment in December 1988, and says the timing was not linked to forthcoming publication of the lengthy report on the 1985 British Airtours Boeing 737 fatal fire at Manchester, in which 55 people died. The Manchester accident investigators are known to favour smokehoods, although it is not certain the report will specifically recommend their mandatory adoption. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has refused to recommend a mandatory requirement because it is not satisfied with the standard of equipment currently available. Following Manchester, the CAA performed preliminary tests on a number of commer cially available smokehoods, and was surprised by just how poorly some of them performed. In May last year, together with the USA, France, and Canada, the CAA produced a basic specification for smoke- hood manufacturers seeking approval. It takes the view, however, that there is no point in trying to make hood carriage mandatory until it is clear that the specification can be met. Furthermore, the CAA broadly favours the development of water mist systems to suppress cabin fires, and is investing significant time and money in a research project with the FAA Flight, Jan 21). The new British Airways specification is more detailed than the CAA's, particularly in dealing with the practicalities of having smokehoods in air line service. The document addresses questions of weight, size, life, fitment, appearance, ergonomics, and test criteria, among others. BA says it took the CAA specification and added to it points to address the realities of its "harsh" operating world. The airline is now "waiting to see if anyone can produce what we want". BA is aiming for a device which would be "as simple to operate as existing oxygen masks". The airline does not expect to accept a trial batch for at least 12 months. BMA crew sees bulletin The two crew of the British Midland Airways Boeing 737 which crashed on the Ml motorway in the UK are among the "interested parties" who have been sent pre-publication copies of the investigators' interim bulletin. The bulletin was to have been issued this week, but has been delayed to give those affected time to respond. Crews involved in accidents are not automatically invited to comment on interim bulletins or final reports. In this instance, the UK Department of Trans port felt that the contents of the bulletin required the crew to be allowed to comment on it, and consult with their advisors if they wished. The issuing of such preliminary reports is a rela tively recent development. It allows the release of informa tion on accidents before the completion of final reports, sometimes years later. The preliminary report contains only a bald statement of what the investigating team has determined to date, and do not seek to apportion blame. However, the DTp is aware that, in some cases, even the bare facts can point to such predictable conclusions as to constitute implied criticism of one or more parties. Airbus clarification In a recent Leader on fly-by- wire systems, a reference was made to the Air France Airbus A320 crash at Mulhouse in June 1988. Airbus Industrie has asked us to point out that the preliminary report of the Commission of Inquiry into this incident has cleared the aircraft, its systems, and engines of any blame. Flight wishes to make clear that, on the basis of the evidence so far made available to us, there is no suggestion that fly-by-wire was the cause of the accident. N • • i EGIONAL FLIGHT ATR42-ATR72 The cooperation between AEROSPATIALE and AERITALIA has resulted in new air craft ATR 42 and ATR 72, first editions of the ATR family. These new generation turbo prop jets benefit from recently devel- THE oped state-of-the-art technology. This family of aircraft was designed so that their seating capacity can be extended from 46 to 70 seats in answer to airline passenger traffic fluctuations. GEOGRAPHIC PRESENCE: Keeping ahead of airline needs on 5 continents. T O T A
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