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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0203.PDF
LETTERS Is too much expected from pilots oj modern aircraft such as the A320? New technology the culprit? Stansted is a winner for US airlines SIR — In response to Mr Boyer's letter, (Flight International, 15- 21 January) "London airline en trenchment shows no logic", his information is inaccurate. American Airlines is starting a daily Chicago service from Stan sted on 16 June having evaluated the route carefully and found considerable demand from Stan- sted's catchment area. Over 400,000 passengers travel from this catchment area to the USA each year and are forced into unnecessarily long ground jour neys to their nearest airport. Chicago, being a major hub for American Airlines, gives access to more than 95 destinations within the USA and beyond and both American Airlines and BAA are convinced that this will be a great success. It is misleading, therefore, to associate the inauguration of Stansted's Chicago route with the withdrawal of the New York service. I cannot make any com ment on the reasons for the withdrawal of the Gatwick/New York service except to point out that American Airlines has no such hub in New York as it has in Chicago. I would also like to point out that, to date, five US carriers have sought scheduled services into Stansted from various points in the USA, but have been denied the necessary operating licences because of the con straints of the Bermuda 2 bilat eral agreement. COLIN HOBBS HEAD OF MARKETING AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS BAA Stansted Enterprise House Stansted Airport Essex CM24 1QW, UK The opinions expressed in this page do not necessarily represent those of the Editor. Flight International cannot undertake to publish letters without name and address and reserves the right to select or edit letters. Trent orders are healthy SIR— Rolls-Royce (R-R) now has orders and options worth £1.5 billion for the Trent engine: a very healthy position. I was dis appointed and surprised, there fore, to see R-R described as "...passing through an anxious period as it struggles to attract sufficient orders to justify its huge investment in the Trent family". ("Engines of Change", Flight International, 15-21 Janu ary.) This is not so. The refer ence to R-R was untrue and was also irrelevant to a story about China's aero-engine industry. R-R's orcjer book for the Trent is a major success; as is the development programme. Six customers have chosen the en gine — four for the A330 and two for the Boeing 777 — bring ing orders and options to 206. The most recent Trent selec tion was by Emirates in Decem ber; a culmination of four months in which R-R won civil orders totalling £1.7 billion. MICHAEL FARLAM DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS Rolls-Royce 65 Buckingham Gate London SW1E 6AT, UK Where is the Whitley now? SIR — During the Second World War, I was stationed with 51 Sqn 4 Group, Bomber Com mand, based at RAF Dishforth, flying Whitleys. Now, when I mention the Whitley,' people tend to ask: "What's that?". Rather sad but understandable due to little pub licity over the years. Do readers of Flight International know if there is a history of the Whitley or of RAF Dishforth? Does the station still exist?* Finally, I have reached the age when I wonder "...what hap pened to...?"I would be inter ested to know whether a Whitley Association exists. PETER LEUW Mackham Cottage Hemyock, Cullompton Devon EX15 3QX, UK [*Indeed, it does. See the Flight International Directory 1991/92- Partl United Kingdom. Ed] SIR — The tragic accident involving an Air Inter Airbus A320 seems to be another inci dent which will be put down as an unfortunate case of pilot error, but it seems obvious that, while this exonerates Airbus In dustrie from any direct blame, it is really only half the story. While the use of information technology has revolutionised air travel as radically as the introduction of the jet engine did, I believe that we are using technology for technology's sake. The A320's raison d'etre was to provide an aircraft which could not be flown outside its operating envelope and, there fore, in perfect safety. Have we not substituted one problem for another, therefore? Pilot error is mercifully rare and I accept that a great deal of this is caused by new technol ogy, but surely pilots are being asked to operate more and more automated systems, taking them into new areas which have less and less to do with flying and more to do with data processing. The two previous A320 acci dents have been blamed on pilot error and, on the face of it, that may be true. Perhaps one could say, however, that those pilots were victims of a set of comput erised circumstances which they did not recognise or understand. Until these systems can give a clearer message of potential problems and until training is improved still further, pilots should be left to fly their air craft, backed up by the systems, but not governed by them. Otherwise, accidents such as these, the Lauda 767 and the British Midland 737 will occur with more regularity and do much damage to the confidence of the travelling public. PETER LUMSDEN 6 Cony Hall Cottages Selmeston, Polegate East Sussex BN26 3TU, UK WHAT'S ON GAMTA AGM and Conference 19-20 February, Forum Hotel, Cromwell Road, London SW7, UK. Contact: General Aviation Manufacturers & Traders Association, 26 High Street, Brill, Aylesbury, Bucks HP18 9ST, UK; tel: +44 (844) 238389; fax: +44 (844) 238087. ERS-1 Products: Initial Results 27 February. One day scientific meeting, R177 Conference Room, Defence Re search Agency, Farnborough, Hants, UK. Contact: RSS Meeting, Earth Ob servation Sciences, Brankso.me Cham bers, Branksomewood Road, '.Fleet, Hants GU13 8JS, UK; tel: +44/(252) 24461 ext 80-156. FIDAE '92 8-15 March, Intl Air & Space Show, Los Cerllios Airbase, San tiago, Chile; tel: +56 (2) 352 609; fax: +56 (2) 354 639. 37th Intl SAMPE Symposium & Exhi bition, 9-12 March, Anaheim Conven tion Center, Anaheim, California, USA. Contact: Nanci Hawley, Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering; tel: +1 (818) 331 0616 ext 617. Short Course on Airport Operations 9-13 March, Loughborough University of Technology, Leicestershire, UK. Contact: R H Gillard, Department of Transport Technology, University of Technology, Loughborough, Leics, UK; tel: +44 (509) 223425; fax; +44 (509) 267613. Aviation Ground Safety Management Course 9-20 March, Torrance Marri ott, Torrance, California, USA. Con tact: Southern California Safety Institute, 3858 Carson Street, Suite 210, Torrance, California 90503, USA; tel: +1 (213) 540 2612, (800) 545 3766; fax: (213) 540 0532. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 29 January - 4 February. 1992 37
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