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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 0010.PDF
MR TRANSPORT Brasilia servicing indicted by NTSB Anear-accident to an Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia in the USA was caused by a mainte nance mistake similar to one which caused a previous Brasilia accident, according to an inves tigation. Both aircraft were oper ated by Continental Express. The US National Transporta tion Safety Board says that fol lowing the 9 December, 1992 incident, in which an Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turned back to Houston Intercontinental Air port in Texas when the co-pilot reported control-column vibra tion, the aircraft was found to have 12 fasteners missing from its left aileron. A similar mainte nance oversight, on 11 Septem ber, 1991, caused a Continental Express Brasilia accident, killing all 14 occupants. In the 1991 accident, the EMB-120 had been returned to service with 43 screws missing from the undersurface of the right tailplane leading-edge after overnight maintenance. In the 1992 incident, the Brasilia had also undergone maintenance at the airline's Houston base. Continental Express says that the incident "...did not affect the airworthiness of the aircraft in any way. It stemmed from the failure of two individuals to perform properly". A mechanic and an inspector responsible for the work have been dismissed, the airline says. • American flies 'autonomously' BY GUY NORMS IN LOS ANGELES American Airlines has taken the first steps towards regu lar operations using "autono mous aircraft" — operated independently of ground-based navigational aids — by making the first revenue flight using on-board vertical navigation (VNAV) and flight-guidance data to make an ap proach to Eagle County, Colorado. "It's not exactly equivalent to Lind bergh crossing the Atlantic, but it is a small first step to wards that autono mous aircraft," says American Airlines flight operations technical managing director Bill Syblon. Syblon made the first landing in a Boeing 757 in the Colorado mountain-resort area in bad weather on 18 December, 1992. The American 757s were the only commercial transports able to land that day, which was the start of the local skiing season. "The weather was stinko, it was a real test of the system," says Syblon. Although the cloud ceiling averaged around 1,000ft (300m) and visibility was down to 4.5km (2.5nm) in snow, "...we were able to land because we had an FMC [flight manage ment computer]-approved ap proach down to a 1,000ft decision height." This compares to decision heights of 2,600ft and 4,000ft depending on which instrument landing system is used when making a conven tional approach to the airport. American takes first step towards autonomous American received approval for the procedure to Eagle after demonstrations to the US Fed eral Aviation Administration in November. The 757 crews were able to navigate precisely (in VNAV mode) using guidance from carefully programmed way- points derived from the FMC. American plans to extend the concept to take in more precise navigational data from the global positioning system (GPS). The airline has taken delivery of a 757 wired for GPS and expects to receive a supplemental type certificate in February. The aircraft will be fitted with a Litton GPS sensor and a hybrid inertial reference unit (IRU) and GPS unit developed by Hon eywell to blend the signal feed to the FMC. Honeywell is also mod ifying | the FMC under a | product-improve- 2 ment package so it s can accept the addi tional GP/IRU data input. "We hope to be recording the first data in revenue serv ice with the 757 around March," says Syblon. American is also preparing to use the aircraft to collect data for what the FAA has aircraft dubbed "Project Dal las". In this project, the 757 will be used to collect performance-assessment data on approaches to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, using a differential GPS groundstation. This FAA-funded programme will test the preci sion of approaches, using differ ential GPS signals fed via an airline datalink to the GP/IRU .• IASC awards Ansett Malaysia route Australia's new International Air Services Commission (IASC) has made its first ruling, which gives Ansett Transport Industries a five-year route allo cation for the capacity equiva lent of a daily Boeing 747 service to Malaysia. The carrier is expected to begin services within 12 months, although it will be phased in to be fully operational within three years. The draft ruling was the first IASC determination since the Commission was established in July 1992. It is subject to ratification in mid-January, after a review of final submissions. Ansett is now seeking addi tional rights to Hong Kong, In donesia and Singapore, for which it has filed applications. It will also compete with Qantas for rights to Japan's new Kansai Airport in Osaka, which the IASC will advertise early in 1993. Ansett says: "Eventually, we're also interested in Thailand when it is advertised, but Japan is the crucial one." Ansett also says that its plans to take up its new trans-Tasman rights from Melbourne to Auck land, Christchurch and Welling ton are moving closer, but that it cannot yet name a starting date. The carrier confirms that its recently announced commer cial alliance with British Airways will be dismantled formally fol lowing BA's purchase of 25% of Qantas, but managing director Graeme McMahon says that Lufthansa has been added to its chain of commercial allies, which now includes United Air lines, Cathay Pacific, All Nippon Airways, Garuda, Malaysian Air lines and Northwest Airlines. • Qantas received IASC ap proval to upgrade its services by substituting Boeing 767-300 air craft for 767-200s on services to Indonesia and Thailand. D Boeing 727 crashes in Libya ALibyan Arab Airlines Boe ing 727-200 (5A-DIA) crashed on approach to Tripoli International Airport, Libya, on 22 December, 1992, after colliding with a Libyan air force Mikoyan MiG-23 Flogger which had just taken off from the same airport. All 144 pas sengers and 13 crew on the airliner were killed. The aircraft, on a domestic scheduled flight from Beng hazi, came down about 9km (5nm) east of Tripoli Airport. By late December 1992, the Libyan Government had still not confirmed the basic details of the accident, referring only to "a crash". It is normal for civil and military operations to take place at the airport. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6 - 12 January, 1993
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