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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 1461.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Jordan calls for regional 'open- skies' deal in the Middle East PAUL PHELAN/DUBAI GOVERNMENTS and the major airlines in the Middle East should end their protectionist policies and allow an "open-skies" policy for regional carriers operat ing aircraft with 85 seats or fewer, according to Jordan's Prince Faisal bin Hussein. Speaking at a regional-airlines conference in Dubai in late May, Prince Faisal said that, if the obsta cles could be removed, deregula tion could open up the region in a similar way to that of the USA and Europe, providing links between destinations either not served at all, or served by widebodied aircraft with low load factors. "State-owned carriers in the Middle East are not interested in operating services on short routes, but, because of the monopolies tJiey have held for so long, they fear competition and refuse to allow others to take over their routes," says Prince Faisal, adding that he believes that those who are trying to ".. .protect their turf and market share do not realise what benefits they can get by turning over point- to-point destinations to the regionals". The Prince cites the experience of Royal Jordanian subsidiary Royal Wings, on whose board he serves as an advisor. The airline, which began operations in early 1996 with a leased de Havilland Dash 8-300, took over the domes tic Amman-Aqaba route from its parent, which, Prince Faisal says, has already yielded a $1 million improvement in performance. 3 NTSB worries about EMB-icing problems MORE SHOULD BE done to protect the Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia from icing, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has told the US Federal Aviation Admini stration, recommending improved crew training and operational tech niques. The NTSB agrees with the FAA's proposal to require the installation of ice-detection sys tems on the Brasilia (Flight International, 28 JVIay-3 June), commenting that "...as the EMB- 120 event history demonstrates, in certain conditions the flightcrew may not recognise, or act on, visual and/or performance cues of ice accretion. The safety of the EMB- 120 would be greatly enhanced by the installation of automated ice- detection and alertingequipment." The NTSB insists, nevertheless, that flight-operational measures are required also. It now recom mends minimum airspeeds for all flap settings and phases of flight, especially in icing conditions. Past EMB-120 incidents show- that "...flightcrews...either were not aware of ice accretion, or did not believe that it was severe enough to activate the de-ice boots. This suggests that better informa tion is needed to recognise condi tions that warrant activating the de-ice boots," says die NTSB. • NTSB wants 1900 CVRs improved BEECH 1900 REGIONAL-aircraft operators should be required to inspect and repair deficient cockpit-voice recorders, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recom mended. Safety Board investigators say that they had trouble understand ing crucial radio transmissions from the United Express Beech 1900 which collided with a Beech King Air A90 at the uncontrolled Quincy (Illinois) Airport on 19 November, 1996, killing 14 people. The NTSB says that similar deficiencies have been noted in five Beech 1900 accidents and incidents over the past two years, attributing the problem to the aircraft's isola tion amplifiers. "Beech Aircraft has been aware of this problem for more than a year, and informed the Safety Board that it had modified the audio amplifier to correct die prob lem on late-model aeroplanes," says die Safety Board. Ita adds: "Of the 2 50-plus Beech 1900s in service, however, more than 170 may not have had the modification." Beech has told the Board that it plans to provide a retrofit kit. • US-Russian tests begin sonic booming THE TUPOLEV Tu-144LL BEING USED in joint US- Russian supersonic-transport flight-test studies had its first supersonic excursion during a 1 h 3 min flight from Zhukovsky on 21 May. Mach 1.42 was achieved during 13min of supersonic flight, at an altitude of 39,000ft (12,000m). It was the sixth flight undertaken since the flying programme began on 29 November, 1996. The second supersonic flight, to a speed of Mach 1.8 at an altitude of 49,000ft, was due to have been made on 23 May. MARKETPLACE ++ US start-up carrier, Nashville- based Corporate Express Air lines, is to lease four more Jetstream 32s from British Aerospace Asset Management - Turboprops, bringing its total fleet to ten aircraft ++ Air Labrador, based in Goose Bay, Canada, has received its first Beech 1900D from Raytheon Aircraft. The airline holds options on a further two aircraft. Central Mountain Air, of Smithers, British Columbia, has also received its first two 1900Ds. A further eight will be delivered by the end of November. The airline has options on a further ten aircraft. ++ Euro- wings has converted an option for one Airbus A319-100. powered by CFM International CFM56-5B6 engines. ++ Delta Air Lines has allowed options on three Mc Donnell Douglas MD-90s, one MD- 11 and six MD-88s to lapse in the first quarter of this year. The carri er still has large numbers of options and firm orders on all types. ++ Istanbul Airlines has added a third Boeing 757 to its fleet. The aircraft has been leased from Bouillioun following its return from Britannia Airways. ++ The CIT Group has completed the sale and lease back deal with Gulf Air for five CFM International CFM56-5 Airbus A320-200S. A fur ther four aircraft are understood to be available for similar sale and lease back agreements. ++ Cos mos Air, a new German airline based in Manhneim, has intro duced a Fairchild Dornier 328- 110 on services from London City Airport to Mannheim and Berlin Templehof. ++ Airbus has con firmed SilkAir's order for three A319s and five A320s. all pow ered by International Aero En gines V2500s plus options on ten aircraft from the A320 family (Flight International, 21-27 May). ++ British World Airlines has confirmed its order for two BAe ATPs, for delivery from August (Flight International, 21-27 May). ++ Three ex-Ansett Australia Fokker F28 Mk4000s have been acquired by Queensland-based Right West Airlines FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4 - 10 June 1997 13
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