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Aviation History
2000
2000 - 1258.PDF
j.\in rnAn&puiif AIRPORTS ++ American Eagle is to build a 13-gate satellite terminal at Dallas/Fort Worth as part of plans to expand regional jet services at American Airlines' largest hub. ++ A new IR£40 million ($49 mil lion) departure terminal has been opened at Shannon Airport, with 40 check-in desks, while the arrivals terminal has also under gone a major refurbishment and expansion. The developments will allow the Irish airport to handle 5 million passengers annually, with annual throughput expected to reach 3 million by 2005. ++ Adirect light railway link from London City Airport to the City of London and the Canary Wharf business centre will open in 2004. ++ The Dutch Government confirms that it con tinues to study the construction of a new airport in the North Sea as a long-term goal. Such a major pro ject will not be viable unless other European nations are willing to join the venture. Belgium and the UK are seen as possible partners. The plan envisages the construction of the airport on an artificial island adjacent to Rotterdam, which would serve Amsterdam and Brussels and be linked by high speed trains to Amsterdam Schiphol and Brussels airports. ++ Edmonton, Alberta's Vilieneuve Airport has been transferred from Transport Canada to Edmonton Regional Airports Authority under a Canadian Government policy to transfer ownership of up to 31 small airports to local interests in an effort to stimulate new ser vices. ++A 3,500m (11,500ft) run way has been opened at Leipzig Halle Airport in Germany, to enable long-haul flights to be oper ated. ++ London Luton Airport has put together an expansion plan which includes extending the taxi- way at each end of the single run way and a new taxiway crossing. A dedicated people-mover could also be installed to the nearby railway station. Meanwhile, easyJet is threatening to limit expansion at Luton in favour of other European airports if it cannot agree an acceptable charges structure with the airport. CAL says pilot in clear over Hong Kong MD-11 crash BRENT HANNON/TAIPEI CHINA AIRLINES (CAL) says the US National Trans portation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing have eliminated pilot error as a cause of the Boeing MD- 11 accident at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport last August. The MD-11, operating a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong, with 315 people on board, crashed dur ing a tropical storm while landing on 22 August, killing three passen gers and seriously injuring 15. The MD-11 banked 15° to the right on short finals, die right wing struck the runway, and the tri-jet- came to rest by the side of the run way upside down and on fire. According to CAL president Sandy Liu, the NTSB investiga tors have cleared the pilots of all error "and the investigation is focusing on the weather and on the airport". He says Boeing, die NTSB and CAL ran the accident sequence in a simulator many times before absolving the pilot of error. CAL vice-president of opera tions Alfred Kupfershmied says a strong downdraft was responsible for the accident. "In the final few- seconds, the last 500ft 1150m], the pilot could do nothing," he says. "The aircraft was pushed down on to the runway - it was very unlucky." Kupfershmied says Chek Lap Kok is notorious among pilots for difficult Hying conditions. The air port is adjacent to 1,000m moun tain peaks on nearby Lantau Island. Formerly of Lufthansa Technik, Kupfershmied was appointed by CAL last month. He accumulated most of his 12,000 flying hours with Swissair on McDonnell Douglas DC-lOsandMD-lls. The August accident was CAL's fourth hull loss in the past seven years. Kupfershmied is tasked with improving CAL's poor safety record. 3 African Star rises AFRICAN Star Airways (ASA) is nearer to launching long-haul flights from Johannesburg this year, having received its air operator's certification. ASA, South Africa's first independent and majority black-owned inter national airline, is to introduce services to London and Munich. P&W studies ways to hush JT9D PRATT & WHITNEY is studying a "technical package" to hushkit JT9D engines to meet prospective Stage 4 noise rules that could be adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation as early as 2001. Legislation is likely to require noise levels between 8dB and 11 (IB (as measured cumulatively) below current Stage 3 levels, placing the new limits beyond the reach of untreated JT9Ds. These were the first generation of high-bypass tur- bofans to enter commercial service, on the Boeing 747 in 1970. P&W estimates that over 2,500JT9Ds are in service powering over 600 Air! »us A300/A310S, Boeing 747s, 767s and McDonnell Douglas DC-lOs. The engine maker says the pack age will be offered if there is enough market interest and if the unknown factors surrounding the limits of Stage 4 and its implemen tation timetable are decided, says P&W. Another pre-requisite for the go-ahead of theJT9D hushkit will be clarification of the re-certi fication laws at the centre or a dis pute between the F.uropean Union and USA. "This has got to be ready before we develop a hushkit for the engine," says P&W acoustics pro ject engineer, Ernie Hinterkeuser. The technical package under Study draws on developments made for the PW2000 and PW4000 series, as well as the latest computer-based design methods used for the PW60()()and PW8000 projects. "We will look at improved acoustic liner designs and increased acoustic liner areas in the nacelles, the latter thanks to improved manufacturing tech niques," says I linterkeuser. Other potential noise reduction work is focused on optimising the blade and stator counts of rotating stages, pylon flow matching and introducing sweep to fan stators. P&W says it is also examining "contour nozzles", or tabs on the exit of the primary nozzle. These metallic devices, will promote greater mixing of the jet and free flow air, and act in a similar way to General Electrics chevron nozzle. Sec Feature, P28. 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 18 - 24 April 2000
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