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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2884.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT FLEET REPLACEMENT PAUL DUFFY / MOSCOW Russia seeks bids for regional jets Antonov, Ilyushin, Sukhoi and Tupolev expected to submit offers to government to replace country's ageing fleet The Russian government has launched an initiative to replace the country's ageing fleet of short- haul airliners, with a request for tenders from the local industry for the supply of 200 large regional jets. The move has been instigated in conjunction with Russia's aerospace agency RAKA, with the Russian minister for industry, science and technology announc ing a requirement for 200 70-80 seat jets to replace the in-service fleet. Initial tenders must be sub mitted by early November. Bids are expected from Russian design bureaux Ilyushin, Sukhoi and Tupolev, as well as Antonov in Nearly 300 ageing Tupolev Tu-134s are in need of replacement Ukraine. Candidates include the Antonov An-148, the planned 100-seat version of the Ilyushin 11-214 military transport, the Sukhoi/Ilyushin/Boeing Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) and the Tupolev Tu-334. Antonov, Ilyushin and Sukhoi are discussing possible co operation on a bid. The main focus of the require ment is the replacement of the 80- seat Tupolev Tu-134 twin jet. The 1960s design remains the backbone of the many Russian airlines' short- haul fleets, with almost 300 in ser vice with operators in the region. Lack of finance has hampered the development of new-generation Russian regional aircraft and, despite the latest initiative, there is no suggestion that the government will provide development funding for the winner. The most advanced programme among the candidates is the Tupolev Tu-334, which has been under development for the past decade, but a lack of finance has slowed its service entry. RSK MiG and Tupolev are competing to retain the right to manufacture the aircraft, and the winner is likely to be the one to first provide develop ment finance. Antonov has developed the 80- seat An-148 twinjet from the An-72/74. The prototype is under construction and is scheduled to fly late next year. The other programmes are all paper projects. The 11-214 is being developed with India's Hindustan Aeronautics for military roles, although a 100-seat airliner version is also planned. Sukhoi is the lead design bureau on the RRJ project, which also includes Ilyushin and has assistance from Boeing. This new regional jet family is aimed at the Russian and CIS markets. SAFETY DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON NTSB relents in revision of Roselawn ATR crash report The US National Transportation Safety Board has withdrawn its allegation that an American Eagle ATR 72 which crashed in severe icing conditions did so partly due to the aircraft being certificated despite a known vulnerability to icing. It has re-worded its report to say that manufacturer ATR and its cer tificating authority, France's DGAC civil aviation authority, did not give "adequate warning and guidance" to airlines and crews on how to handle the aircraft in icing conditions. The accident happened in 1994 at Roselawn, Indiana, killing all 68 peo ple on board. Following objections from ATR, the DGAC and the US Federal Aviation Administration after the report was published in 1996, the NTSB has modified its verdict. The president of ATR North America John Moore now says: "We will not be filing any more petitions for reconsideration." DGAC deputy director Gerard le Houx comments: "The aircraft did meet the [icing] requirements valid at the time by a considerable margin. But if you have an accident you must review those requirements." ATR and the DGAC's original stance was that the pilots had flown the air craft into icing conditions that were outside the criteria for safe ATR 72 operation, and remained in them flying a holding pattern, and that this was a causal factor not noted by the NTSB. The board still maintains that "the crew had no reason to believe that the aircraft's anti-icing and de-icing systems were performing inadequately". Moore still contends that the aircraft was flown "outside parameters" specified in the flightcrew manual. The NTSB had accused the FAA of failing to notice the aircraft's alleged flaws in icing conditions. Now the NTSB's report concedes that the FAA could not have changed the aircraft's design for icing conditions, but that if the agency had been more involved in the certification it would have better understood subsequent incidents regarding "continued airworthiness". NETWORK STRATEGY Air Wisconsin in feeder tie-up with AirTran Air Wisconsin is considering firming up some of its 24 conditional orders for Bombardier CRJ200s following a tie-up with AirTran Airways to establish the low-cost carrier's first regional feeder service, AirTran JetConnect, from November. The seven-year deal calls for the first two CRJ200s to be in AirTran JetConnect operation by mid- November, followed by two more 50-seaters before the end of the year and a total of 10 aircraft by the end of 2003. Air Wisconsin's new Atlanta-based contract feeder deal is in addition to its much larger partnership with United Airlines at Chicago and Denver. Air Wisconsin will initially use two leased ex-Midway Airlines CRJ200s and plans to lease in another pair of aircraft. Another option that the Appleton-based carrier is considering is taking delivery of 24 CRJ200s it has on conditional order as part of its 2001 purchase of 51 aircraft for its United Express operation. The car rier has already taken delivery of 27 aircraft and will continue to receive the jets through next year at a rate of two a month. The CRJs will be deployed on shorter-haul routes served by Air- Tran's Boeing 717s, and will increase frequencies to other destinations. AirTran JetConnect will initially fly from Atlanta to Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem in North Carolina; to Pensacola, Florida and Savannah, in Georgia. "With the launch of AirTran JetConnect we will also be able to redeploy our Boeing 717s to increase frequencies in longer-haul, more profitable markets and facilitate growth in larger markets," says the airline. AirTran operates 388 daily flights to 40 destinations in the eastern USA. 8 1-7 OCTOBER 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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