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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1907.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT DISPUTE ANDREW DOYLE / LONDON & NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE Hong Kong sets up first accident review board Row over findings of 1999 China Airlines crash inquiry leads to establishment of new body Hong Kong's first-ever aircraft acci dent review board is being estab lished to evaluate the findings of a disputed report into the fatal August 1999 crash of a China Airlines (CAL) Boeing MD-11 at Hong Kong International Airport. The former UK colony's Civil Aviation Department (CAD) completed its accident investiga tion report and sent it to interested parties in April 2002. Industry sources say it concluded the crash was the result of the "captain's inability to arrest the aircraft's high rate of descent at 50ft [15m] radar altitude". CAL disputed the findings and filed a notice of review with Hong Kong's department of justice, forc ing the CAD to suspend publica tion of its final report and requiring a board of review to be set up. It is due to convene on 17 November. Under the Hong Kong Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, a party whose "reputation...is likely to be adversely affected" by an accident report may dispute the findings of an investigation. CAL says it will present evidence at the hearings that counter the CAD's findings. The CAD has refused to say what is in its report into the 22 August 1999 crash, which occurred while the MD-11 was landing during a severe storm. The aircraft turned over and came to rest on its back. The Taiwanese airline and the aircraft's Italian captain have claimed that windshear was the prime factor behind the crash, in The CAL Boeing MD-11 crashed while landing during a severe storm which three people were killed. The airport sits on reclaimed land off Lantau Island surrounded by l,000m-high peaks. CAL will also argue that the airport failed to pro vide sufficient warning of the pres ence of windshear in the area. The airline says it will be pre senting factual data to support its case as well as offer opinion from "neutral parties". "In that accident the data shows that there was windshear," says CAL. "Our experts said that nobody could safely land an MD-11 that day under those condi tions - we can prove that. We will ask that the report takes out one phrase, and that is that it was a pilot error. This was a windshear problem, not a pilot error." The justice department says the review board's hearings will be open to the public. Hong Kong regulations require the review board to be chaired by a magistrate, legal officer, or banister or solicitor, and include one or more assessor with aeronautical or aeronautical engineering qualifica tions. After the review is com pleted, the board will submit a report to Hong Kong's chief execu tive, Tung Chee-hwa, either con firming or rejecting, in whole or in part, the findings of the CAD's investigation. IRAQ FLIGHTS GERALD BUTT / NICOSIA Security fears delay Basra services Continuing security problems in Iraq have prompted the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to post pone plans to reopen Basra International Airport to regular commercial traffic. The first services since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 had been expected at the end of August. The CPA says: "We decided to delay the opening while we examine security and transport arrangements." Royal Jordanian had been set to operate the first commercial flight into Basra for 13 years on 28 August with a twice-weekly service from Amman, but the airline says that the start of the Iraq service has been postponed until further notice. Gulf Air announced that while its staff had "finished the ground work on the logistics, secu rity and ground-handling facilities at Basra airport" and was ready to start a weekly service on 1 September, the operation was on hold pending the approval of the CPA. Emirates, too, said it was ready to operate into Basra once security issues had been resolved. Qatar Airways was hoping to reschedule the start of its weekly Doha-Basra flights to 6 September. LOT Polish Airlines is hoping to begin services on 17 September and SAS by the end of the month. SUPPLIER SELECTION AVICI awards contracts for ARJ21 work China Aviation Industry (AVIC) I has wrapped up the selection of ARJ21 suppliers, with contracts for the flight-control system and landing gear, and aims to sign up airline launch customers next week, writes Brendan Sobie. Honeywell and Parker Hannifin have beaten Thales and Moog in a competition to supply the regional jet's primary fly-by-wire flight control system. AVIC I has also selected Liebherr and Aircraft Braking Systems (ABSC) over Messier Dowty and Messier Bugatti to provide landing gear. AVIC I Commercial Aircraft (ACAC) president Tang Xiaoping says the two new contracts round out a supplier team that already included Parker Hannifin and Liebherr, but not Honeywell or ABSC. Over the past year, AVIC I has selected General Electric engines; Rockwell Collins avion ics; Hamilton Sundstrand power systems; Parker Hannifin hydraulics and fuel systems; Liebherr environmental control, bleed air and wing anti-ice sys tems; Sagem cabin systems; and Kidde Aerospace fire-protection systems. Honeywell values its role in the programme at $200 million, based on ACAC's projections to sell 500 aircraft. Honeywell says it will develop and produce a fly- by-wire control system that requires no mechanical back up. ACAC has set a target of 35 launch orders by year-end. Tang says "part" of these should be signed next week at Aviation Expo China 2003 in Beijing. The company plans to deliver its first aircraft, with about 78 seats, at the end of 2007. Tang says AVIC I's Shanghai and Xian facilities are set to begin manufacturing the first prototype in December. Shanghai will be responsible for the horizontal sta biliser and final assembly while Xian will build the wing and centre fuselage. The first ARJ21 is scheduled to fly in mid-2006. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9-15 SEPTEMBER 2003 9
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