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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0624.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT RUNWAY SAFETY DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON Incursions rise despite Eurocontrol initiatives Push to reduce numbers of incidents yet to yield results Eurocontrol has reacted with disap pointment after a serious incident at Germany's Munich airport added to the tally of dangerous runway incursions already building up this year. The air navigation agency has been working for more than two years designing and establishing programmes to enable the industry to reduce incursions and increase the reporting of air traffic incidents, but the beneficial effects have yet to show, it admits. The Munich incursion, in which a high-speed collision was avoided by a few metres, occurred on 4 May, but there have been several serious incidents already this year. On 27 April two aircraft lined up at the opposite ends of runway 24 at Naples Capodicino airport, when one had to abort take-off from about lOOkt (185km/h) (Flight International, 4-10 May). An incur sion at Manchester airport, UK in February caused an Airbus A321 to abandon its take-off. Meanwhile, Eurocontrol's head of airport operations Paul Wilson says a serious runway incident at Frankfurt "three months ago" resulted from a difference in US and International Civil Aviation Organisation ATC terminology that has led several US pilots in Europe to line up for take-off when they were not cleared to do so. In the ICAO phraseology used in Europe, "taxi to holding position" means the aircraft approaching its take-off runway should hold short of it. In the USA, a non-ICAO phrase in common use at the same taxiing phase is "taxi into position and hold", but that means line up on the runway and wait, so at Frankfurt a US pilot entered the active runway without clearance. Last week's Munich incident was the worst incursion this year and occurred as a KLM Boeing 737-300 with 133 people on board landed on the airport's runway 08R. Just after touchdown, according to KLM, a twin-turboprop ATR 42 unexpectedly entered the runway and the 737 pilot had to swerve at "about 200km/h" missing it by "just a few metres". The ATR 42 is believed to have been operated by Italian regional Air Dolomiti, but the airline was unable to comment. Airport air traffic control experts believe the ATR entered from a taxiway designed for the fast exit of aircraft landing in the reciprocal direction - the acute angle at which the taxiway joins 08R would have made it difficult for the ATR crew to see the approaching 737 from the cockpit. A similar situation resulted in the death of a Shorts 330 co-pilot in May 2000 when his aircraft entered the active runway uncleared at Paris Charles de Gaulle and the wingtip of a Boeing MD-83 that had been cleared for take-off sliced into the cockpit at near rotation speed. Focus on runway safety The head of Eurocontrol's safety enhancement division Erik Merckx says the air navigation agency's action plan on runway incursions has been implemented, including distribution of a self-checking toolkit for airports, pilots and controllers. The relatively immature incident report ing programme in which all Eurocontrol member states are now required to participate is also intended to provide much-needed data on incursions (Flight International, 17-23 February). But the Netherlands air traffic control agency NVNL reports that, following police prosecution of three controllers in 2000 for a 1998 runway incur sion at Amsterdam Schiphol, reporting of incidents by controllers has halved. Merckx says such a reduction in reporting has not, at this point, been reflected across Europe. ORDER Hainan boosts AvCraft's 328Jet Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines has placed orders for a further 20 Dornier 328 Jets from AvCraft. The deal, which provides a major boost for the programme that was taken over by AvCraft following the collapse of Fairchild Dornier in 2002, includes the conversion of five existing options for delivery in 2004, plus an additional 15 328Jets for delivery through to 2007. Hainan Airlines already operates 27 of the type. ALLIANCE GRAHAM DUNN / PARIS Air France/KLM revise services after merger Following their merger last week, Air France and KLM are to introduce a revised shuttle service next month between their hubs at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol to fly 15 services a day between the airports. "We have spread the flights over the day, whereas in the past we were fly ing wing to wing. With the better spread we have a better service for the customer, but by making operating efficiencies, we can save costs," says KLM chief executive Leo van Wijk. The merger will create the world's largest airline by revenue: between them Air France and KLM had sales of $19.2 bil lion in 2002, the last year for which data are available, compared with American Airlines' $17.3 billion in sales. In June the partners will revise their short-haul operations to reflect KLM's strength in the UK and northern Europe, and Air France's stronger position in southern Europe. KLM will drop its Schiphol-Turin and Schiphol-Casablanca services, while Air France will drop two unprofitable UK routes, Paris-Bristol and Paris-Glasgow. Air France will start three daily Bordeaux-Amsterdam services and two daily Marseilles-Amsterdam services, while KLM will begin twice daily flights from Charles de Gaulle to Rotterdam. The partners hope that the merger will increase annual operating income by up to €495 million ($602 million) in the next five years, and are also align ing their frequent-flyer programmes (FFP) and offering reciprocal e-ticketing. The reform of their long-haul networks will see Air France dropping its Paris-Manila service with a stopover in Bangkok this winter, and instead add its code to a KLM daily non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Manila. Similarly, KLM will next month suspend its own flights to Caracas, and codeshare on a daily Air France service to the Venezuelan capital. However, there has been no attempt yet to seek wider antitrust agreement linking Air France and KLM with their US partners - Delta Air Lines for the French carrier; Continental and Northwest airlines for KLM. "We have delib erately chosen a phased implementation," says van Wijk, citing Air France and KLM's existing agreements with Delta and Northwest respectively. KLM will join the SkyTeam Alliance, led by Air France and Delta, in September, van Wijk says. Air France chief executive Jean-Cyril Spinetta says SkyTeam partner Alitalia could also become part of the merged airline at some point, but only if it were privatised and on a better financial footing. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 11 17 MAY 2004 9
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