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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2065.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT INVESTIGATION Confusion to blame for Taiwan collision As a result of poor civil/military co-ordination, Taiwan air force personnel cleared a mainte nance vehicle on to a lit runway at night, without consulting air traffic control, when a TransAsia Airbus A321 had been cleared to land, resulting in a collision, says the official investigation report. The aircraft had approached the joint civil/military Tainan air field to land at 22:35 on 21 March, 2003, just after the move ments curfew came into effect, reports the Taiwan Aviation Safety Council (ASC), which has criticised the nation's Civil Aero nautics Administration and air force for the lack of safety man agement systems and of any management responsibility struc tures at the base. None of the 169 passengers or six crew on the A321 was hurt, but the aircraft suffered "severe damage", says the report. The vehicle driver was badly injured. The ASC says in its report there was "confusion of aircraft construction safety and manage ment responsibilities between the CAA and the military". It also says there was a "lack of oversight, supervision and self-audit mechanisms from both authorities" and a "lack of safety awareness training". DEVELOPMENT KIERAN DALY / LAS VEGAS Honeywell eyes CRJ brakes after market breakthrough ERJ-145 approval follows Lufthansa 747-400 deal as manufacturer widens targets Honeywell is studying the possibil ity of offering a second source of brakes on the Bombardier CRJ fam ily after breaking Goodrich's stran glehold on the Boeing 747-400 and Embraer ERJ-145 family. The company announced at the National Business Aviation Asso ciation (NBAA) annual convention in Las Vegas last week that it had won certification of its carbon heat- sink for the ERJ-145, for which Goodrich is Embraer's sole-source provider. Honeywell has Trans States Airlines of St Louis as a launch cus tomer and will be retrofitting the carrier's 22 ERJ-145s over roughly the next year. "The product is already in pro duction and we will start retro fitting Trans States straightaway," Honeywell vice-president and gen eral manager aircraft landing sys tems Peg Billson told Flight International during the NBAA con vention. "The results are at least a 20% increase in life and significant improvements in cost-effectiveness depending on exactly how the air plane is used." She says there is a "high degree" of interest from other carriers, but any who specify Honeywell brakes on new-build aircraft will have to accept them from Embraer with Goodrich units and let Honeywell retrofit them. The certification comes straight after Honeywell's deal with Lufthansa to develop wheels and brakes for the 747-400 as a second source to retrofit the carrier's fleet, which it will then offer to other car riers. Goodrich has a programme lifetime agreement with Boeing as sole-source on the 747-400. Honeywell was heavily focused on larger aircraft when the regional jets came to prominence and is now looking at the Bombardier CRJ and Embraer ERJ-135, neither of which it equips, as its next brake targets. Billson says: "On the CRJ fleet a similar approach might make sense. We are evaluating the opportunity and the level of customer interest." STRATEGY HERMAN DE WULF/ BRUSSELS Birdy moves to SN nest SN Brussels Airlines is closer to becoming a reincarnated Sabena by absorbing the operations of long- haul services subcontractor Birdy Airlines. The deal will take affect on 27 October, and includes the leases on Birdy's Airbus A330s and per sonnel, but not the company itself. Birdy operates to the old Sabena destinations in Africa under a wet- lease contract for SN Brussels Air lines. The aircraft will be painted in SN Brussels Airlines livery, and crews will join the SN Brussels Airlines payroll and seniority list. Meanwhile, SN Brussels Airlines' merger with Virgin Express will see the demise of the latter's brand. Under the merger it "will be allowed to continue using its own brand name for two years". After this, "a new brand name will be chosen for Virgin Express", says SN Brussels Air lines chief executive Rob Kuijpers. ACCIDENT F-28 crashes in heavy rain This Biman Bangladesh Fokker F28 Mk4000 overran the runway at Sylhet, Bang ladesh on 8 October. The landing, following a flight from Dhaka, took place in heavy rain and two of the 80 people o on board were seriously S injured. AvSoft'sACAS data-in ' § base shows the aircraft was :; delivered to the regional car- £ rierin1981. COUNTERMEASURES Israel selects Elisra sensor for airliners The Israeli ministry of defence has selected the Elisra infrared sensor for the detection of shoulder-launched missiles. It will be integrated in the infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) sys tem developed jointly by Rafael and Elbit Systems as the long- term solution to protect Israeli passenger aircraft. The Elisra sensor is almost identical to the one deployed on the Israeli air force's fighters and helicopters. The DIRCM protec tion system will be ready for installation by the end of 2005. The Elbit/Rafael system is based on Rafael's Britening suite and the El-Op Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasure (Music) system. The Elisra sensor is capable of detecting the missile and calculating its trajectory with a minimum of false alerts. An Elisra source says that the sensor will be marketed for inte gration in other self-protection systems. 16 19-25 OCTOBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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