All aerospace news – Page 1782
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Airlines continue Y2K compliance fight
The US airline industry has notified the Clinton Administration that all year 2000 (Y2K) compliance work should be completed by 31 August. The move comes as other organisations prepare to file their findings on the worldwide status of the industry. US aviation officials say the situation in the rest ...
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BA 777 crews to get new rest area
A novel upper lobe crew rest area, designed by B/E Aerospace for the Boeing 777, has been launched into production with an order from British Airways. The airline is to retrofit 16 777-200ERs with compartments in overhead spaces above the main cabins. The compartment houses eight sleeping bunks and two ...
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Romania extends Brasov deadline
Romania has given Bell until next month to resubmit a proposal to take over state-run aerospace manufacturer IAR Brasov and establish a licence production line for the AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter. Bell presented fresh proposals to the Romanian prime minister on 23 June, and was given a 60-day extension ...
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UK court convicts in-flight mobile user
An airline passenger has been convicted of endangering an aircraft in flight by refusing to turn off a mobile telephone. Airlines have been watching the case, brought under Article 55 of the UK Air Navigation Order concerning endangering an aircraft or its passengers, with trepidation because of the implications if ...
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American will test new medical kit
American Airlines will launch an in-flight trial of Remote Diagnostic Technologies' (RDT) Tempus 2000 medical monitoring and transmission device this summer. The airline is the first to commit to an in-service trial of the product, which allows cabin crew to transmit to experts on the ground data from an ...
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Swissair sued over IFE system
Emma Kelly/LONDON Swissair will not reactivate the in-flight entertainment (IFE) system on its Boeing MD-11s and 747s until the investigation of the crash last year of the MD-11 flight SR111 off Nova Scotia is complete. The airline had hoped to restart the system in October during maintenance downtime. ...
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JAA addresses in-seat power problem
Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities will complete guidance material for airlines this month on the installation of in-seat power supply systems for portable electrical devices (PEDs). The material, compiled with the US Federal Aviation Administration, will be passed to the JAA's Requirements Committee for approval and publication at the end ...
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GTE to sell in-flight telephone business
GTE is to sell its in-flight communications division, GTE Airfone, as part of ongoing efforts to divest itself of "non-strategic operations". At the same time, new satellite system operator Iridium has pulled out of plans to acquire fellow in-flight telephone service provider Claircom Communications from AT&T and Rogers Cantel. ...
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SIA adds audio/video to long-haul
Singapore Airlines (SIA) intends to have audio- and video-on-demand (A/VOD) service available on all of its long-haul flights by the end of next year. The airline's A/VOD service, dubbed Wisemen, was introduced in the first and business class cabins on a Boeing 747-400 last month. Wisemen, which runs off Matsushita ...
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Second test for Vega's Zefiro
The second test firing of the Zefiro engine for the European Space Agency's (ESA) proposed Vega small satellite launcher has been completed in Sardinia, Italy. The Vega will be able to place 1,000kg (2,200lb) payloads into low earth orbit (LEO) at between $10 million and $25 million a launch, ...
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Box blamed for WIRE breakdown in orbit
NASA's Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) satellite failed in orbit because of an incorrectly designed electronics box that prematurely fired explosive devices, says the space agency. The failure caused the early ejection of the satellite's telescope cover. The box's design did not take into account the start-up characteristics of ...
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Chandra Observatory is joined to Columbia
The Chandra X-Ray Observatory (foreground) was delivered in its canister to Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 29 June, to be inserted into the payload bay of Space Shuttle Columbia. The observatory is due to be deployed into orbit shortly after the launch of the ...
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X-38 schedule doubts
As NASA prepares for another drop test of the X-38 prototype space station crew emergency return vehicle (CERV) at Edwards AFB, California, there are doubts about the schedule for the full scale version. There are indications that this version will not serve the International Space Station until 2005, rather than ...
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US firm develops Jetstream cargo conversion
US cargo specialist Murray Aviation is carrying out the first cargo conversion of a British Aerospace Jetstream 31 (J31), and is aiming to secure a supplemental type certificate early next year. The Detroit-based company has bought a 13-year-old ex-US Airways Express J31, which is undergoing conversion at its base. ...
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Atlantic ADS
A trial of automatic dependent surveillance (ADS) will be launched across the North Atlantic on 15 July. The trial, in the Gander and Shanwick Oceanic Control Areas, will involve the use of ADS for waypoint position reporting. More than 50 Future Air Navigation System (FANS-1)-equipped Boeing 747-400s and 777s operated ...
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Airports
Little Cayman Island in the Caribbean will be able to take larger aircraft from next year after the completion of a new 1,220m (4,000ft) runway. The Cayman Ministry of Transportation recently approved the development and expects to pick a contractor in time for work to begin late this year, to ...
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Delta III engine 'exploded'
Tim Furniss/LONDON The failure of Boeing's Delta III launcher to place the Orion 3 satellite into a correct orbit in May was probably caused by an explosion in the combustion chamber of the second stage engine, says Boeing. The stage was powered by a Pratt & Whitney RL-10 Centaur-class ...
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Counter-suit filed in dispute over two-seat sport design
A second law suit has been filed in the continuing clash between US manufacturers Aviat Aircraft and Roy LoPresti over a new two-seat sport aircraft based on a 1946 Globe Aircraft design. The legal dispute began in April, when Aviat filed an infringement suit against LoPresti claiming that LoPresti's ...
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FLSA plans strategic US buy
Chris Jasper/DUBLIN Maintenance specialist FLS Aerospace (FLSA) plans a US purchase by the end of this year as part of a strategy that could see it rival Aviation Sales as the world's largest third-party-only aircraft overhaul provider. The Copenhagen-based company, a division of diversified Danish conglomerate FLS Industries, says ...
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Surrey Satellite signs for Dnepr launches
The Russian-Ukrainian Kosmotras company has signed a contract with the UK's Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) for two launches of SSTL mini-satellites on the Dnepr, a converted SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile booster. The launches are planned to take place in March/April and October/November next year. The first commercial Dnepr launch ...