All aerospace news – Page 1833
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German operator goes solo
Andrzej Jeziorski/Munich German tour operator Frosch Touristik International (FTI) is to found its own airline. Operations are due to get under way early next year with a fleet of three Airbus A320s. The name of the airline and its home base remain to be announced. According to FTI ...
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MTU/Snecma sign Asia deals
MTU and Snecma Services have signed separate initial agreements with China Southern Airlines and China Southwest Airlines respectively, to establish engine overhaul and maintenance joint ventures in Asia. Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between MTU of Germany and Guangzhou-based China Southern, a feasibility study is to be conducted ...
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EVA pursues options to fill business void
Brent Hannon/TAIPEI EVA Airways has been talking to oneworld and the Star Alliance and hopes to join one of the alliances as soon as it decides which is most suitable, says president and vice-chairman Frank Hsu. Meanwhile, the airline is boosting its cargo business to fill the void left ...
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Garuda system reliability queried
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE A US lawsuit filed against Sundstrand has called into question the reliability and effectiveness of the company's Mk2 ground proximity warning system (GPWS), following the fatal crash of a Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300B4 in Sumatra a year ago. The Chicago-based Nolan Law Group, representing the family ...
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Marconi tests head-up display system for 737
Certification flight testing of Marconi's HUD2020 head-up display (HUD) system for the Boeing 737 began on 28 September with a 2h 35min test flight from Mojave, California. The HUD, mounted by Tracor Flight Systems in the flightdeck of a 737-200 "-worked well during the initial flight", says Marconi, which ...
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Southern Air ceases operations
Financially troubled US cargo carrier Southern Air Transport (SAT), which has been up for sale for some time, ceased operations on 25 September. The airline plans to liquidate assets as it contemplates filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors. The end came after first Fine Air Services, and then Kitty ...
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AMR searches for a buyer for its fixed-base operations chain
American Airlines' parent company AMR has put its AMR Combs fixed-base operation (FBO) network up for sale along with its AMR Services and TeleService Resources units. The company says it wants to focus on its core airline and Sabre computer reservations businesses. AMR acquired the Combs Gates network of ...
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Facing the future
Emma Kelly/LONDON The in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry has come in for sharp criticism over the last few years, with some well-publicised interactive IFE failures giving it a bad name. To limit the chances of this happening in the future, the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA) - the IFE industry ...
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Proteus aims to reach new high
Scaled Composites, manufacturer of the Proteus high-altitude long operation aircraft, plans later this month to expand the flight envelope to altitudes above 35,000ft (10,700m) and speeds up to 175kt (320km/h) indicated airspeed (or Mach 0.55) as part of its goal of achieving "loiter" operations at 64,000ft. Proteus, which was ...
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Phantom satellite
Tim Furniss/LONDON US intelligence officials admit they were caught unawares when North Korea launched a three-stage satellite booster on 31 August. The attempt failed, but it exposed the USA's lack of knowledge about the country's ability to develop a three-stage rocket. The booster was a two-stage Taepo Dong ...
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Growing pains
Emma Kelly/LONDONThe in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry is growing up. But it has had to. The IFE industry today is showing the first signs of realism and credibility - much improved characteristics than the over-promises and disappointments that have plagued the industry in recent years. After years of considerable effort, interactive ...
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Proteus market predicted to fly
Guy Norris/MOJAVE Wyman-Gordon is predicting an estimated market for up to 1,000 of the unconventional Proteus high-altitude, long operation (HALO) aircraft being built by its subsidiary Scaled Composites. The US investment company hopes to begin proof-of-concept trials as early as 2000. The prediction, from Wyman-Gordon's chairman and chief ...
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Kaman warns K-MAX users on fuel pump failure
Kaman has alerted K-MAX operators that the first fatal crash of the external lift helicopter, in Germany early in September, may have been caused by a fuel pump failure. The company is meeting engine manufacturer AlliedSignal to decide what action should be taken. The single-seat, single-engined helicopter, operated by ...
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Maryland Eurocopter
The Maryland State Police in the USA is scheduled to take delivery of a Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin in April 1999. The twin turbine helicopter will be added to the aviation division's existing fleet of 11 AS365s. Source: Flight International
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FAA extends checks on ageing airliner fleet
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Federal Aviation Administration has disclosed a series of safety initiatives covering detailed inspection of wiring and other operating systems for older airliners. The phased safety project is similar to the agency's ageing aircraft inspection programme, which covers the structures of vintage commercial transports. ...
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ICAO safety rules meet
Regular compulsory audits by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of individual states' aviation safety oversight programmes were approved on 2 October at the ICAO Assembly in Montreal, Canada. The ruling becomes effective on 1 January, 1999. Members agreed the audits should not be used for purposes other than safety, ...
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Corrosion detector fishes for faults in the field
Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and the University of Alaska's Fishery Technology Center are developing ultra-sensitive magnetic field detectors which are already finding applications in the aircraft maintenance business, even though the technology was originally aimed at improving efficiency in the fishing industry. Known as Superconducting Quantum ...
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Atlantis returns to Kennedy after upgrade programme
Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis has arrived back at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, after its 10-month upgrade at Boeing in Palmdale, California. The main features of the upgrade include the $9 million Multifunction Electrical Display Subsystem "glass cockpit" and a global positioning satellite-based navigation system. The Atlantis, which ...
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Crucial Ariane 503 launch date is set
Tim Furniss/LONDON The critical third European Space Agency-funded development flight of the Ariane 5 launcher is scheduled to take place from Kourou, French Guiana, on 20 October. The 503 mission must succeed if the new launcher is to be handed over to Arianespace for commercial work (Flight International, ...
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Year end target is in sight for Roton launcher
Guy Norris/MOJAVE Rotary Rocket, the California-based company developing the low-cost Roton launcher, hopes to begin assembling the first atmospheric test vehicle (ATV) by year end. The timetable is dependent on the completion of Rotary's high bay building at Mojave, where final assembly will take place. It also depends ...