All aerospace news – Page 1980
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Dornier and Bell team up for German border guard bid
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH DORNIER LUFTFAHRT has signed with Bell Helicopter Textron to make a joint bid for a light-transport-helicopter requirement from Germany's Federal Border Guard (BGS). The BGS wants to replace 13 of its fleet of 19 single-engined UH-1D Hueys in 1998. The remaining six Hueys will ...
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USA prepares operations databank
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC and David Learmount/LONDON THE PROTOTYPE for a massive new US national safety database has started operation. The system will be able to filter downloaded operational data from digital flight-data recorders (DFDRs) for events which have safety significance, and store them centrally for trend analysis and ...
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Europe takes fare action
Julian Moxon/PARIS THE EUROPEAN Commission (EC) is considering mounting an enquiry into excessive pricing on fully flexible business-class tickets in Europe. Transport commissioner Neil Kinnock says that an EC analysis has shown that such fares are often "significantly higher than costs", and may contravene EC rules ...
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FedEx commits to MD-10 effort
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES US FREIGHT giant FedEx and McDonnell Douglas (MDC) have launched the MD-10 programme with an agreement covering conversion of a minimum of 60 (MDC) DC-10s to two-crew cockpit configuration (Flight International, 3-9 July). The two-phase MD-10 project was launched after a complex deal ...
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FAA moves to tighten rules for new carriers
THE US FEDERAL Aviation Administration's to intensify its oversight of new air carriers following the ValuJet McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crash in May in Florida and a subsequent review of the carrier's operations. This will include regulating the use of outside aircraft maintenance firms and limiting their growth rates. ...
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BA aims to slash costs by £1 billion over three years
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON BRITISH AIRWAYS is to concentrate on reducing costs at the airline's main hubs at Heathrow and Gatwick, doubling its franchising business and restructuring operating divisions such as its European partners as part of a company-wide £1 billion ($1.5 billion), three-year efficiency drive. The move, ...
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World record
Ron Bower and John Williams, flying a Bell 430, have set a round-the-world helicopter speed record - and the first for a westbound flight - of just over 17 days, breaking the existing record by seven days. The plan was to complete the flight from the UK's Fairoaks Airport in ...
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Romanian maintenance
US-based C-S Aviation Services and Romaero have signed an agreement to form a joint-venture maintenance company for operators in Europe. C-S Romaero will be based in Bucharest, Romania, and will offer heavy-maintenance services for narrowbodies, including the Airbus A320, Boeing 727 and 737 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80. ...
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Russian U-turn
Russia will discontinue the use of the uprated Soyuz U2 booster for launches of manned Soyuz TM and other craft into low-Earth orbit, and revert to the sole use of the Soyuz U, because of budget difficulties. The Soyuz U2 had more redundant systems and used a more expensive synthetic ...
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Duncan
Mike Hansen has been named manager of avionics and instruments at aircraft-service organisation Duncan Aviation, of Lincoln, Nebraska. He was formerly with BF Goodrich Component and Overhaul Repair, in Austin, Texas. Two new technical specialists have been appointed: Bill Schroeder, for the Canadair Challenger Series, and Dick Hyde, for the ...
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IAS
Custom-completions company International Aviation Services (IAS), of Fort Worth, Texas, has appointed Anthony Sanchez director of international sales. He has more than 20 years experience in aviation marketing. J R Jones is named director of sales. His background is in international maintenance and refurbishing for airlines, the military and VIPs/heads ...
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Ion drive
NASA's first New Millennium mission, Deep Space 1, will be propelled through interplanetary space by an ion drive engine. Tim Furniss/LONDON AS A PART OF SEVERAL new space-engine initiatives by the US space agency NASA, the prototype of a xenon-ion engine is undergoing a year-long test firing at ...
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Where safety responsibility lies
Sir -Your Comment "Under oversight" (Flight International, 31 July-6 August) could give the impression that regulatory authorities rely on their own direct inspections to achieve high safety standards in aviation. This has never been the case. The aviation-safety process has always relied on regulatory-authority approval and licensing of ...
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Communication challenge
Passenger demand for on-board telephones is fuelling intense industrial competition. Kieran Daly/LONDON FEW battles being fought in the world of airliner equipment are fiercer than those to supply on-board telephony. As passengers come to expect telephones on aircraft, the degree of use is growing and so are the ...
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New master of the loads
McDonnell Douglas is establishing the MD-11 as a major force in the large-transport cargo market. Kevin O'Toole and Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON LUFTHANSA CARGO'S surprise order for five McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-11F freighters, placed half-way through the Farnborough show, could hardly have come at a better time for the tri-jet ...
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ILS launches two satellites on Proton and Atlas boosters
Tim Furniss/LONDON ILS INTERNATIONAL Launch Services has demonstrated its satellite and orbital delivery service by launching, in two days, the Inmarsat 3F2 and GE 1 communications satellites on Proton and Atlas boosters from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and Cape Canaveral in Florida, respectively. The consortium linking Lockheed ...
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British Midland invests £15 million to upgrade its image
BRITISH MIDLAND has invested some £15 million ($25 million) on a re-launch of its image as a European business airline, with a new corporate livery and a package of service upgrades which includes the introduction of business class for the first time on its UK routes. The measures ...
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Big plans and growing pains
The next generation of large airliners captured the show headlines. Andrew Doyle/LONDON DESPITE THE FACT that Boeing, as expected, failed in its last-ditch efforts to launch its 747 major derivatives at the 1996 Farnborough air show, the civil spotlight was firmly focused on the next generation ...
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Sabah Air takes Optica OA7-300 on lease for evaluation
FLS AEROSPACE'S effort to sell the Optica OA7-300 light-observation-aircraft project to Malaysia has crept forward, with the company leasing an aircraft to Sabah Air for evaluation. With the assistance of British Aerospace, the UK-based company, which is now focusing on its rotables and maintenance businesses, has been negotiating ...
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Alaska is second EGPWS customer
ALASKA AIRLINES has joined American Airlines in purchasing AlliedSignal Aerospace's new enhanced ground-proximity warning system (EGPWS) (Flight International, 4-10 September). Parent group Alaska Air has undertaken a $10 million commitment to equip Alaska Airlines' 25 Boeing 737-400s, and to train flightcrews in using an integrated global-positioning system (GPS) ...