All air transport news – Page 2702
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News
'Clean Wing' systems on test
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES NORTHWEST AIRLINES has begun operational tests of an experimental broad-area wing-contamination detection system on a McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-82. The test is aimed at the eventual development and certification of a production-standard system which will provide crews with automated, real-time, aircraft surface-contamination information. ...
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Providing the answers
The causes of accidents are often not found because of inadequate flight-data recorders. Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The United Airlines Boeing 737-200 which rolled on its back and crashed for no apparent reason on the approach to Colorado Springs in March 1991 carried a six-parameter ...
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Aeroflot looks West for its fleet renewal
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW AEROFLOT-RUSSIAN International Airlines (ARIA) has confirmed plans to lease further Western aircraft until upgraded Russian aircraft become available. Replacement of ARIA's 116-strong fleet of ageing and fuel-inefficient aircraft is a priority, acknowledges airline chief executive Vladimir Tikhonov, giving his report on the airline's performance ...
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GE90-powered 777 reaches Mach 0.96 in dive
THE GENERAL ELECTRIC GE90-powered Boeing 777 reached Mach 0.96 during a high-speed dive in February, as part of a faster-than-expected expansion of the aircraft/engine flight envelope. "We are well into the test schedule. In fact we're already at the point that we'd normally be at six weeks into ...
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Smiths secures place on new 737 programme
SMITHS INDUSTRIES estimates that it has secured around $350 million of business on the next generation of Boeing 737, after being selected to supply the aircraft's flight-management computer (FMC) system. Smiths supplies a range of avionics equipment for the existing 737 programme, including the FMC, but faced a ...
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UK CAA backs breather for 707s/DC-8s
Kieran Daly/LONDON THE UK GOVERNMENT is considering recommendations which would give operators of Boeing 707s and McDonnell Douglas DC-80-50s temporary waivers from European noise restrictions. Civil Aviation Administration proposals now with UK transport secretary Brian Mawhinney would give 12-month dispensations to about 75% of the dozen ...
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PWA scales back profit forecast
PWA, THE PARENT OF Canadian Airlines, has scaled down profit forecasts for this year, following a higher-than-expected net loss for 1994. The group still expects to swing back to a net profit in 1995, but warns that this is likely to be in the region of C$52 million ...
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GE turboprop will power Sukhoi S-80
GENERAL ELECTRIC has agreed a deal to put its CT7 turboprop on the Sukhoi S-80 utility aircraft. A repair, overhaul and support deal for the engine has been put in place with Rybinsk Motors. Under the contract with Sukhoi, two CT7-9B turboprops will be delivered for flight testing ...
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ATR 72 crew 'knew about icing' snag
THE PILOTS of American Eagle Flight 4182 which crashed on 31 October, 1994, were aware that their ATR 72 was icing up, but did not believe that the problem was serious enough to cause them to lose control of the aircraft. A transcript of the aircraft's cockpit-voice recorder ...
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USAir sells off 11 Boeing 737-300s
USAIR IS SELLING 11 Boeing 737-300s to General Electric Capital (GECC). Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. The financially ailing US carrier says that the aircraft sale is part of a plan to cut operating costs by at least $1 billion annually. It says ...
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Air New Zealand starts returning grounded 737s to service
AIR NEW ZEALAND (ANZ) expects to be back to full capacity by 12 March, following the grounding of ten Boeing 737-200s with Nordam hushkits (Flight International, 22-27 February). The aircraft were grounded following a series of turbine failures on the Nordam-hushkitted Pratt & Whitney JT8D-15A in a six-month ...
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Midway plans to lease A320s to operate from Raleigh-Durham
MIDWAY AIRLINES is to operate a fleet of Airbus Industrie A320s from its new hub operation at Raleigh-Durham Airport, North Carolina, recently acquired from American Airlines. The Chicago-based carrier is initially leasing four International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500-A1-powered A320s from Orix. The first two A320s will arrive in ...
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Lockheed and Boeing discuss fuselage project
LOCKHEED AND Boeing are in talks over a joint bid to build and demonstrate an advanced aft-fuselage design for the US Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) programme. The two companies are already engaged in talks over combining their entire JAST efforts into a single team. "We are now ...
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Saab hives off aircraft and defence units
THE SAAB-SCANIA group is being broken up, the Saab aircraft and defence businesses being split into a separate company from the Scania truck and bus operation and from Saab Automobiles. The two new companies will be held directly by the Investor Group, the powerful Swedish holding company controlled ...
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Fokker slashes costs in new restructuring plan
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON Fokker has embarked upon a radical programme of restructuring, job cuts and site closures in a bid to pull itself back into profit by mid-1996. Losses have been mounting at the Dutch manufacturer as output has dwindled to only 50 aircraft a year - ...
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Upbeat UK operators urged into Europe
The UK Government has pledged backing for its business-aviation operators in ensuring a "level playing field" in Europe when full cabotage is introduced in 1997. The promise was delivered at the annual conference of the General Aviation Manufacturers and Traders Association, which urged its members to exploit the ...
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Oil loss forces down BMA 737
RAPID ENGINE-OIL loss on both engines forced a British Midland Airways Boeing 737-400 crew to make an emergency landing at London Luton Airport on 23 February. UK Civil Aviation Authority records show that blanking plates had not been replaced after borescope inspections of the two engines, and that ...
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Swissair in regional/charter shake-up
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH SWISSAIR HAS HANDED over its regional-jet operations to its Crossair subsidiary. In a second strategic move, Swissair and Crossair will absorb the loss-making charter flights of Balair/CTA - effectively ending the latter's operations. Both moves are aimed at cutting costs and restoring group profitability. By the ...
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Costly competition
Airbus chief Jean Pierson's recent hint that not all is proceeding smoothly within the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) consortium seems to be borne out by confirmation that the UK and Germany are locked in a desperate battle over the wing for Europe's proposed military transport. On the surface, such competition ...
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Thomson set for loss despite growth
THOMSON-CSF reports a steady growth in sales for 1994, but the French defence- electronics giant is still on course to show a large net loss for the year because of its 19% holding in the troubled Credit Lyonnais bank. Thomson says that group sales rose by 6.2% over ...