All Safety News – Page 1508
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Ariane 5 tests completed
Julian Moxon/PARIS THE LAST OF A SERIES of seven tests of the Ariane 5 cryogenic stage was carried out successfully at Kourou, French Guiana, on 27 January. On the same day there were a further two tests of the Vulcain main engine in France and Germany. ...
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Pitot icing suspected in X-31 crash
THE INTERIM REPORT into the crash of a Rockwell/Daimler Benz Aerospace X-31 has identified a malfunction in the pilot-static system as the major contributory factor to the loss of the high angle-of-attack research aircraft (Flight International, 1-7 February). Project accident investigations, are now believed to be centred on ...
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TransAsia ATR 72 was flying 'too low'
TAIWANESE investigators examining the nighttime crash, of a TransAsia Airways ATR 72 on 30 January, are trying to determine, why the aircraft was around 1,500ft (430m) below its prescribed altitude. The ATR 72 turboprop was cleared to land and the pilot was about to begin the approach to ...
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Western partners lose patience over An-124
Kieran Daly/LONDON WESTERN CARGO companies with interests in the Antonov An-124 Ruslan outsize freighter are expressing growing exasperation with its engines. The combination of the D-18T turbofan's unreliability and future difficulties in coping with noise restrictions has led to a showdown with Ukrainian engine design ...
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Swissair runs into turbulence over Sabena alliance
FURTHER controversy has blown up around Swissair's alliance talks with Sabena, following the disclosure that the Swiss carrier is planning to make a revised offer which will include a call for "substantial" Belgian Government help in recapitalising its national carrier. "Swissair will formulate a new offer later this ...
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UK spells out London airports policy
THE UK GOVERNMENT'S long-awaited response to the report by the "Runway capacity to serve the south-east" working-group rules out the possibility of a third Heathrow runway, but allows for a close, parallel, runway at Gatwick. Transport secretary Brian Mawhinney is asking the Civil Aviation Authority to study further ...
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US airlines remain in the red
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON THE US AIRLINE industry again failed to produce the long-awaited return to profitability in 1994 as carriers paid for their latest round of restructuring. Two airlines, USAir and Continental Airlines, have warned of further job losses and aircraft deferrals to come. With most ...
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Emergency landing mars 777 test success
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES JUBILATION OVER THE "flawless" first flight of a General Electric GE90-powered Boeing 777 on 2 February was overshadowed by an incident on another 777 test aircraft which was forced into an emergency landing at Boeing Field later the same day. Boeing launched ...
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Air Inter springs profit surprise
FRENCH DOMESTIC airline Air Inter unexpectedly recorded a profit during 1994, the first positive result for four years. On a turnover of Fr11.74 billion ($2.24 billion), the airline made a Fr21 million profit, when a loss of around Fr100 million had been predicted. The improved figures were because ...
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Moonlighting can cause problems
Sir - The letter from the director-general of the International Air Carrier Association (Flight International. 11-17 January, P45) struck a chord with me. A few years ago, a newspaper article reported that an airline captain had fallen asleep while taxiing in after night duty. What was ...
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Safety must be paramount
Sir - I refer to your editorial "Difference of opinion" and the article "ATR tests rival types to challenge FAA actions" (Flight International, 21 December, 1994-3 January, 1995). It is my view that the French Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGAC's) primary focus is the support of French products, with ...
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Handling trouble
The ground handling debate is underlining the challenges facing the European Commission in policing Europe's single market. The trouble with the European Commission is that it has too many difficulties putting its laudable objectives into action. Ground handling offers the latest example of this. A year after ...
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Sense stems Pacific pride
South Pacific island governments are finally taking steps to stem the flow of red ink that has bedevilled most of their tiny national airlines for the past decade. At presstime, aviation officials from the dozen isolated nations were studying a comprehensive new report designed to set them back ...
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Still not free to handle
The European Commission may have finally produced a directive aimed at dismantling the European ground handling monopolies, but its application is at least three if not six years away. Instead, Brussels will continue to pursue complaints with traditional methods, as it has with its most recent action against the Greek ...
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Air Namibia Bonn threat
Air Namibia may have to suspend its only intercontinental service amid charges of arm-twisting by Bonn officials which leaves German carriers in a dominant position. The airline, which entered the long-haul market only four years ago, says it may have to cease operating its three times weekly Windhoek-Frankfurt-London ...
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US shapes and wavers
Canada's intent to liberalise its bilateral with the US will give transportation secretary Federico Peña his first major foreign policy success. And moves in Brussels over the US open skies proposal to nine European nations may add impetus to resolve the dispute over how to address codesharing in the offer. ...
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Mexico feels the peso bite
The catastrophic devaluation of the peso against the US dollar at the end of December has made matters worse for the Mexican airline industry. The economically precarious Aeromexico-Mexicana consortium, now being run by its creditor banks, is especially at risk. The good news being trumpeted for Mexican carriers ...
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MD-80 operators prepare for ice
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA US OPERATORS OF the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-80 are gearing up for fleet-wide installation of systems designed to prevent the formation of over-wing icing. Two systems have now been approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration as alternative means of compliance with an ...
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Late decisions
Kieran Daly/LONDON Frequency congestion in Europe is giving the future air-navigation system a bad name and delaying its implementation. Progress towards use of the future air-navigation system (FANS) continues to prove slow for regulator and airline alike. Operators and governments remain reluctant to make the ...
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Saginaw ghost
A mystery from the past may have relevance for the present. David Learmount/LONDON When Capt. Harvey "Hoot" Gibson's aircraft, a Trans World Airlines Boeing 727-100, suddenly rolled out of control and dived 32,000ft (10,000m), Gibson had to pull more than 5g before recovering control at ...