All Safety News – Page 1248
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Troubleshooting team probes 737-400 wiring
A team from Boeing, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board has been inspecting the wiring on 737-400s. The checks were ordered after an Alaska Airlines aircraft was forced to return to Portland, Oregon, when chafed wires triggered false low fuel pressure readings. As Flight ...
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Pilots applaud ADS-B after human factors evaluation
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC A human factors evaluation of the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system has shown the technology can significantly improve pilot awareness. The tests, led by the US Cargo Airlines Association (CAA) and UPS Aviation Technologies, are being analysed by Johns Hopkins University, which is due to issue a ...
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Premiair takes first A330-200 for long haul winter flights
The first of two Airbus A330-200s for Scandinavian charter airline Premiair is poised to enter service on a six-month wet lease from sister company Airtours International. The Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-powered A330-200 has been delivered new to Premiair. The second A330-200 is due this month, while three Trent-powered A330-300s will arrive ...
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Study reveals steady safety improvement
David Learmount/LONDON Airline safety is improving more quickly than traditional statistics indicate, says a study by Airclaims in association with the European Union. The annual number of aircraft totally destroyed in airline accidents has been steady since 1970, despite a 350% expansion of the world fleet and an increase ...
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Restructuring airspace fix 'best for European ATC'
Complete restructuring of Franco-Swiss, German and Central European airspace is the best solution to Europe's air traffic management (ATM) woes in the short and medium term, reveals a report by Eurocontrol's Performance Review Commission (PRC). The second report issued by the PRC, which comprises 12 independent airline and air ...
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BA tests wireless gatelink at Heathrow
British Airways plans to launch a six-month trial of wireless gatelink communication technology at London Heathrow Airport, starting in March or April. Initially, a Boeing 747-400 will be equipped with a gatelink antenna, radio modem unit and an airborne server in a project also involving SITA, Rockwell Collins and Penny ...
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FAA approves Raisbeck enhanced King Air kit
Raisbeck Engineering has been awarded US Federal Aviation Administration approval to offer its enhanced performance modification kit for all models of Raytheon Beech King Air 200s. The kit, which includes a ram air recovery system, improved performance leading edges, dual aft body strakes and high flotation gear doors, has ...
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NASA begins work on aeroelastic wing testing
An advanced aeroelastic wing and laser-based gust monitoring device is under test at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in California as part of efforts to create better design tools for future airliner wings. The University of California, Los Angeles, gust monitoring and aeroelasticity (GMA) experiment is investigating the dynamic ...
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Grounded TAESA awaits inspection
TAESA, Mexico's third largest airline, is to remain grounded until Mexican authorities complete a full safety inspection. The transport ministry says the discovery of "anomalies and incidents" had led to the decision. Suspension of the low-fare carrier's operating certificate has come two weeks after the crash of one of ...
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Tu-134 re-engining offered
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW A Tupolev-led consortium is proposing a cost-effective re-engining and refurbishment programme for the Tupolev Tu-134 twinjet, dubbed the "Tu-134M", to improve performance, efficiency and environmental compliance. Interavia, formed by a group of Russian, Belarussian and Ukrainian companies, hopes to secure contracts to refurbish around half the ...
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Virgin Express heals Belgian CAA squabble
Herman De Wulf/BRUSSELS Brussels-based low-fare airline Virgin Express has had its air operator's certificate (AOC) extended for four months after resolving differences with the Belgian Civil Aviation Administration (BCAA) over changes in its senior management and the transfer of aircraft from the Belgian to the Irish register. Days after ...
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Seating giant B/E faces bumpy ride
Chris Jasper/LONDON Aircraft interiors specialist B/E Aerospace has issued a profits warning for its current fiscal year and the next after experiencing major difficulties in its seating products group, the largest single element of B/E's business. Florida-based B/E, the world's largest manufacturer of aircraft seats, blames production problems ...
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Bombardier/Embraer trade dispute flares up again
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Brian Homewood/RIO DE JANEIROThe long-running war between Bombardier and Embraer over subsidies has flared up again, with each accusing the other of failing to comply with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rulings, and again referring the matter back to the international body. The latest battle centres on counter-claims ...
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No borders, please
In documenting a sorry year for European air traffic management (ATM) - so far - the independent Performance Review Commission (PRC) has nevertheless thrown the industry more than a few crumbs of comfort. There is considerable latent traffic capacity, it says, which is waiting to be released, and all that ...
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Venezuela's Aserca moves togain access to USA
Venezuela's Aserca Airlines is looking to its Caribbean subsidiary to expand a US presence otherwise frozen for Venezuelan airlines. Air Aruba, which is 70% owned by Aserca, is expanding its Aruba hub with three more McDonnell Douglas DC-9s, more flights to Caracas, and listings in more computer reservation systems. ...
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Return to School
KAREN WALKER WASHINGTON DC Competition is heating up to provide MBA programmes for airline middle managers on the fast track. Such programmes are helping to breed a new generation of business-savvy executives. Why is it that airlines are looking outside of the industry to appoint senior executives? Academics believe it ...
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Sky Opener
KAREN WALKER WASHINGTON DC US Department of Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater has blazed a trail of open skies agreements around the globe. Now he is looking to this December's DoT international aviation summit in Chicago to provide a launch platform for the next step. Rodney Slater has a vision. "I ...
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In Brief
EC to tackle ATC delays The Association of European Airlines has gained backing from the European Commission (EC) for a political solution to the worsening delays in Europe's airspace. EC vice-president and Transport Commissioner Loyola De Palacio has given the issue prominence in her transport work schedule, following the ...
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Virgin reluctanctly accepts alliances as a fact of life
KEVIN O'TOOLE CHICAGO Even a maverick like Richard Branson is forced to admit that joining an airline alliance is fast becoming a "fact of life". Speaking during Virgin Atlantic's inaugural flight to Chicago, he revealed that contacts have taken place with three of the global groupings. "It's inevitable that ...
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Getting the e-price right
KEVIN O'TOOLE CHICAGO The advent of the Internet has begun to change the way that the world does business, but for the airline industry many of the issues that it brings are already familiar. While businesses anxiously puzzle out what implications the Internet will have for their sales, it seems ...