All articles by David Kaminski-Morrow – Page 269
-
NewsAirbus to shift A220 cockpit and fuselage work to Mirabel site
Airbus is to transfer A220 work package production currently conducted at Bombardier’s Saint-Laurent facility to the Mirabel site where the aircraft’s final assembly line is located. The airframer’s Stelia Aerospace division is setting up a local subsidiary to take over the work packages, which include cockpit and aft fuselage production, ...
-
NewsAirbus takes 75% of A220 programme as Bombardier exits
Airbus is increasing its share in the A220 programme to 75%, with the Canadian government’s Investissement Quebec holding the 25% balance, as Bombardier exits from the former CSeries partnership. The European airframer has confirmed that, under the revised ownership agreement for Airbus Canada Limited Partnership, the Investissement Quebec share will ...
-
NewsNew Air Baltic A220 latest to suffer engine failure
Investigators have disclosed that a new Air Baltic Airbus A220-300 which diverted to Bordeaux on 12 February had suffered an engine failure. While the details of the failure, in the left-hand Pratt & Whitney PW1500G powerplant, have yet to be disclosed, the incident follows a series of engine failures on ...
-
NewsUS tightens sanctions squeeze on Conviasa
Venezuelan carrier Conviasa is being subjected to tighter sanctions by the US government intended to prevent alleged presidential misuse of the airline. The US treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has formally listed 40 aircraft in Conviasa’s fleet as blocked Venezuelan government property. This fleet includes an Airbus A340, seven ...
-
NewsEngine pylons completed for first PD-14-powered MC-21
Russian airframer VASO has completed the first engine pylons for the Irkut MC-21 intended for installation of Aviadvigatel PD-14 powerplants. The Voronezh-based manufacturer says the latest assemblies bring the total number of pylon sets to 12. While MC-21s so far assembled have all comprised Pratt & Whitney PW1400G-powered airframes, Irkut ...
-
NewsPod-strike tore cowls off Max Air 747-400
Nigerian investigators have disclosed that an engine pod-strike involving a Max Air Boeing 747-400 resulted in the powerplant’s shedding its cowls as it rolled out after landing at Minna. The country’s Accident Investigation Bureau says the captain, who was flying, had remarked that the ILS signal was “erratic” on both ...
-
NewsAir Italy to cease operations despite Qatar Airways support
Italian operator Air Italy, part-owned by Qatar Airways, is to cease operations, with services being taken over by other operators effective immediately. Air Italy’s shareholders have opted to place the carrier in liquidation following an 11 February meeting. Source: Air Italy Air Italy’s long-haul fleet includes A330s but ...
-
NewsKuwaiti terminal adds to strong Jazeera full-year profits
Kuwaiti budget carrier Jazeera Airways has turned in strong full-year results, more than doubling its operating and net profits. The carrier states that its operating profit reached KD14.2 million ($46.6 million) while its net profit rose to KD14.9 million. It attributes the performance to a near-21% hike in passenger numbers ...
-
NewsUtair 737 hit snow bank on approach to Usinsk
Russian investigators have disclosed that the Utair Boeing 737-500 involved in a landing accident at Usinsk struck a snow bank with its main undercarriage just before touching down. The aircraft hit the bank, sustaining damage, about 15m before reaching runway 13 as it arrived following a service from Moscow Vnukovo ...
-
NewsTUI extends 737 Max replacement to full year
Leisure operator TUI has opted to obtain replacement capacity for its Boeing 737 Max fleet for the entire current financial year. The company is expecting the costs for the prolonged grounding to reach €220-245 million for 2019-20, a slightly narrower range than it had predicted during 2018-19 full-year results in ...
-
NewsFuselage deal pushes back recovery of 737 Max production rates
Spirit AeroSystems’ latest Boeing 737 Max production agreement for 2020 covers barely a third of the fuselages it delivered in 2018, and appears to put Boeing at least four years behind its ramp-up schedule for the re-engined jet. Under a 6 February memorandum Spirit has agreed to deliver 216 737 ...
-
NewsFAA chief defends reasoning to delay 737 Max grounding
US FAA chief Steve Dickson has defended the administration’s decision to wait for empirical evidence to order the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, rather than follow other authorities’ precautionary approach. The FAA grounded the type on 13 March, three days after the loss of an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft – ...
-
NewsUtair cites windshear as 737-500 suffers landing accident at Usinsk
One of Russian carrier Utair’s Boeing 737-500s has been evacuated after it suffered a landing accident on a wintry runway in Russia’s Komi republic. The aircraft (VQ-BPS) had been operating the UT595 service from Moscow Vnukovo to Usinsk airport on 9 February. Utair says that a “sharp, unpredictable windshear” occurred ...
-
NewsFlawed firefighting preceded fatal Emirates 777 explosion
Flawed firefighting tactics and inadequate accident site surveillance contributed to the sole fatality after an Emirates Boeing 777-300 crashed on the runway at Dubai during a failed go-around. While two initial foam vehicles – known as Fire 6 and Fire 10 – arrived at the scene of the accident within ...
-
NewsIcelandair 757 suffers main-gear collapse at Keflavik
One of Icelandair’s Boeing 757-200s appears to have suffered a landing-gear collapse upon arrival at Reykjavik’s Keflavik airport. Images from the scene circulating on social media, purporting to show the aftermath, indicate that the right-hand main landing-gear has collapsed, leaving the twinject (TF-FIA) listing to the right with its starboard ...
-
NewsEmirates 777 crash probe revisits pilot awareness of design logic
Investigation of the Emirates Boeing 777-300 go-around accident in Dubai is likely to draw further attention to the issue of pilots’ awareness and understanding of aircraft system design logic. The crew attempted to abort the landing and activated the go-around switches, without realising that the aircraft had briefly touched down ...
-
NewsA319 upset included altitude loss and overspeed
Investigators have disclosed that an in-flight upset involving an Avianca Airbus A319 resulted in a 2,500ft loss of altitude. The aircraft had been operating a San Jose-Bogota flight and was cruising at 37,000ft, with the captain as the flying pilot, when the incident occurred. French investigation authority BEA, citing Costa ...
-
NewsCaptain perceived ‘thermals’ before ill-fated Emirates 777 go-around
Investigators have disclosed that an Emirates Boeing 777-300 captain perceived the aircraft had encountered a thermal updraught, and would not be able to land in the touchdown zone at Dubai, before an ill-fated go-around attempt resulted in the jet’s crashing on the runway. While it had already explained why the ...
-
NewsFinnair relaxed over coronavirus financial impact
Finnair is optimistic that the coronavirus outbreak in China is likely to have only a small impact on its first-quarter financial performance, even if mainland China flight cancellations continue until the end of March. The airline says the direct impact is “relatively limited” but it has refrained from forecasting full-year ...
-
NewsAvianca directs cancellations at A321neo fleet
Colombian carrier Avianca has cancelled or converted much of its Airbus A321neo order, switching some to the smaller A320neo variant. The change, listed in Airbus’s latest backlog revision, follows a previous cancellation of 62 A320neos by Avianca’s parent company Synergy Aerospace. Synergy wiped out its A320neo orders in December 2019 ...