All Ops & safety articles – Page 1398
-
News
ESA could launch second Ariane 5 in September
Tim Furniss/LONDON THE EUROPEAN SPACE Agency (ESA) plans to proceed with the second launch of an Ariane 5 in September as scheduled, despite the loss of flight 501 on 4 June. The demise of the first Ariane 5 over the skies of Kourou, Guiana destroyed its payload of ...
-
News
MD600N lost to blade strike
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA The second McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems' (MDHS) MD600N prototype was destroyed by fire on 28 May after a crash-landing during flight-testing. The pilot was uninjured. MDHS says that certification of the eight-seat helicopter, scheduled for September, will be delayed, but believes that first deliveries ...
-
News
NTSB urges 757/767 changes after Birgenair crash
BOEING 757 AND 767 pilots should be given better information about faulty airspeed indications and training to cope with them, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has told the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The NTSB recommendation follows the 6 February Birgenair 757 accident in which all ...
-
News
Lufthansa pilots unhappy with aircraft maintenance
LUFTHANSA PILOTS are unhappy with the technical state of some of the aircraft they fly, according to an internal report leaked to the German press. The pilots complain that technical problems on aircraft are left unresolved because of "lack of parts, time pressure and lack of personnel". Although ...
-
News
Schonefeld is Germany's choice for Berlin Airport
Andrej Jeziorski/MUNICH THE GERMAN Federal Government and the Berlin and Brandenburg local governments have opted to develop Schonefeld Airport as the site of the proposed new Berlin hub. The DM10 billion ($6.8 billion) expansion plan was favoured, on cost grounds, over a proposal to build a ...
-
News
Arcing cause of Tethered loss
THE ALENIA-BUILT Italian Tethered Satellite was lost in space during the STS75/Columbia Space Shuttle mission on 25 February, when its tether broke after suffering "arcing and burning", says an investigation team appointed by NASA (Flight International, 6-12 March). The arcing occurred because the tether was penetrated by either ...
-
News
ARINC launches its 'FANS for classics'
Kieran Daly/SINGAPORE A MAJOR US operator is the launch customer for an ambitious programme designed by US avionics and communications specialist ARINC to make "classic" long-haul aircraft compatible with the air-traffic system of the future. ARINC is offering to develop solutions for any classics which operators ...
-
News
FAA forced ValuJet cut in growth before crash
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC US FEDERAL AVIATION Administration concern over the effect on ValuJet's safety of its rapid expansion forced the carrier to rein back planned growth almost four months before the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 crash in Florida on 11 May, documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act ...
-
News
North Korea's IATA overtures on the brink of fulfilment
NORTH KOREA WILL sign a series of agreements shortly with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is expected to lead to opening up of Pyongyang's airspace to international traffic. Discussions between IATA and North Korea on future co-operation are at an "advanced" stage, according to IATA regional ...
-
News
Quality vs capacity
Paul Phelan/ADELAIDE STUDENT NUMBERS at the Australian Aviation College (AAC) in Adelaide are approaching maximum capacity, but expansion is out of the question, says general manager Harry Bradford. Although the BTR-owned school has over 200 students, it will not expand because quality would suffer, he says. ...
-
News
US NTSB pushes for Sukhoi checks
Checks on the flight controls of Sukhoi Su-29 and Su-31 aerobatic aircraft are being urged after the fatal crash of an Su-29 near New Orleans on 21 March was blamed on an incorrectly assembled elevator-control system. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has called on the US Federal Aviation ...
-
News
Propulsion fault cuts Theseus first flight
The first flight of the Theseus unmanned aircraft, designed to support NASA's Mission to Planet Earth initiative, was cut short by propulsion problems after it lifted off from Rogers Dry Lake, California, on 24 May. "It was a propeller controller issue from what we can tell right now," ...
-
News
UK industry to launch research effort
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON AFTER YEARS of failing to win new Government funding for civil research-and-technology programmes, the UK's aerospace companies have taken matters into their own hands and launched a programme of industry-funded technology-demonstrator pilots. They hope that the UK Government will now help build the project ...
-
News
KLM renews growth effort in Europe with expanded fleet
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON KLM IS TO START A NEW wave of growth in its European operations, outlining plans for a $300 million short-haul fleet expansion and a new agreement with its pilots' union, which paves the way for greater use of wet-lease and codesharing with regional partners. ...
-
News
False pride
THE VERY PUBLIC LOSS of the prototype Ariane 5 on 4 June was not so much a setback for European space activities as it was for European space pride. It should also, however, make European space officials - and their paymasters - reflect on just what is the object of ...
-
News
KLM/Northwest link-up plans put on hold
Kevin O'Toole/AMSTERDAM KLM HAS PUT further development of its alliance with Northwest Airlines on hold until the bitter disagreement over shareholder rights is settled in the US courts. While stressing that the alliance, once "the envy of the airline industry", continues to operate well, KLM president ...
-
News
The tests
SEVERAL OF THE FIVE formats or "batteries" used in RAF pilot-aptitude tests will still be familiar to old hands: ncompensatory tracking and co-ordination: a dot is driven, by stick and rudder pedals, to follow a cross moved to a standard computer-controlled schedule. A relevant civil/transport scenario might be ...
-
News
What's on
Equipping & Supporting Rapid Reaction Forces 13-14 June, London, UK. Contact: HSA/RRMLC, H Silver & Associates (UK), 2nd Floor, Africa House, 64-78 Kingsway, London WC2B 6BD, UK; tel: +44 (171) 413 0936; fax: +44 (171) 413 0937. Second European Aircraft Valuation Seminar 13-14 June, London, UK. Contact: Commercial ...
-
News
Where you train is not always where you end up flying
Sir - As a licensed US Federal Aviation Administration commercial pilot, I support the plea for international standards for flight training in the article "Unique Internationalism" (Flight International, 8-14 May, P3). There are some points which need taking up, however. Firstly, there is the argument that a UK ...
-
News
Japanese make joint approach to Boeing for 747-X workshare
FIVE OF JAPAN'S principal aerospace manufacturers have joined forces to approach Boeing for a share in developing the proposed growth 747-500/600X. The companies are Japan's three "heavy industries" - Fuji, Kawasaki and Mitsubishi - together with ShinMaywa Industries and the smaller Japan Aircraft Manufacturing, or Nippi. Boeing is ...