All Systems & interiors articles – Page 878
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Honeywell talks to Lockheed Martin about APALS involvement
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES HONEYWELL IS IN talks about becoming involved in Lockheed Martin's Autonomous Precision Approach and Landing System (APALS). The US avionics company confirms: "There have been talks, and we are certainly kicking it around." The discussions are led by Honeywell's Business and Aviation Systems ...
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Rockwell consolidates Collins avionics business
Rockwell has brought together its Collins avionics and communications businesses into a single business unit, in a re-organisation, which follows the sale of the remainder of the group's aerospace interests to Boeing. The two Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based units, Collins Commercial Avionics and Collins Avionics & Communications, together with ...
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US Safety Board sees need for post-Cali crash modifications
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says that newly certificated long-haul commercial passenger aircraft should have an automatic system for retracting speed brakes if the pilots start an emergency climb. The system could have saved the American Airlines Boeing 757, which crashed ...
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You have control
Several recent airliner accident reports have identified problems with cockpit automation as principal or contributory causes of the accidents. Much of the conventional reaction (especially by pilots) to these incidents is of the "automation must be stopped" or "automation has gone too far" variety. That reaction, in human terms, is ...
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Unwanted demands
According to the FAA, flight-deck automation confuses pilots too often. David Learmount/LONDON HIGHLY AUTOMATED aircraft with digital flight-management systems (FMS) often surprise pilots and sometimes leave them dangerously confused. This is the basic conclusion of the US Federal Aviation Administration from its two-year review of modern airline flight-decks. ...
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Simulator helps students
A LOW-COST simulator, aimed at helping aeronautical- engineering students understand the mechanics of aircraft flight, is being used at London's City University, in the UK. The MP520-T, developed by UK-based Merlin Products, includes an enclosed, single-seat cockpit mounted on a three-axis hydraulic, or two-axis pneumatic, motion system. ...
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Recommendations for improved safety
THE HUMAN-FACTORS TEAM makes a large number of recommendations for action by the FAA and other agencies. There are eight main headings, but some basic demands, like the need for better information-exchange on incidents, is repeated in varying forms under several of them. The principle recommendations for each heading include: ...
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Airport growth
World airport passenger traffic grew 6.6% over the first half of the year, helped by the booming North American market, where numbers grew by more than 7%. Atlanta Hartsfield, boosted by the Georgia city's hosting of the Olympic Games in the summer, was the fastest- growing of all the major ...
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Firm evidencr on cause of TWA 800 explosion is elusive
WITH NEARLY 80% of the Trans World Airlines Boeing 747-100 now recovered from the sea off Long Island, New York, there is still no evidence of bomb or missile damage. At the same time, there has been further study into the centre fuel-tank explosion and whether it caused the 17 ...
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Lufthansa criticises 747-X design
Andrzej Jeziorski/HAMBURG LUFTHANSA operations chief executive Klaus Nittinger has criticised recent changes in Boeing's design proposals for its 747-500/600X. "The aircraft has changed so drastically [since November] that it has moved far away from what we would like to see," says Nittinger. Lufthansa was enthusiastic about ...
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JAL returns to Thomson Training fold with 767 machine
JAPAN AIRLINES (JAL) has ordered a Boeing 767-300 full-flight simulator from Thomson Training & Simulation (TTS). The Level D machine will be delivered to JAL's Haneda Airport, Tokyo, training centre in late 1997, along with a desktop flight-management-system trainer produced by TTS. The sales, is welcome news for ...
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American edges to regional goal
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA American Airlines and its pilots union have tentatively agreed a complex formula governing the introduction of regional jets by commuter arm AMR Eagle. The agreement foresees the acquisition of up to 218 45- to 70-seat regional jets by 2009, but limits AMR Eagle to a maximum ...
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BA fights for the continent
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON THE announcement of a new wave of restructuring at British Airways should have come as little surprise. In May, chief executive Bob Ayling followed the group's world-beating 1995 profits announcement with a stark warning that BA needed to make another £1 billion ($1.5 billion) in savings. ...
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Slots of value
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION (EC) is keen to overhaul the slot-allocation system at Europe's airports by creating a "market" in which some slots could be traded for money. It is right to be looking for an overhaul but, if it believes that airline services should exist as much for the customer ...
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Airline news
British Airways is adding Barcelona, Helsinki, Lisbon and Glasgow to its London/ Gatwick network. GB Airways will operate on behalf of BA from Gatwick to Faro, Malaga and Oporto. BA is also extending its non-smoking trials from January 1997 to cover 90 per cent of its system-wide seats, ...
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Afcac calls for ATC unity
A series of near misses over central African airspace has prompted the African Civil Aviation Commission (Afcac) to renew its drive for a single agency to coordinate air traffic control operations in all 53 African states. The move follows a warning from the South African pilots' organisation that ...
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Keeping up appearances
British Airways is using the power of its brand to spread its name and services around the world via franchise agreements. As other European carriers tentatively follow suit, Lois Jones explores the benefits and pitfalls involved. As equity investments begin to lose their shine, franchising is gaining appeal as ...
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Desert bloomer
Reno's economy may depend on gambling, but the relatively new hometown airline needs to rely on more than luck as it matures. David Knibb reviews the challenges which face Reno Air. Four years after its launch, Reno Air's future looks considerably brighter after surviving a shaky start. As the carrier ...
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Control is key to future success
Running an airline is becoming yet more complicated. Can managers manage? What will be the biggest managerial challenge faced by airline chiefs in years to come? There are many candidates: marketing in a deregulated environment; cost cutting; attracting new business; finding new markets; alliances; managing union relationships. But the biggest ...
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Led to extinction?
Rigas Doganis, Olympic Airways' former chairman, draws on his own experiences to give a unique insight into the problems faced by Europe's state-controlled flag carriers. Unless politicians grasp the nettle and stop interfering in the management of those struggling airlines, their days are numbered . Within three few weeks in ...