NEWS
US Navy Hornet crashes near Virginia Beach
The USN says the two aviators are safe, but reports indicate that the stricken aircraft hit an apartment building shortly after take-off just after noon. The Hornet was operated by VFA-106, which is the navy's training squadron for the F/A-18 on the Atlantic coast. Witnesses cited by local press reports suggest the aircraft was attempting to return to base.
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Traffic controller 'thought flight emergency was prank'
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after an air traffic controller was accused of ignoring a request for an emergency landing in Denver after a commercial airline pilot reported smoke in the cabin.
The controller thought it was a prank and dismissed the emergency call, according to recordings obtained by KUSA-TV.
The United Express plane from Peoria, Illinois, was evacuated on Tuesday after landing at Denver International Airport. An FAA report said firefighters extinguished a fire in the instrument panel. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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Russia, Belarus continue dispute over bilateral agreement
Russian and Belarusian aviation authorities on Monday will renegotiate amendments to their bilateral agreement after Belarusian authorities insisted the document that was signed several days ago was not coordinated properly.
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TUI, Kolavia JV to launch Russian charter carrier MetroJet
TUI Russia & CIS will form a joint venture with Surgut-based Kolavia Airline (7K), effective May 1. The new JV, called MetroJet, will operate under the TUI brand and will offer service from Russia to Turkey, Egypt and Spain. Further details on the rebranding will be announced later in the month, the company said.
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Lufthansa’s Air Dolomiti CEO: ‘Every euro has to be calculated’
Lufthansa Italian regional Air Dolomiti (EN) is facing challenges in Italy’s tough economy environment. CEO Michael Kraus told ATW the market has weakened since November. EN recorded a 1.2% passenger growth in 2011, down from between 5% and 7% in recent years. Kraus said that 80% of its business is feeding Lufthansa hubs from Northern Italian airports, especially to Munich. Weakened demand reduced its January schedule by 4%. “I can’t give an outlook for 2012 but we are relatively stable regarding our yield,” he said.
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Hundreds of DFW flight cancelled this past weekend
Hundreds of flights from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport were cancelled for a fourth consecutive day on Friday after a swarm of tornadoes touched down in the area on Tuesday, damaging more than 100 planes on the ground, American Airlines said.
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Virgin Atlantic employee in paparazzi probe
Virgin Atlantic said it had launched an investigation over claims a member of staff had tipped off paparazzi about details of flights celebrities had booked with the airline. The employee is accused of passing details of eight high-profile customers including actress Sienna Miller and England football player Ashley Cole to the London-based photographic agency Big Pictures.
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Yemen Air Force Grounds Flights At Sana'a Airport
Members of Yemen's air force closed the capital Sana'a's airport on Saturday, stopping all flights in protest at the sacking of their commander, a half brother of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, an aviation official said.
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ACI: Asia/Pacific, Middle East airports report strong 2011 growth
Passenger traffic in the Asia/Pacific region rose 5.7% to 1.43 billion over 2010, according to the Preliminary World Airport Traffic report from Airports Council International (ACI). There was also an 8.4% increase in passenger traffic in the Middle Eastern region.
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Qantas completes repairs on A380
Repairs have been completed on a Qantas Airways Airbus A380 that experienced an uncontained engine failure over Singapore in November 2010.
The aircraft, registration VH-OQA, will be flown back to Australia from Singapore on 21 April, the Australian flag carrier said in a statement.
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Airbus, Boeing report increase in 1Q deliveries
Airbus and Boeing reported first-quarter deliveries were up over the year-ago quarter. Airbus delivered 131 aircraft in the first quarter, up 12 compared to 119 aircraft in the 2011 first quarter. In the 2012 first quarter, Airbus delivered 10 A319s, 79 A320s, 15 A321s, 10 A330-200s, one A330-200F, 12 A330-300s and four A380s. Boeing delivered 137 aircraft in the first quarter, up 33 compared to 104 aircraft the 2011 first quarter. In the 2012 first-quarter, Boeing delivered 137 aircraft, comprising 99 737NextGens, six 747s, seven 767s, 20 777s and five 787s.
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San Miguel invests $500 million in Philippine Airlines
Brewer San Miguel Corp. is investing $500 million in Philippine Airlines and a sister airline for minority stakes, according to Reuters.
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Other News
A journalist from Bernama, Jakarta was killed when his Twin Otter was shot at as it landed at the Mulia airport in Papua.
A Bangladesh Air Force L-39 training aircraft crashed in northern Bangladesh killing the pilot and hurting one.
Following the release of the iPad, Gogo director-airline operations Tim Lemaster said the Wi-Fi provider identified over 10,000 separate usages of iPads being used onboard aircraft.
Boeing announced its 747-800, which has been in service for approximately six months, has been approved for operations at 200 airports around the world.
AFI KLM E&M has signed a contract with TAB Airlines to supply a spare lease engine plus an engine shop visit for its DC-10 freighter.
NavAero has been selected by Air Arabia to supply the t Bag C22 Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag system for the airline’s fleet of A320 aircrafts.
CFM International has signed a set of material support agreements with Delta Air Lines to support the airline’s fleet of nearly 400 CFM56-7B engines in service or on order, as well as its maintenance, repair and overhaul operations for third-party airlines.
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AVIATION QUOTE
Prepare for the unknown, unexpected and inconceivable . . . after 50 years of flying I'm still learning every time I fly.
— Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the Moon.
ON THIS DATE
---In 1929... The French airline Air Union starts to operate a nightly service from Paris to London.
---In 1953…Navy XF2Y-1 Sea Dart, an experimental delta-wing jet seaplane with hydroskis, made first flight at San Diego.
---In 1959…NASA names 1st 7 astronauts for Project Mercury.
---In 1960... The giant Tupolev Tu-114 Rossiya sets a new world speed record for propeller-driven airplanes of 545.07 mph. It was carrying a 55,116-pound payload at the time and flew around an official 3,107-mile closed circuit in the USSR.
---In 1964…First flight of the de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo.
---In 1965…BAC One-Eleven enters service with British United Airways.
---In 1967…First flight of the Boeing 737-100.
---In 1969... The first U.K.-assembled supersonic transport, Concorde 002, makes a successful first flight in England.
---In 1976... Air France opens its second supersonic service, from Paris to Caracas, Venezuela; the Concorde takes six hours, including a stop at the Azores.
---In 1980…Soyuz 35 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
The Copilot
I am the copilot. I sit on the right.
It's up to me to be quick and bright;
I never talk back for I have regrets,
But I have to remember what the Captain forgets.
I make out the Flight Plan and study the weather,
Pull up the gear, stand by to feather;
Make out the mail forms and do the reporting,
And fly the old crate while the Captain is courting.
I take the readings, adjust the power,
Put on the heaters when we're in a shower;
Tell him where we are on the darkest night,
And do all the bookwork without any light.
I call for my Captain and buy him cokes;
I always laugh at his corny jokes,
And once in awhile when his landings are rusty
I always come through with, "By gosh it's gusty!"
All in all I'm a general stooge,
As I sit on the right of the man I call "Scrooge";
I guess you think that is past understanding,
But maybe some day he will give me a landing.
TRIVIA
Commercial Pilot – Airplane Exam Questions
5440
Hatching on a Constant Pressure Analysis Chart indicates
A) hurricane eye.
B) windspeed 70 knots to 110 knots.
C) windspeed 110 knots to 150 knots.
5430
Which provides a graphic display of both VFR and IFR weather?
A) Radar Summary Chart.
B) Weather Depiction Chart.
C) Surface Weather Map.
5417
What type of Inflight Weather Advisories provides an en route pilot with information regarding the possibility of moderate icing, moderate turbulence, winds of 30 knots or more at the surface and extensive mountain obscurement?
A) AIRMETs and Center Weather Advisories (CWA).
B) Convective SIGMETs and SIGMETs.
C) Severe Weather Forecast Alerts (AWW) and SIGMETs.
5470
If an airplane is consuming 95 pounds of fuel per hour at a cruising altitude of 6,500 feet and the groundspeed is 173 knots, how much fuel is required to travel 450 NM?
A) 248 pounds.
B) 265 pounds.
C) 284 pounds.
5504
To use VHF/DF facilities for assistance in locating your position, you must have an operative VHF
A) transmitter and receiver, and an operative VOR receiver.
B) transmitter and receiver.
C) transmitter and receiver, and an operative ADF receiver.
5360
Which situation would most likely result in freezing precipitation? Rain falling from air which has a temperature of
A) more than 32 °F into air having a temperature of 32 °F or less.
B) 32 °F or less into air having a temperature of more than 32 °F.
C) 0 °C or less into air having a temperature of 0 °C or more.
5043
Excluding Hawaii, the vertical limits of the Federal Low Altitude airways extend from
A) 1,200 feet AGL up to, but not including, 18,000 feet MSL.
B) 700 feet AGL up to, but not including, 14,500 feet MSL.
C) 1,200 feet AGL up to, but not including, 14,500 feet MSL.
5212
An airplane will stall at the same
A) angle of attack regardless of the attitude with relation to the horizon.
B) angle of attack and attitude with relation to the horizon.
C) airspeed regardless of the attitude with relation to the horizon.
5076
A pilot flying a single-engine airplane observes a multiengine airplane approaching from the left. Which pilot should give way?
A) Each pilot should alter course to the right.
B) The pilot of the single-engine airplane should give way; the other airplane is to the left.
C) The pilot of the multiengine airplane should give way; the single-engine airplane is to its right.
5085
What is the minimum flight visibility and proximity to cloud requirements for VFR flight, at 6,500 feet MSL, in Class C, D, and E airspace?
A) 5 miles visibility; 1,000 feet above and 1,000 feet below.
B) 1 mile visibility; clear of clouds.
C) 3 miles visibility; 1,000 feet above and 500 feet below.
5608
What will occur if no leaning is made with the mixture control as the flight altitude increases?
A) The volume of air entering the carburetor decreases and the amount of fuel decreases.
B) The density of air entering the carburetor decreases and the amount of fuel increases.
C) The density of air entering the carburetor decreases and the amount of fuel remains constant.
5761
Hypoxia is the result of which of these conditions?
A) Insufficient oxygen reaching the brain.
B) Excessive oxygen in the bloodstream.
C) Excessive carbon dioxide in the bloodstream.
5163
If the airspeed is increased from 90 knots to 135 knots during a level 60° banked turn, the load factor will
A) remain the same but the radius of turn will increase.
B) decrease and the stall speed will increase.
C) increase as well as the stall speed.
5961
Which of the following is the final step of the Decide Model for effective risk management and Aeronautical Decision Making?
A) Estimate.
B) Eliminate.
C) Evaluate.
5002
NTSB Part 830 requires an immediate notification as a result of which incident?
A) Damage to the landing gear as a result of a hard landing.
B) Engine failure for any reason during flight.
C) Any required flight crewmember being unable to perform flight duties because of illness.
. 
