NewsUPS crash inquiry checks use of crew sleep facility US investigators are attempting to ascertain whether the pilots of the crashed UPS Airbus A300-600 freighter used crew rest areas at Louisville before departing on the ill-fated flight. The crew had been on an overnight duty, operating Rockford-Peoria-Louisville, with Birmingham as the next destination. The aircraft crashed short of runway 18 at Birmingham as it approached in darkness on 14 August. As part of routine procedure the National Transportation Safety Board is looking into the 72h history of the crew, to assess their rest patterns. "We know that they obtained keys for the sleep rooms in Louisville," says NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt, adding that the crew "signed out" the keys. "We want to see if we can determine if they actually used those rooms." Information from the flight-data recorder shows the autopilot was engaged "until the last second of recorded data" from the instrument, says Sumwalt, while the autothrottle remained activated. But he points out that the flight-data recording ended several seconds before that of the cockpit-voice recorder. Flight-control inputs "correlate" with the positions of the flight-control surfaces, says Sumwalt, while the engine parameters indicate normal powerplant operation. The recording also indicates that the aircraft was "tracking" the selected airspeed of 140kt, which is "consistent" with the expected approach speed, he says.
UPS crash inquiry checks use of crew sleep facility
LinkDiscussionUPS Jet Was On Autopilot Seconds Before CrashThe UPS cargo jet that crashed in Alabama last week, killing its two crew members, was flying on autopilot until seconds before impact, even after an alert that it was descending too quickly, authorities said. "The autopilot was engaged until the last second of recorded data," said Robert Sumwalt, a senior official with the National Transportation Safety Board. He said information retrieved by investigators from the flight data recorder aboard the United Parcel Service jet showed that its auto throttle also was engaged until moments before the fiery crash. The Airbus A300 was approaching the runway at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth airport before dawn on Wednesday when it clipped the trees in an adjacent residential area and crashed into a steep embankment well short of the runway.
LinkPilots in fatal UPS A300-600 freighter crash identified The two UPS pilots who died in the crash of an Airbus A300-600F on approach to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International airport have been identified by local authorities as Captain Cerea Beal Jr. and first officer Shanda Fanning, says the cargo carrier in a statement. Fifty-eight year old Beal lived in Matthews, North Carolina, and had flown for UPS since 1990. He served in the US Marine Corps for more than six years as a heavy lift helicopter pilot.
LinkJapan's Big Airlines Vie For Landing RightsTokyo's Haneda airport is the latest battleground for Japan's two major carriers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, in a politically-charged fight over USD$400 million worth of landing rights. The two carriers have locked horns for decades at home, but this clash threatens to take on an international dimension by embroiling British Airways and other foreign carriers. At issue are 20 new landing slots at Haneda, the world's fourth busiest airport, which according to industry experts, can generate around USD$20 million each in annual operating profit. With no new runways or airports planned for Japan's capital, the October ruling will likely be the last major slot distribution in Tokyo for years and could give one of the two carriers an advantage.
LinkTravel Firms Cancel As Violence Grips EgyptViolence sweeping Egypt hit the nation's tourism industry on Friday as European governments warned vacationers to stay away from its Red Sea resorts, prompting some travel agents to stop all trips to Egypt. German tour operators Thomas Cook Germany and TUI Germany, part of Europe's largest tour operator TUI Travel, cancelled all trips to Egypt after the German foreign ministry advised against traveling to the beach resorts, which are popular with European sun-seekers and divers. They said customers would get the chance to rebook to other destinations free of charge. Air Berlin said it was still operating scheduled flights to Red Sea resorts but would not accept new bookings to Egypt until September 15.
LinkGermany Extends Travel Alert To Red Sea ResortsGermany advised its citizens not to travel to the Red Sea tourist resorts of Egypt, toughening its previous travel advice but stopping short of a full travel warning that would mean tourists being evacuated. The foreign ministry said on Friday it was now advising against travel to the country as a whole, and advised "urgently" against travel to Cairo, upper Egypt and the Nile delta. Previously, Germany's travel warnings had not applied to the Red Sea resorts such as Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada that are popular with European tourists and lie far from Egypt's big cities. "Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urges German citizens to take this travel advice very seriously," a foreign ministry spokesman said. The ministry said those in the tourist resorts should exercise increased caution.
LinkIndian MRMR RFP increases aircraft required to nineIndia's recent request for proposals (RFP) for medium-range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft increases the number of the aircraft requested and emphasises Indian-sourced content. The RFP, released on 8 August, was long expected by defence contractors. In April 2012, numerous sources said that the RFP was expected to be out by mid-2012. The reasons for the delay are not clear, but the RFP calls for n ine aircraft, while the original request for information (RFI) called for just six. The MRMR aircraft will be operated by the Indian navy. Aside from the aircraft, says a source familiar with the requirement, the RFP calls for weapons, defence countermeasures, spares, test equipment, ground support equipment, and training.
LinkUSMC F-35B test pilot makes first shipboard night landing A US Marine Corps test pilot has performed the first vertical night landing at sea on board the USS Wasp with a Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The F-35B is embarked on board the amphibious assault ship for the short take-off vertical landing variant's second set of sea trials, which started on 12 August. "It all went extremely well," says Lt Col C R Clift, the USMC test pilot who performed the 14 August manoeuvre. "Eight successful landings in one night, so we're tracking favourably along the learning curve."
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