NewsPassenger Dies After Southwest Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing At PHLOfficials say a passenger has died after a Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday morning after a reported engine fire. The plane was flying from LaGuardia Airport in New York to Dallas. The plane landed safely and taxied to a remote area of the runway where passengers were taken off after 11 a.m. Chopper 3 video shows a broken plane window and damage to the left engine of the plane.
LinkSouthwest 737 engine mangled following emergency landingPilots of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 made an emergency landing in Philadelphia on 17 April after encountering significant damage to the aircraft's left-side CFM International CFM56 turbofan. Pictures posted on social media show a badly-mangled engine with an outward-ripped cowling and significant damage to forward area near the fan.
LinkEuropean pilots want better representation as transnational airlines growRepresentatives from the Norwegian, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Irish LCC Ryanair and UK LCC easyJet pilot groups, as well as French, Dutch and Argentinian pilots’ unions, have met to discuss better representation for pilots working for the growing number of transnational airlines in Europe, the European Cockpit Association (ECA) said.
LinkRussia’s Utair operates IrAero’s SSJ100sRussia’s Utair Aviation has begun operating Sukhoi Superjet 100s (SSJ100) aircraft that belong to Irkutsk-based IrAero Airline after forming a mixed cooperative partnership where Utair assumes marketing and financial operations and IrAero supplies flights, staff and technical support under contract on Utair routes.
LinkUS ultra-LCC Allegiant strongly denies ‘unsafe’ allegationsUS ultra-LCC Allegiant Air is pushing back hard against new allegations that it runs an unsafe airline, pointing to changes aimed at improving its operations as evidence. “I am outraged and astounded by the irresponsible, grossly misleading story aired by CBS 60 Minutes,” Allegiant VP-operations Eric Gust said in a statement posted by the airline. “The story is outdated, bears no resemblance to the Allegiant I know, and shows a real troubling misunderstanding of the FAA’s rigorous oversight of Allegiant and all US airlines.”
LinkEmirates braces for ‘more pressure’ from low-cost, long-haul carriersEmirates Airline is “expecting more pressure” from the new breed of low-cost, long-haul carriers, the Dubai-based airline’s president Tim Clark said.
LinkRolls engine blade fault severely curtails 787 ETOPSSignificantly reduced ETOPS and performance limits plus a new set of mandatory inspections for operators of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Package C-powered Boeing 787s are set to cause further disruption to a fleet already under strain from earlier problems and replacements.
LinkFAA limits ETOPS flights for certain R-R-powered 787sThe US Federal Aviation Administration will limit a fleet of Boeing 787-8s and -9s powered by certain Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines from flying on extended operations (ETOPS) routes longer than 140min flight time from the closest diversion airport. An airworthiness directive will be published on 17 April in response to “several engine failures of Trent 1000 Package C engines”, the FAA says in a notice published on 16 April.
LinkPAL to take 21 new aircraft by 2019, eyes secondary hub growthPhilippine Airlines (PAL) will receive a total of 21 new aircraft by 2019, which will be used to boost its secondary hub operations of Cebu, Clark, and Davao. The carrier says it will take 15 aircraft in 2018, comprising six Airbus A321neos, four A350-900s, and five Bombardier Q400s. An additional six aircraft, comprising two A321neos, two A350s, and two Q400s will arrive in 2019.
LinkFernandes calls A350 too expensive for AirAsia XAirAsia X group co-chief executive Tony Fernandes has thrown the carrier's order for 10 Airbus A350-900s into doubt. Speaking in a Facebook video he says, "The A350 is not an aircraft we will buy. Too expensive. Fares would go up."
LinkBA puts first A320neo into serviceBritish Airways has put its first Airbus A320neo into service with a flight to the Portuguese capital Lisbon. The UK flag-carrier conducted the flight on 15 April having received the CFM International Leap-powered aircraft five days earlier.
LinkVolocopter explains urban mobility concept in new videoGerman urban air mobility pioneer Volocopter has released new details of a vision for a future network of hubs and ports for air taxis that mainly relies on re-using existing infrastructure to reduce upfront capital costs and ease the path to airspace integration over gridlocked city streets.
LinkJASSM-ER makes combat debut against Syrian chemical weapons facilitiesUS, French and British aircraft fired several cruise missiles at chemical weapons research and production facilities in Syria on 13 April, with the action including the combat debut of the Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended-Range (JASSM-ER). After taking off from a base in Qatar, two Boeing B-1B bombers released 19 JASSM-ER weapons. The stealthy cruise missile boasts a range of greater than 430nm (800km). The extended-range version of JASSM was introduced into service with the US Air Force in 2014, but had not been used in combat before. The missiles were likely launched outside of Syrian airspace. The B-1B has a payload of 34,000kg (75,000lb) and can carry up to 24 cruise missiles.
LinkSikorsky pressing on with S-97 in pursuit of Army scout replacementAccording to test pilot lore, when Sikorsky tried flying its first advancing blade concept on the experimental S-69 rotorcraft – a system with two stacked blades rotating in opposite directions– the machine jackhammered so roughly that it rattled loose a gold crown in the pilot’s mouth.
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