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LOT cites 'central hydraulic system failure' in Warsaw gear-up landing
LOT Polish Airlines has confirmed that one of its Boeing 767-300ERs today carried out an emergency landing at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport. Flight LO 016, en route from New York Newark to Warsaw, was carrying 220 passengers and 11 crew members, all of whom were safely evacuated, said LOT. "After noticing a central hydraulic system failure the standard procedure for emergency landings at Warsaw airport were implemented," said the carrier.
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China launches capsule to test docking tech
China has launched a Shenzhou 8 from the Jiuquan launch site in western China. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the already-orbiting Tiangong laboratory, a major checkpoint for China's rapidly-developing space program. The Shenzhou capsule was launched by a Long March 2-F in the early morning of 31 October. The capsule, which is capable of carrying three taikonauts, as Chinese astronauts are known, was launched unmanned. Several scientific experiments are aboard the capsule from research institutions in China and Germany.
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FAA mandates Rolls-Royce AE3007 compressor checks
Operators of an estimated 616 US-registered aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce AE3007 engines will be required to perform initial and recurring compressor checks on the turbofans to prevent possible uncontained engine failures under an airworthiness directive (AD) to be issued by the US FAA on 2 November. Along with a variety of business jets and military aircraft, the AE3007 powers the Embraer ERJ-135/140/145 twinjet family.
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Cessna, Gulfstream fates illustrate disparate market
Although Cessna and Gulfstream both showed positive performance in third-quarter financial reports, the difference in book-to-fill ratios and backlog for the two airframers points to a continued deep divide in the market. Whereas Gulfstream's large cabin aircraft backlog continues to be in what company officials consider the sweet spot of 18-24 months, Cessna, which specialises in the light to midsize business jet segment, is working quarter to quarter.
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DoD slashes F-35 orders to pay for cost overruns
The US Department of Defense will buy five fewer Lockheed Martin F-35s in the next yearly production contract and use the savings to cover the government's share of rising costs for manufacturing delays and development mistakes. Orders for the fifth lot of low-rate initial production (LRIP-V) will be cut to 30 F-35s, or two fewer than awarded in the previous year, according to the programme office. The cuts will reduce orders for the US Air Force's conventional take-off and landing F-35A and the US Navy's F-35C carrier variant, but leave the US Marine Corps' order for three short take-off and vertical landing F-35Bs unchanged.
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Russian airlines traffic grows by 12.8%
Russian airlines carried 49.37 million passengers from January to September this year, up 12.8% compared to the same period last year, according to figures published by Rosaviatsia—Russia’s Dept. of Aviation/Ministry of Transport. The growth is slower than the year-ago period when the number of passengers carried increased by 27.4% as Russian airlines were recovering from a substantial crisis drop in 2009.
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Qantas: Alleged sabotage led to grounding
Qantas (QF) confirmed to ATW that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) is investigating the alleged sabotage of one of its 265-seat Boeing 767s in Brisbane Oct. 26 while the aircraft was undergoing upgrade work. The airline is tight-lipped on the details but ATW understands that after engineers returned from a lunch break they noticed several wires were cut on an inflight entertainment system. Further investigation by the engineers revealed more severed wires had been covered up.
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China Eastern, Hainan Airlines report 3Q profit increases
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines (MU) and Hainan Airlines (HU) reported third-quarter profit increases owing to the continuous robust growth of domestic market demand. MU posted a third-quarter net income of CNY3.31 billion ($523 million), up 4.9% over a net profit of CNY3.16 billion in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue climbed 12% to CNY24. 45 billion while operating expenses rose 13.6% to CNY21.27 billion.
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IAG Seen As Frontrunner As bmi Deal Nears
Lufthansa is set to enter exclusive talks to sell loss-making carrier bmi by the end of the month, with arch rival IAG, the owner of British Airways and Iberia, seen as the front-runner, sources said on Tuesday.
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Qantas To Cut Fares To Win Back Passengers
Australia's Qantas Airways plans to cut fares and launch an advertising blitz to win back passengers, a newspaper said, after its showdown with unions caused international travel chaos and left almost 70,000 stranded.
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Aeromexico, Delta joint venture to expand MRO facility
Aeromexico plans to expand its maintenance, repair and overhaul operations in Guadalajara, Mexico, through a joint venture with Delta Air Lines. The expanded MRO facility will allow the Mexican carrier to include maintenance of regional jets for both Aeromexico and Delta. Aeromexico CEO Andres Conesa said the company plans to invest up to $35 million in the expansion.
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American Airlines takes steps to ease wave of pilot retirements
The number of pilots retiring at American Airlines slowed in October to 68. In the previous two months, more than 100 pilots retired each month due to a retirement plan provision tied to the stock market. "A number of steps have been taken over the last few months to mitigate staffing shortages as a result of the higher pilot retirements in September and October," said Missy Cousino, a spokeswoman for American.
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DOT investigates tarmac delays at Bradley
The Department of Transportation is investigating incidents where flights had extended tarmac delays this past weekend at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. DOT will include in its review "equipment performance" because the Port Authority of N.Y. and N.J. described "intermittent problems with the FAA’s ground-based air traffic control systems" during the period. Passenger rights activist Kate Hanni said airports are not fined for tarmac delays. "The problem here is that the airports are not subject to potential fines and have not kept their word," Hanni said. DOT responded that it regulates airlines, but doesn't have the same authority for airports.
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UPS Airlines to recall some laid-off mechanics to work
United Parcel Service has reached an agreement with the union representing aircraft maintenance technicians and other employees to return some laid-off employees to work. Mike Mangeot, manager of public relations for UPS Airlines, said the mechanics brought back will primarily fill in for employees on disability or leave. "This is a temporary situation; we are not bringing back any of our laid-off mechanics on a permanent basis," he said.
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Continental prepares pilot training for 787 arrival
Continental Airlines anticipates the arrival of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the second half of next year, and the unit of United Continental has been preparing pilot training for the lightweight aircraft. The flight deck of the 787 is similar to the 777, but the aircraft includes new technology such as a head-up display to help pilots navigate in poor weather.
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Bill would protect U.S. airlines from "unjust" EU plan, lawmaker says
The House of Representatives passed a bill prohibiting U.S. airlines from participating in the European Union's emissions-trading scheme. "[T]his bill will protect U.S. airlines and all Americans who rely on them for travel and employment from the unjust effects of the EU's plan," said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va.
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ATA campaigns against airline taxes with "barf bags"
The Air Transport Association passed out "barf bags" to protest aviation taxes at the Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., as part of the ATA's Stop Air Tax Now campaign. "To demonstrate that taxes are making people sick, the ATA will be distributing air-sickness bags at Reagan Washington National Airport to airline customers and employees, reinforcing that new taxes will increase costs and reduce service," said the ATA.
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Report criticizes TSA assessment of foreign airports
A recent government report found that the Transportation Security Administration is not properly evaluating security risks at non-U.S. airports. The Government Accountability Office said the TSA last year found non-compliance issues at a number of airports inspected but had no consistent way to compare or assess the level of risk. "TSA has not yet taken steps to evaluate its assessment results to identify regional and other trends over time," the report said. "The agency has not developed criteria and guidance for determining foreign airport vulnerability ratings."
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United starts testing of iPads to replace flight manuals
United Airlines is testing iPads for use in the cockpit to replace paper flight manuals. "The time is right to do this with new technology," said Capt. Joe Burns, United Airlines' managing director of technology and flight test. The tablet devices weigh 1.5 pounds, while paper flight manuals and navigation charts can weigh up to 40 pounds.
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Other News

Singapore Airlines (SQ) has revealed its new long-haul, low-cost carrier (LCC) will be named “Scoot” and will operate four Boeing 777-200s to be purchased from the parent company. Scoot will start services in mid-2012 with fares up to 40% below legacy carriers. It will operate from SingaporeChangi Airport(SIN) Terminal 2, not the low-cost terminal, and will offer two cabins. Seats, cabin features and offerings are still being evaluated.

LOT Polish Airlines (LO) Boeing 767 originating from Newark made an emergency landing Tuesday at Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW) following a central hydraulic system failure. None of the 220 passengers and 11 crew onboard were injured, LO confirmed. According to multiple news outlets, the aircraft’s landing gear failed to open.

Ryanair (FR) will set up a base at Karlsruhe Baden-Baden (FKB) in March with two Boeing 737-800s, despite its strong criticism of the German government’s eco-tax. FR will also launch seven new routes from/to Faro, Malaga, Palma, Riga, Thessaloniki, Vilnius and Zadar, bringing the LCC’s FKB routes next summer to 19. FR said it expects to carry 800,000 passengers per year through the new German base.

Kenya Airways (KQ) posted a strong year-on-year 18.2% increase in passengers carried to 1 million in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30. Traffic jumped 14.8% on the year-ago period to 2.83 billion RPKs on a much lower increase of 7.3% in capacity to 3.64 billion ASKs, resulting in a 5.1 points rise of the average cabin factor to 77.8%. Cargo carried was up 13.5% to 16,021 tonnes, reflecting “an improved business environment and increased sales efforts,” the Nairobi-based SkyTeam member said.

ARINC completed the installation of 189 new self-service passenger kiosks at London Heathrow Airport in Terminals 1, 3 and 4. It upgraded and gradually replaced an older generation of kiosks with new IBM A2 Series kiosks. Separately, it announced it will host its airline check-in solution, vMUSE Enterprise on the Enterprise Cloud, delivered by Terremark, a Verizon subsidiary, under a five-year service agreement. Amadeus extended its full-content agreement with American Airlines.

Baltic Aviation Academy has added Airbus A330 and A340 type rating trainings to its list of training programs.

Thales UK received a contract from British Airways (BA) to supply one Airbus A380 full-flight simulator. It will be delivered to the BA Flight Training Center in January 2013, initially used to provide advance training for BA pilots and aircrew.



AVIATION QUOTE

I have a feeling that there is just about one more good flight left in my system and I hope this trip is it. Anyway when I have finished this job, I mean to give up long-distance "stunt" flying.

— Amelia Earhart, departing from Los Angeles, California, for Florida on 21 May 1937. Start of her last flight.



ON THIS DATE

November 2nd

---In 1931... The USS Akron, a purpose-built aircraft-carrying airship, is commissioned.

---In 1947…First flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules ("Spruce Goose").

---In 1954…the VTOL Convair XFY transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back.

---In 1964… A U.S. Air Force HH-43F helicopter conducts the first night resuce by the Air Force's Air-Sea Rescue Service in Southeast Asia.

---In 1992…First flight of the Airbus A330-300.

---In 1995…First flight of the Fokker F60.



DAILY VIDEO





EDITOR’S CHOICE


Image © 2011, Dave Henderson



HUMOR

Landing Gear

747 on final approach at 1000' off the deck. First Officer says to Captain "Are you happy with the position of the landing gear, sir?"
Captain reaches down, lowers the gear and lands safely.



TRIVIA

Nose Views

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.

1. Convair B-58 Hustler
4. F4U Corsair

1. B-58 Hustler

2. A-4 Skyhawk

3. (E?)F-111

4. F-4U Corsair

5. ???

5. Gloucester Meteor

Edited to add question number...duh!

1. B-58 Hustler
2. A-4 Skyhawk
3. EF-111 Raven
4. F-4U Corsair
5. Gloster Meteor