News
Voyager fuel costs, A400M levy top UK MoD overspend
Increased costs linked to the Royal Air Force's Airbus A330-based Voyager and Airbus Military A400M acquisitions contributed to a combined £468 million ($750 million) jump in the forecast price tag for the UK's top 16 defence programs during 2012, the government's National Audit Office (NAO) spending watchdog says. Detailing the performance of the Ministry of Defence's procurement activities in its annual Major Projects Report, the NAO outlines an overall £257 million increase in the expected bill for its Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) deal with the AirTanker consortium.
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P&W secures $300m deal to support South Korean F100 engines
Pratt & Whitney has secured a $300 million contract to support the F100 engines that power South Korea's Lockheed Martin F-16 and Boeing F-15 fighter aircraft. "This five-year parts and repair services programme covers over 230 engines," says P&W. "Under the terms of the [performance based logistics contract], P&W will provide key support for the F100 engines in the intermediate engine shops and at the depot level."
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Boeing's Chief Engineer Defends 787
Boeing rolled out the 787 Dreamliner's chief engineer to try to quell concerns about the new jet following three mishaps in as many days, including an electrical fire that caused severe damage to a plane. At a news conference on Wednesday, the engineer, Mike Sinnett, defended the 787, the world's first composite plane, and said its problem rates are at about the same level as Boeing's successful 777 jet.
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Qatar Airways Chief Dismisses 787 Concerns
Qatar Airways' chief executive played down safety concerns over Boeing's 787 Dreamliner on Wednesday, dismissing a series of recent incidents involving the plane as "teething problems" and saying he had no plans to cancel orders. "Of course there will be teething problems from time to time, but this is foreseen with any new aircraft," Akbar al-Baker told reporters at an event in Doha on Wednesday.
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Dubai Economy Bets On A380 Air Travel Boom
With the opening of a huge new airport terminal in Dubai this week, the wealthy emirate's economic future became more closely intertwined with the world's biggest passenger jet. Emirates, Dubai's state-owned flag carrier, began flying from the world's first airport terminal that was purpose-built to handle Airbus A380 superjumbos.
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US FCC To Push For Faster Wi-Fi At Airports
US telecommunications regulators are planning a push to increase Wi-Fi speed in airports and other major hubs where download speeds can slow to a crawl. Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday that the agency planned to free up unlicensed spectrum in the 5 gigahertz band in order to improve Wi-Fi service both in terms of speed and capacity.
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Chinese Court Jails Woman For Plane Bomb Hoax
A Chinese court jailed a woman for three years and two months for falsely claiming she would detonate a bomb on a plane flying to Urumqi, the restive capital of Xinjiang region near the Central Asian border, Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday. The 28-year-old woman was found guilty of a terrorist hoax and forging an identity card, after she passed a note to fellow passengers on an October 13, 2011 flight claiming she had the explosive material TNT on the plane, Xinhua said.
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Report: Aircraft financing costs expected to increase
The cost of financing new aircraft purchases is set to increase, according to a report published this week by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). However, it is unclear who will pick up the bill and whether it will have an impact on the cost of travel. The report, Aviation Finance—Fasten your seatbelts, suggests the aviation financing market could be facing radical transformation.
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Middle East Airlines firms order for 10 A320neos
Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) has finalized an order for five Airbus A321neos and five A320neos, a deal first announced in July last year. The original memorandum of understanding, which also included eight options, was signed at the Farnborough Airshow in July. Airbus said the carrier will announce its engine choice at a later date.
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Intersky takes delivery of first ATR 72, eyes regional expansion
Austrian regional carrier Intersky has taken delivery of its first of two 70-seat ATR 72-600s. The regional carrier is the first ATR operator in Austria. The aircraft will be used on routes to key regional destinations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The second ATR 72-600 is scheduled for delivery in March. According to ATR, the aircraft are valued at around $24 million.
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Other News
US Airways will launch daily Charlotte, N.C.-London Heathrow Airbus A330-300 service March 30.
JetBlue Airways will launch 5X-daily Boston-Philadelphia service May 23.
Virgin America will launch 3X-daily service to New YorkNewark from San Francisco and Los Angeles April 2.
Bangkok Airways will launch Bangkok service to Krabi (2X-daily, March 31), Mandalay (4X-weekly, Sept. 16), Trat (3X-daily) and Male (5X-weekly, March 31).
Aviation Quote
Experience is the knowledge that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Anonymous
On This Date
---In 1938... Northwest Airlines Flight 2 crashed near Bozeman, Montana, killing all 10 aboard. The Lockheed 14H Super Electra (registered NC-117388) crashed after the horizontal and vertical stabilizers separated from the aircraft, probably due to excessive turbulence. It was also determined that Lockheed’s initial vibration tests on the aircraft were not performed properly, and all Super Electras were grounded until a fix was made.
---In 1942... The US Army announces the delivery of its first troop-transport gliders.
---In 1946…The unofficial altitude record for a helicopter is made at 21,000ft in a Sikorsky R5.
---In 1946…The US Army's Signal Corps successfully bounces the first radar waves off the Moon.
---In 1954…BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland DH-106 Comet registered G-ALYP, crashes into the Mediterranean Sea, killing all 35 on-board. The aircraft suffered explosive decompression while flying from Rome, Italy to London, England due to premature metal fatigue.
---In 1962…A B-52 Stratofortress sets a new distance record of 12,532 miles on a flight from Okinawa to Madrid.
---In 1967…SR-71 (950), lost during wet runway brake testing at Edwards AFB. Pilot Art Peterson survived. The CIA informs the Department of Defense the A-12s would gradually be placed in storage with the process to be completed by the end of January 1967. This was later changed to allow some operational missions of the A-12 over Southeast Asia. (Q)
---In 1969…Launch of Venera 6 atmospheric probe to Venus. Venera 6 arrived at Venus on May 17, 1969. Along with Venera 5, atmospheric data was returned indicating an atmosphere composed of 93-97% carbon dioxide, 2-5% nitrogen, and less than 4% oxygen. The probe returned data down to within 11 kilometers of surface and was then lost - crushed by the pressure on Venus.
---In 1982... The Gulfstream III Spirit of America sets a round-the-world record for an executive jet of 43 hours, 39 minutes and 6 seconds in Teterboro, New Jersey.
---In 1984…A Balkan Bulgarian Tupolev Tu-134 (registered LZ-TUR) crashes while flying from Berlin to Sofia, Bulgaria. The aircraft struck power lines after descending below the decision altitude.
---In 1990…First flight of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F.
---In 1992…TWA files for bankruptcy for the first time. They would file a second time just a few years later.
---In 1997…1st Comet of 1997 Discovered: Comet 1997 A1.
---In 1998…Soyuz 27 carrying 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station, launched.
---In 2000…Crossair Flight 498 crashes in Niederhasil, Switzerland, killing all 10 aboard. The Saab 340 (registered HB-AKK) lost control about 10 minutes after departure for reasons unknown, though it is speculated that cellphone interference may have been involved.
---In 2011…AirAsia Flight 5218, operated by Airbus A320-216 9M-AHH, sustained substantial damage in a runway excursion accident at Kuching Airport, Malaysia. All 123 passengers and six crew members survived. The Flight from Kuala Lumpur Subang International Airport to Kuching Airport. The flight landed on Kuching's runway 25 in heavy rain around but skidded to the right and went off the side of the runway. It came to rest in the grass with the nose gear dug in or collapsed.
Daily Video
Editor’s Choice
Humor
ATC
Overheard this while on ground control in MIA.
VIRGIN Flt: "Every time I come to MIA you women controllers give us a hard time."
ATC: "For the nine years I have been a controller, I have never had a problem handling a VIRGIN."
Trivia
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miamiair wrote:Editor’s Choice
ANCFlyer wrote:Today's trivia . . . it's not April Fools yet right? LOL
miamiair wrote:I can't be a ball-buster every day...
Braniff747SP wrote:miamiair wrote:I can't be a ball-buster every day...
On that note--do you ever post answers to trivia? I'm curious for the answers for the tail trivia last month.
miamiair wrote:Braniff747SP wrote:miamiair wrote:I can't be a ball-buster every day...
On that note--do you ever post answers to trivia? I'm curious for the answers for the tail trivia last month.
Which day?
