NewsCommercial
Boeing wins $7.7B order from Hainan Airlines
Hainan Airlines Co Ltd, China's fourth-largest airline in fleet size, said on Wednesday it plans to order 30 Boeing Co 787-9 airplanes, valued at $7.7 billion at list prices. The order would boost Boeing's 787 program backlog to 855 planes, and represents the biggest order this year for the jet.
LinkAirlines
American Airlines is building new operations center at HQ
American Airlines said it plans to revamp its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, rather than move to another location. The airline is building a new integrated operations center on its 1.4 million-square-foot campus to house additional employees relocating to Fort Worth.
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Co-pilot 'intentionally' crashed Germanwings A320: Lufthansa CEO
Lufthansa Group chief executive Carsten Spohr has acknowledged that the Germanwings Airbus A320 lost over the French Alps on 24 March appears to have been deliberately crashed by the co-pilot. Based on revelations from the cockpit voice recorder, "the aircraft seems to have been intentionally brought to a crash" by the first officer, said Spohr during a press conference in Cologne today. After the captain left the flightdeck to go to the lavatory, "it appears the first officer did not enable him [the captain] to re-enter the cockpit to initiate the fatal descent into the Alps", says Spohr.
Link
Co-pilot initiated Germanwings A320's descent: French prosecutor
Marseille's public prosecutor has confirmed that the co-pilot of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed on 24 March was alone in the cockpit throughout the aircraft's descent. The cockpit voice recorder has revealed that the co-pilot initiated the descent from cruising altitude after the captain had left the cockpit, Brice Robin said today during a press conference which was broadcast, with translation, by German television network ARD.
Link
Germanwings pilot ordered jet down to 100 feet, trackers say
The autopilot on the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday was switched to descend to 100 feet, its lowest possible setting, before it began its fatal plunge, according to data from a specialist aviation tracking service. French prosecutors say 28-year-old German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked himself in the cockpit and adjusted the altitude setting on the Airbus A320, sending it plunging from its cruise altitude of 38,000 feet at a rate of 3,000 feet a minute.
Link
Norwegian moves to keep two crew in cockpit at all times
European low-cost carrier Norwegian is to change its procedures so that two crew members are always present in the cockpit in light of today's developments appearing to show the Germanwings Airbus A320 lost over the French Alps on 24 March was deliberately crashed by the co-pilot. Based on the cockpit voice recording recovered from the crashed aircraft, the French public prosecutor today revealed that the co-pilot initiated the descent from cruising altitude after the captain had left the cockpit, adding that the altitude change could not have happened unintentionally.
Link
Guadalajara-Houston, New Service for Volaris
Volaris, the ultra-low cost airline operating the most extensive domestic route network servicing the US and Mexico, today inaugurated new international service between the cities of Guadalajara, Jalisco and Houston, Texas with flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
Link
Airports
Las Vegas airport reports busy Feb.
McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas served 3.2 million passengers in February, a 2.9% increase on a year-over-year basis. During the month of February, international traffic rose 7.1% while domestic traffic rose 2.9%.
Link
Philadelphia airport to expand runway
The Philadelphia International Airport plans to expand one runway lane by 1,500 feet to serve larger aircraft. "What we anticipate is that this will allow us to attract new routes to further destinations because it will accommodate planes that carry heavier loads of fuel," said Mary Flannery, airport spokeswoman.
LinkMilitary
Saudi begins air strike campaign in Yemen
A Saudi-led coalition has begun a campaign of air strikes against the Houthi militant group that is maintaining a stronghold within Yemen and is trying to overpower the Yemeni government after forcing president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi into exile. Under Operation “Decisive Storm”, Saudi Arabia led the 10-strong coalition into neighbouring Yemen – the air space of which is currently controlled by Riyadh – on the morning of 26 March.
Link
Aviation Quote
In order to invent the airplane you must have at least a thousand years' experience dreaming of angels.
— Arnold Rockman
On This Date
---In 1907... Romanian Trajan Vuia begins tests of his airplane, newly fitted with steering surfaces. He makes a short flight of 33 feet in Paris, France.
---In 1927... Young American airmail pilot Charles A. Lindbergh registers his entry in the Raymond Orteig challenge for the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo. The challenge and a $25,000 prize, has been issued in 1920, but no one has so far been successful in making the flight.
---In 1931…TWA Flight 599, a Fokker F-10 (NC-999) crashes in Chase County, Kansas, killing all 8 aboard. The wood laminate construction of the aircraft became weak over time until a wing spar failed and separated from the aircraft. This brought upon the very first every grounding of an aircraft type.
---In 1945…The final V-2 missile to hit England falls in Kent.
---In 1946... An air agreement is signed by France and the US giving Air France the right to serve the cities of Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
---In 1951…A Douglas Dakota DC-3, being operated by Air Transport Charter crashes shortly after takeoff from Runway Airport in Manchester, England. Ice forms on the carburetor after the Captain fails to properly use the heat controls, making the engines unable to gain enough power to climb. Of the 6 aboard, 4 die.
---In 1962…A Cubana de Aviacion Ilyushin IL-14 (CU-T819) crashes into the sea about a mile from Santiago, Cuba, killing all 22 aboard.
--- In 1968... Yuri Gagarin, in April 1961 first man in space, is killed in the crash of a MiG-15UTI trainer near the Soviet capital Moscow.
---In 1969…Mariner 7, one of two robotic probes sent to inspect Mars’ atmosphere and ice caps, launches.
---In 1972… Venera 8 USSR Venus Lander launched.
---In 1975…First flight of the de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7.
---In 1977…The Tenerife Disaster, the deadliest plane crash in history, takes place on a foggy day at Tenerife North Airport (then known as Los Rodeos Airport). Several aircraft, including a KLM Boeing 747-200 (PH-BUF) and Pan Am Boeing 747-100 (N736PA “Clipper Victor”), divert to Tenerife because of a bombing at their original destination, Las Palmas Airport in Gran Canaria, Spain. Tenerife, being a small airport with only one runway and taxiway, requires that the 5 or so diversions park on the taxiway, and then back-taxi and turn around on the runway when it came time to depart. The KLM aircraft taxied into takeoff position while the Pan Am taxied down the runway from the other end, but they are not visible due to each other due to the very dense fog. The KLM Captain either misunderstands ATC or decides on his own, commences takeoff. Only in the final moments do they realize they are on a collision course. The Pan Am attempts to vacate the runway unsuccessfully as the KLM rotates early, dragging its tail, but the belly of the KLM 747 rips into the main cabin and its right engines go right through the upper deck of the Pan Am aircraft. The KLM continues almost a quarter-mile before bursting into flames with its full fuel tanks. All 248 aboard the KLM aircraft perish and there are only 61 survivors among the 335 Pan Am occupants…a total death toll of 583.
---In 1984... British Airways inaugurates a Concorde service from London to Miami twice weekly. The service operates through Washington-Dulles, necessitating a 50-minute stopover. The overall trip lasts 6 hours 35 minutes, a saving approximately 2.5 hours over the direct flight by subsonic airliners. The round-trip fare is quoted a £2,509.
---In 1990…An Uzbek Civil Aviation Administration Ilyushin IL-76D (CCCP-78781) stalls on final and crashes before reaching Kabul, Afghanistan. All 11 aboard are killed.
---In 1990…An Angolan Government CASA C-212 Aviocar 300 is shot down near Kuito, Angola by UNITA forces, killing all 25 on-board.
----In 1994…The Eurofighter Typhoon, a twin-engine fighter designed by Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems and EADS, makes its maiden flight.
---In 1999…A Soviet anti-aircraft missile(SA-2 Guideline) takes down an F-117 Nighthawk in the Kosovo War for the first and only time thus far in its career.
---In 2004… NASA's X-43 pilotless plane breaks world speed record for an atmospheric engine by briefly flying at 7,700 kilometers (4,780 miles) per hour (seven times the speed of sound).
---In 2007…The last Airbus A300 leaves the Airbus assembly line.
---In 2012…Aboard JetBlue Airways Flight 191, an Airbus A320-200 flying from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, New York, to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, the copilot locks Captain Clayton Osbon out of the cockpit after Osbon begins acting erratically, apparently suffering from a panic attack. Passengers subdue Osbon, and the airliner diverts to Amarillo, Texas, where Osbon is arrested.
---In 2013…World Airways ceases operations.
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Editor’s Choice
Trivia
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halls120 wrote:4. Old IAD (missing new 4th runway)
vikkyvik wrote:7. MKE (not BOS)
