NAS Daily 13 MAY 19

airtrainer 12 May 19, 21:16

News

Commercial

US pilots stunned by Ethiopian MAX crash simulator scenario
A simulator session flown by a US-based Boeing 737 MAX crew that mimicked a key portion of the Ethiopian Airlines ET302 crash sequence suggests the Ethiopian crew faced a near-impossible task of getting the aircraft back under control, and underscores the importance of pilots understanding severe runaway trim recovery procedures. Details of the session, shared with ATW, were flown voluntarily as part of routine, recurrent training. Its purpose: practice recovering from a scenario in which ...
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BEA begins new search for key fragment in Air France A380 engine failure
French air accident investigation bureau BEA is gearing up for a new search phase in Greenland, still hoping to find a key fragment of the Air France Airbus A380 engine that lost its fan in flight on Sept. 30, 2017. New sensors and methods have been developed. A go-team is waiting for local weather conditions to improve, a BEA spokesperson said. In addition to BEA—which has been delegated the investigation by Danish authorities—representatives from the US National ...
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UK report calls for passenger protection from airline insolvency
UK airline passengers could be better protected if their airline collapses under proposals set out following a review of airline insolvency commissioned by the Department for Transport in the wake of Monarch Airlines’ 2017 collapse.
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Analysts: Lessors could benefit from Export-Import bank revival
The Trump administration’s decision to put the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) back in business is good news for aviation lessors, according to credit analysts. Johann Juan, director in non-bank financial institutions at Fitch Ratings, said May 8 that in his credit-rating firm’s view, the “Senate confirmation of three new EXIM board of directors is a credit positive for aircraft lessors.” “The confirmations re-establish the quorum necessary to approve long-term ...
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OP-ED: How lower aviation fuel taxes boost local economies
Each year, a handful of cities, counties or states contemplates higher taxes on jet fuel to raise funds for projects that do not benefit the flying public or shippers, such as construction at airports used solely or predominantly by owners and operators of private aircraft.
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FAA urged to address carry-on safety risks during evacuations
The head of a group representing US flight attendants wants the FAA to form a working group to develop solutions that ensure carry-on baggage will not present an obstacle to emergency aircraft evacuations.
The call to address possible safety risks of overhead luggage comes in the aftermath of the May 5 emergency landing of Aeroflot flight SU124, which killed 41 people when a Sukhoi Superjet 100-95 crashed upon landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, 27 min. after taking off for a scheduled flight to Murmansk.
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IAG to seek compensation over additional Trent 1000 checks
IAG is to demand additional compensation from Rolls-Royce over extra maintenance inspections for Trent 1000 TEN engines.
"We are not expecting to see any issues with the engines, but the strict maintenance inspection programme requires us to take the aircraft out of service to complete those checks, and we will be pursuing additional compensation from Rolls," says the airline group's chief executive Willie Walsh.
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Airlines

Pegasus expands network to include Saudi Arabia, Casablanca
Pegasus Airlines is adding the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh and Morocco’s Casablanca to its network as the Turkish LCC continues to expand.
From May 28, Pegasus will fly from the UK’s Manchester and Stansted Airports to Riyadh, its third destination in Saudi Arabia.
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Saudia set for peak summer season operations
Saudi Airlines (Saudia) said it is gearing up for the summer peak season, which is set to be the largest operations in its history.
Saudia will offer more than 16.8 million seats on 77,000 flights during the four-month period. These include more than 7.7 million seats on 44,246 domestic flights and more than 9.3 million seats on 33,000 flights to 70 international destinations.
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IAG’s Level to start Paris-Las Vegas service
International Airlines Group’s (IAG) low-cost, long-haul carrier Level will launch twice-weekly service between Paris Orly (France) and Las Vegas, Nevada, from Oct. 30, becoming the first airline to operate direct service between the two cities.
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Air Italy expands North Atlantic network with Toronto services
Air Italy launched 6X-weekly Milan Malpensa-Toronto Pearson International Airport services on May 6. The seasonal services will operate until Oct. 25.
Toronto became the carrier’s fifth North American destination and is the third new service planned for 2019 after the April launch of Los Angeles and San Francisco (California) services.
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Allegiant’s move to All-Airbus fleet paying off
Allegiant Air’s fast-tracked shift to an all-Airbus fleet is paying dividends, according to numbers from its first full quarter since it parked its last McDonnell Douglas MD-80.
Despite seeing its average fleet size drop to 80 from 91 year-over-year, Nevada-based LCC Allegiant’s first-quarter metrics included a 4.8% increase in total departures and a 17% increase in aircraft utilization.
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PICTURES: Myanmar National E190 lands without nose-gear
A Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) Embraer 190 regional jet has been forced to make an emergency landing without its nose-gear in Mandalay.
Video on social media shows the aircraft, which bears registration XY-AGQ and has serial number 19000231, approach and then land without its nose-gear deployed. Apart from sparks and smoke caused by friction, there was no fire.
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Latest Emirates fleet plan completely omits 787-10s
Emirates Group’s newly-released annual report lists 234 future aircraft deliveries, but makes no mention of the Boeing 787-10s for which Emirates signed in 2017.
These 234 aircraft comprise 40 Airbus A330-900s and 30 A350-900s – a commitment disclosed in February this year – plus 14 remaining A380s and 150 Boeing 777X twinjets.
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PICTURES: Fuel truck hits Jazz Dash 8 in Toronto
Several people were hospitalised after fuel truck struck a Jazz Aviation Bombardier Dash 8-300 at Toronto Pearson International airport early on 10 May.
The aircraft involved in the incident took off from Toronto as flight 8615 but returned to Toronto due to poor weather at its destination of Sudbury.
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Etihad prepared to reinvest in a restructured Jet
Etihad Airways has flagged its willingness to commit fresh capital in order to remain a minority shareholder in a restructured Jet Airways.
The UAE flag carrier says that "subject to conditions" it would be prepared to "reinvest" in Jet, in which it holds a 24% stake.
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Four more Jet Airways 737s to be deregistered
Jet Airways’ fleet continues to dwindle, with ALAFCO, GECAS and Saroja Aviation submitting applications to deregister three Boeing 737-800s and one -900ER between them.
ALAFCO has requested the deregistration of 737-800s bearing MSNs 39066 and 39065, which are both mortgaged to Nord LB, records from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation show.
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Military

Boeing kicks off design work for EA-18G upgrade
Boeing has started design work to upgrade the US Navy’s (USN) fleet of EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
The upgraded aircraft will be designated Growler Block II and include features already on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, such as the advanced cockpit system and conformal fuel tanks. It will include improved sensors and an upgraded electronic attack package.
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Qatar gains approval for repeat Apache purchase
Qatar could be set to double the strength of its incoming fleet of Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, with the US Department of State having approved a potential 24-unit follow-on buy worth $3 billion.
Doha has already ordered 24 Apaches, with Cirium's Fleets Analyzer showing that the first three of these were delivered earlier this year.
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DARPA cancels ARES cargo drone project with Lockheed Martin
The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) canceled its ARES research programme with Lockheed Martin and Piasecki Aircraft due to cost.
The project was aimed at developing a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft with twin, tilting ducted fans for hauling military cargo. ARES, which stands for Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System, was supposed to deliver and retrieve detachable payloads, including cargo boxes, pods for evacuating injured soldiers, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors.
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Aviation Quote

Concorde is like a great wine; you dream of it beforehand, you savor it while drinking, and remember it for the rest of your life.

- Philippe Faure-Brac, voted world's best wine steward, 1992.