NewsIncidents/Accidents
BREAKING| Ethiopian Boeing 777F catches fire in Shanghai airport
An Ethiopian Airlines 777F caught fire at Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), China.
The last flight of the Boeing 777-F60, registered ET-ARH, was from Brussels Airport (BRU). The plane was scheduled to fly to Sao Paulo-Santiago via Addis Ababa and was in the process of being loaded when the fire erupted.
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Air New Zealand Planes Collide In Hangar
Air New Zealand has said it is investigating after two of its planes crashed in a hangar at Auckland International Airport. A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is thought to have hit a parked Boeing 777-300ER. The incident took place on the morning of July 11th with both aircraft sustaining damage.
LinkCommercial
FAA Ready to Issue NPRM on 737 Max
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for an airworthiness directive (AD) affecting the 737 Max “in the near future,” the agency said in a statement issued Tuesday. The NPRM will provide 45 days for public comment on proposed design changes and crew procedures devised to satisfy safety concerns identified during the investigations following the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents, noted the FAA.
LinkAirlines
Taiwan’s China Airlines to be renamed Taiwan Airlines
Seemingly, the confusing situation of the national flag carrier of Taiwan, China Airlines, might come to an end. Taiwanese legislators voted in favor to rebrand the airline to Taiwan Airlines to better represent it on an international stage.
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Why AA, IAG, Lufthansa, and United want to resume EU-US flights
In an emotional letter addressed to the Vice President of the United States Mike Pence and the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, chief executives of American Airlines, International Airlines Group (IAG; the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and others), Lufthansa, and United Airlines pleaded for a “safe and swift restoration of air travel between the United States and Europe.”
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Qatar Airways demands $5 billion from blockading countries
Qatar Airways has demanded $5 billion from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt as compensation for the blockade they have imposed on the country of Qatar, preventing the carrier from using their airspace.
In June 2017, Qatar was accused by three other Gulf countries as well as Egypt of supporting terrorism. Consequently, its national airline Qatar Airways was blocked from 18 airports in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt, and the planes of the company were forbidden to use the airspace of those countries.
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ANA opens ticket sale for its Airbus A380 test flight
All Nippon Airways is opening its Airbus A380 test flight for the public. ANA will lift the “Flying Honu” superjumbo for a 90-minute soar from Narita to Narita on August 22, 2020.
ANA said it was organizing the charter flight NH2030 in response to customers’ voice, particularly for the people who wanted to experience a sightseeing flight on an Airbus A380, as outlined in the company’s press release on July 22, 2020.
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Downhill journey: United Airlines report record losses of $1.6B
Dark times continue for aviation companies as they find themselves under the heavy financial barrage from the COVID-19 crisis. On July 21, 2020, United Airlines announced the most difficult financial quarter in the company’s 94-year history with a Q2 net loss of $1.6 billion.
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Jet Time files for bankruptcy, owner registers Jettime
Danish airline Jet Time, which has been offering charter and ACMI services since 2006, has filed for bankruptcy at the Copenhagen Court. In an emotional press release the company claims to have been a victim of a lockdown and a lack of government aid.
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Boeing, Etihad Airways to test new tech on 787 Dreamliner
Etihad Airways expects receiving another Boeing 787 aircraft in autumn 2020 ‒ in addition to the 38 it already has in the fleet. But before it enters service with the Gulf carrier, the Dreamliner will first be employed on a special mission.
LinkAirports
Brisbane Airport: The Year In Review
Australia’s third busiest airport has wrapped up the 2019/20 financial year with mixed results. Success attracting new airlines last year and the recent opening of the new multi-billion dollar runway was tempered with a steep decline in traffic. But the airport has its eye on the future and is poised to benefit as Queensland slowly begins to re-open for business again.
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Heathrow Airport to test remote offsite access to electricity network
London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is set to be the subject of a UK Power Networks Services investigation into the creation of remote offsite access for the control and monitoring of its electricity distribution network that meets the airport’s high level security requirements, and allows staff to control the electricity network when access to the airport is restricted.
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UK airports are set to lose £4 billion in 2020
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) has released an analysis of its member airports that shows they are set to lose at least £4 billion in revenue by the end of 2020.
In the first four months of the pandemic – during which passenger numbers fell by up to 99 per cent – UK airports lost just under £2 billion; over £150 million each day.
LinkMilitary
The Blue Angels' New 'Fat Albert' Transport Plane Is Almost Ready for Showtime
The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team is replacing the team’s “Fat Albert” transport plane and the new plane is almost ready to fly home. The ex-Royal Air Force C-130J Super Hercules will replace an older model C-130T as the team’s official chaperone.
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Aviation Quote
Harmony comes gradually to a pilot and his plane. The wing does not want so much to fly true as to tug at the hands that guide it; the ship would rather hunt the wind than lay her nose to the horizon far ahead. She has a derelict quality in her character; she toys with freedom and hints at liberation, but yields her own desires gently.
- Beryl Markham, West With The Night,’1942.
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General Knowledge
1. What is the difference between a squawk and a squit?
2. A pilot preflights his airplane after a clear night and just before sunrise. There is frost on the wings, but no ice or moisture on the ground. How is this possible.
3. During WW2, certain members for the US Army Air Forces referred to other members as their “Little Friends.” Who were their “Little Friends” and who referred to them in that manner?
4. What is the World record for the highest altitude attained by an airplane powered by an air-breathing turbine engine and what was the type of aircraft used?
5. True or false, when a pressurized airplane is in cruise flight, the amount of air entering the cabin is greater tan the amount of air leaving the aircraft.
