NAS Daily 13 AUG 20

airtrainer 12 Aug 20, 20:46

News

Accidents/Incidents

Jet2 Boeing 757 Burns Fuel Over Manchester Following Bird Strike
A Boeing 757-200 belonging to budget carrier Jet2 suffered a bird strike today, August 10th. The aircraft had just taken off from Manchester Airport when the incident occurred. The crew then made the decision to return to Manchester but needed to burn excess fuel before landing.
Link

American Eagle Embraer E145 Evacuated On Roanoke Runway
A runway at Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport was briefly closed this morning, following the evacuation of an American Eagle Embraer E145. The aircraft was evacuated following the sighting of smoke in the cockpit. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.
Link

Air New Zealand Airbus A320 Diverts After Suffering Lightning Strike
An Air New Zealand flight was diverted last week after being hit by lightning shortly after takeoff. The flight, which departed from Auckland on August 8th, was bound for Queenstown. The aircraft was diverted to Christchurch, where the plane was assessed for damage. Passengers were put onto an alternative service, which delayed the passengers’ arrival into Queenstown by 75 minutes.
Link

Breaking: United Airlines Boeing 787 Evacuated In Newark Over Bomb Threat
Breaking news coming out of Newark as a United Airlines Boeing 787 was evacuated after a bomb threat. After arrival at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), the aircraft was seen surrounded by various buses and emergency equipment while passengers were disembarked using airstairs.
Link

Brussels Airlines Airbus A320 Returns To Airport Over Hydraulic Issue
A Brussels Airlines Airbus A320-200 returned to Brussels Airport (BRU) after declaring a PAN PAN emergency en route to the Costa del Sol on August 7. The aircraft was cruising at an altitude of 39,000 feet about 20 nautical miles west of Limoges, France, when the pilots noticed a problem with the hydraulics.
Link

An Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet Was Returned To Service Improperly
Preparing an aircraft for long-term storage is a multi-step process that involves activities such as sealing any valves, ports, and openings around the jet, among many other procedures. Returning the aircraft to service is just as complex, as all the work ensuring its preservation must be undone. It seems as though some technicians at Aeroflot weren’t as thorough with a Sukhoi Superjet as they should have been.
Link

American Airlines A321 Loses Wing Part
An American Airlines flight landing in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been temporarily taken out of service after an inspection revealed that a rivet was missing from one of the wing slats. The Airbus A321-200 completed its flight on August 10th without incident, and the missing part was only discovered after it landed. The plane was taken out of service and remained grounded for over 12 hours after the discovery.
Link

Two HK Express A321s collide in Hong Kong airport
Two non-operating aircraft belonging to Cathay Pacific subsidiary Hong Kong Express (HK Express) collided in Hong Kong International Airport (HKG).
On August 12, 2020, police received a call from the airport after the incident between two Airbus A321s on the west apron.
Link

Thai Fokker F-27 performs emergency nosegear-up landing [Video]
After failing to deploy its landing gear, a Fokker F-27 Friendship 200 maritime patrol plane of the Royal Thai Navy performed a nosegear-up landing at Narathiwat Airport, Thailand.
Link

Commercial

Cancellations persit as 737 MAX ungrounding nears
43 Boeing 737 MAX airplane orders were cancelled and 9 additional ones removed from the backlog. Boeing registered no new orders in July, bringing this year’s total cancellations to 416, or 864 including the ones removed by the company due to uncertainty.
Link

Only 7% Of The World's Airbus A380s Are Currently Operational
The Airbus A380 is arguably one of the most significant casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic as far as aviation is concerned. At the height of the crisis, fewer Airbus A380s were flying than Boeing 737-200s. However, as the global recovery slowly gathers steam, just how much of the world’s fleet is flying? Simple Flying browsed the data from FlightRadar24.com to find out.
Link

Why The Boeing 757 Can't Dump Fuel
We’ve all seen situations where aircraft have to dump fuel before returning to an airport. You might assume its something all aircraft types can do. But that isn’t the case. Several types of aircraft cannot dump fuel, including the Boeing 757. Why? The reason is simple.
Link

Airlines

Icelandair, Boeing settle on “substantial” 737 MAX compensation
Icelandair says it has reached a settlement with Boeing over the ongoing grounding of the 737 MAX aircraft. Besides compensation, the flag carrier of Iceland seems to have used the opportunity to rethink its future MAX fleet as well.
Link

Air Arabia’s 2020 loses reach $46 million
Air Arabia said it witnessed the full impact of the global COVID-19 pandemics within the past three months, as the losses in the second quarter dragged its balance sheet to red. The Middle Eastern low cost carrier revealed a net loss of $46 million (AED 169 million) in the first half of 2020.
Link

European Airlines Return To Miami International Airport
Business is picking up at Miami International Airport following the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the airlines resuming flights to the airport are key European operators.
Link

LOT Polish Cancels Flights To Eastern Europe As Ban Extended
LOT Polish Airlines, the flag carrier of Poland, has cancelled a whole range of its services following the planned decision by Poland to extend its ban on international flights until 25th August. The ban could cover a total of 45 countries, some of which are important markets for LOT Polish Airlines.
Link

British Airways Explores Optional Pre-Flight COVID-19 Tests
British Airways is exploring the possibility of launching a pre-flight COVID-19 testing service. The airline is looking to roll out the voluntary service to help passengers who may be traveling to destinations where testing is mandatory, such as the United Arab Emirates.
Link

Promising Signs: BA’s Entire A380 Fleet Has Undergone Maintenance
Over the past month, British Airways has been flying its fleet of Airbus A380s to London Heathrow one-by-one. The flights were undertaken to take the aircraft for maintenance visits. Now, the entire fleet has been back to its London Heathrow home.
Link

Cathay Pacific In Advanced Stages Of Boeing 777X Deferral Talks
Cathay Pacific is in advanced stages of talks with Boeing to defer deliveries of 21 777-9s. The aircraft are currently scheduled for delivery in 2022 and beyond, following delays to the 777X program. Cathay has already reached agreements with Airbus to push back deliveries and reported a loss of $1.26 billion for the first half of 2020.
Link

American Airlines Waives Change Fees Until 2021
Demand for travel in the United States continues to stagnate at historically low levels. That’s seen many airlines become more flexible with their ticketing rules. American Airlines is no exception. Yesterday the Dallas-based airline announced it would waive change fees for travel through to the start of 2021. Best of all, it opens up an interesting loophole.
Link

Airports

Runway renovation at Kuala Lumpur International Airport completed
Malaysia Airports has announced that the third runway (Runway 3) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) is now fully rehabilitated after undergoing comprehensive maintenance works under the KUL Runway Sustainability Master Plan. The masterplan is a vital framework in ensuring the continuous safety of flight operations at KUL.
Link

Istanbul Airport first to achieve ACI Airport Health Accreditation
ACI World and EUROPE have announced Istanbul Airport as the first airport to be accredited through the new Airport Health Accreditation programme.
Link

Finavia reopens three additional airports for operation following COVID-19 closure
Finavia has announced that Ivalo Airport (IVL), Kittilä Airport (KTT) and Kuusamo Airport (KAO) are welcoming passengers once again following their closure as a result of a drastic drop in passenger numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020, Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP) is also planning on reopening its doors, as flights are planned to continue.
Link

Military

Russian air force to receive long-range combat drones in 2021
2021 will see the first long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of carrying precision munitions delivered to the Russian Air Force, commander-in-chief lieutenant general Sergei Dronov confirmed.
The date and plans, first hinted at by the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace forces colonel general Sergei Surovkin back in May 2020, were laid out in Dronov’s interview to Krasnaya Zvezda, the newspaper of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Link

EA-18 Growler completes maiden flight with Next-Gen Jammer pods
The Naval Air System’s Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) initial mission system flight onboard the electronic attack aircraft EA-18 Growler on August 7, 2020, was reported by the U.S. Navy as successful.
“We witnessed a successful first flight with the NGJ-MB capability fully integrated onto the EA-18G Growler, validating the last four years of development and the extensive efforts of these last several months in preparation. I’m extremely proud of the entire Government and industry team,” said AEA Systems (PMA-234) program manager Captain Michael Orr.
Link

Russian MiG-31 fighters intercept US Global Hawk over Chukchi Sea
Three MiG-31 fighters intercepted an RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle of the United States Air Force in the skies over the Chukchi Sea.
“Russian airspace control monitoring the neutral waters of the Chukchi Sea detected an air target approaching the state border of the Russian Federation,” the Russian National Defense Management Center reported on August 11, 2020. “To intercept the target, three MiG-31 fighters from the air defense forces of the Eastern Military District were scrambled.”
Link

Aviation Quote

I will not wage war against women and children! I have instructed my air force to limit their attacks to military objectives. However, if the enemy should conclude from this that he might get away with waging war in a different manner he will receive an answer that he'll be knocked out of his wits!

- Adolf Hitler, speech before the Reichstag, 1 September 1939.