NewsAccidents/Incidents
A plane taking part in the Cocoa Beach Air Show made an emergency landing off the beach
A World War II-era plane taking part in the Cocoa Beach Air Show made an emergency landing in the waters just off the Patrick Space Force Base beaches on Saturday afternoon.
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A MiG-31 intercepted a U.S. Air Force Rivet Joint spy aircraft over the Pacific
A U.S. reconnaissance aircraft was escorted by a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet off Russia’s southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Pacific Ocean Friday.
According to Tass Russian News Agency, the Russian Defense Ministry released this statement: “A MiG-31 fighter jet was scrambled from an airfield in the Kamchatka region to identify and escort the plane.
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Colombian Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130 main gear retracted while taxiing in Bogota
A Lockheed Martin C-130B Hercules plane of the Colombian Air Force suffered main landing gear failure while taxiing at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogota.
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Six Israeli passengers were arrested in Germany after refusing to wear masks on a Lufthansa flight
On a Lufthansa flight that departed from Israel’s Ben Gurion airport and flew to Frankfurt in Germany, six Israeli passengers acted with disorderly conduct onboard the airplane, in spite of repeated requests by the in-flight attendants to desist.
LinkCommercial
Boeing has found electrical issue in new areas of the 737MAX cockpit
Boeing has found potential electrical flaws in two additional areas of the 737 Max’s cockpit, a week after a similar manufacturing defect prompted a temporary flying halt for recently delivered jetliners, said people familiar with the matter.
LinkAirlines
Qantas to reactivate its entire Airbus A380 fleet
Qantas is planning to return its entire fleet of 12 Airbus A380s. The future of Qantas’ A380s appears to be quite bright.
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Air Nostrum seeks €103 million from the fund for strategic companies
Air Nostrum is hurting due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. The company is seeking a loan to cover salaries and other expenses in order to continue operating.
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Cathay Pacific’s traffic is down 94% in March 2021
Cathay Pacific has released its traffic figures for March 2021 that continued to reflect the airline’s substantial capacity reductions in response to significantly reduced demand as well as travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in place in Hong Kong and other markets amid the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.
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ExpressJet Airlines wants to return to scheduled operations with its own brand again
ExpressJet Airlines has filed with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to resume airline passenger operations under its own brand once again.
The airline, which was dropped by United Airlines as a United Express carrier on September 30, 2020, is planning to resume service to small and medium-size destinations in the United States.
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Delta Air Lines reports a first quarter pre-tax loss of $2.9 billion
Delta Air Lines reported its financial results for the first quarter 2021 and provided its outlook for the second quarter 2021. Highlights of the first quarter 2021 results, including both GAAP and adjusted metrics, are on page five and are incorporated here.
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Qatar Airways and the Airbus A380: no love lost?
While the COVID-19 crisis single-handedly wrote off the future of the Airbus A380, as international travel came to a screeching halt, there was still some hope that some airlines would operate the type going forward. A few, including British Airways, Emirates and Qantas, have come out and indicated that they would fly the double-decker once restrictions ease regarding international travel.
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Turkish Airlines puts Boeing 737 MAX back to service
Following Turkey’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation Aviation (DGCA) decision to recertify Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, Turkey’s flagship carrier Turkish Airlines restarted Boeing 737 MAX operations.
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SIA sees traffic numbers down, hopes for “measured recovery”
On April 15, 2021, Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) announced that its traffic figures fell in March 2021 due to the COVID-19 related travel restrictions across the globe. However, SIA remains positive about the “measured recovery”, as travel season is about to commence.
LinkAirports
Washington National Airport Delivers New $400 Million Concourse Early Due to Pandemic Lull
Workers are putting the finishing touches on a new concourse at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, one of the few major airport projects that was able to use the coronavirus pandemic to open its doors early.
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Copenhagen Airport hoping for better times ahead
Copenhagen Airport continues to struggle with the downturn in traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, today admitting that although its airlines are ready for busy summer take-off, “everything now depends on what the reopening plan for the travel industry will look like”.
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Hamad International Airport to enhance its waste management
Doha’s Hamad International Airport has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) to improve its waste management.
As a result, the airport (DOH) says that it will develop and modernise its facilities by implementing new, more effective methods of waste management.
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Milas-Bodrum Airport welcomes first international flight of year
Milas-Bodrum Airport greeted its first international passengers of the year when an Azur Air flight from Moscow touched down in Turkey yesterday.
The flight, which was met by a traditional water salute, brought 212 passengers from Moscow Vnukovo to Bodrum.
LinkMilitary
US and French aircraft carriers join forces in the Arabian Sea
The Marine Nationale (French Navy) Charles de Gaulle and the US Navy USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carriers began combined operations in the Arabian Sea on April 13, 2021. Since March 31, 2021, the Marine Nationale has been in command of the US Naval Forces Central Command's (NAVCENT) Task Force 50.
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Aviation Quote
The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by it's nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter.
This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to.
- Harry Reasoner, 1971.
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Trivia
General Trivia
1. Why do some pilots in the Navy’s Blue Angels recommend that their guest passengers (members of the media, et cetera) eat bananas before a demonstration flight?
2. In what motion picture did the star of the movie say, “Now, I don’t propose to sit on a flagpole or swallow goldfish. I’m not a stuntman; I’m a flier.”
3. In 1935, Cosby Harrison crashed his Swallow while flying in stormy weather. What well-known aviation business was begun as a result of his accident?
4. What was the first airline to offer transcontinental passenger service, and what type of aircraft was used?
5. Pilots know that temperature generally decreases with altitude in the troposphere. Why does it increase with altitude in the stratosphere?
6. The Lockheed L–1011 was the first airliner to incorporate direct lift control. What is DLC?
