FAA to mandate safety inspections for certain 737 Classics US FAA will issue an emergency directive Tuesday that will require operators of "specific" Boeing 737-300/400/500 series aircraft to conduct initial and repetitive electromagnetic inspections for fatigue damage following Friday’s midair rupture of the fuselage skin on Southwest Airline Flight 812. Link
TSA to trial alternate screening method to enable pilots to bypass checkpoints The US Transportation Security Administration announced in conjunction with the US Air Transport Assn. and the Air Line Pilots Assn. union that a new crewmember screening system will be tested to determine if pilots, and potentially flight attendants, can be allowed to bypass traditional airport security checkpoints. Link
Search team locates major wreckage from Air France Flight 447 French Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) on Sunday confirmed that the search team on board the vessel Alucia located major assemblies of the Air France Airbus A330 that crashed into the Atlantic while en route between Rio de Janeiro and Paris-Charles de Gaulle on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board. Link
KLM regional exercises options on five E-190s Embraer announced Monday that KLM Cityhopper exercised options for five E-190 jets valued at $214 million based on list prices. Link
Diamond ups the ante in bid to secure D-Jet funding Diamond Aircraft has raised the stakes in its fight to secure a $35 million Canadian government loan that would allow it to restart the D-Jet programme. It promises to develop unmanned and special mission aircraft for the North American market at its London, Ontario factory if the D-Jet is saved. Link
Lufthansa selects Pratt's PW1100G to power A320neos Lufthansa selected Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines to power the 30 A320neo family aircraft it has announced it will order pending contract finalization with Airbus, the third consecutive win for Pratt on the re-engined narrowbody program. Link
Udvar-Hazy's Air Lease Corp. launches IPO expected to raise $622 million Air Lease Corp. on Monday launched an initial public offering of 25 million shares priced at between $25 and $28 each. It said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects the IPO to raise net proceeds of approximately $622.1 million. Link
Overall US airline performance improves for third consecutive year; complaints rise US airlines improved their overall operational performance for the third consecutive year in terms of punctuality, baggage handling, customer complaints and involuntary denied boardings, according to researchers from Purdue University and Wichita State University in their annual Airline Quality Rating report released Monday. Link
South Africa accepts first five upgraded Rooivalks for operational use The South African Air Force has accepted its first five of an eventual 11 upgraded Rooivalk Mk 1 combat support helicopters from Denel Aviation, having recently completed "a rigorous testing and evaluation programme" with the improved type. Link
Jean-Michel Leonard named CEO of EADS Sogerma EADS Sogerma, a subsidiary of the EADS Group focused on the design, development, manufacture and assembly of aerostructure parts and aircraft seats, has named Jean-Michel Leonard President and CEO. Link
Other News
GECAS delivered two new Boeing 737-800 (-86N) aircraft to Xiamen Airlines, part of an existing order book with Boeing.
Zim Flugsitz announced it was selected by Air Berlin to equip its Airbus A330-200 fleet with new ECO-01 economy seats. It will deliver the first shipset in mid-October and then on a schedule of every two weeks. The seats will be equipped with IMS' Rave IFE seatback systems.
KLM took delivery of a new 737-700 and will add a further nine of the type this year, which will lift its -700 fleet to 18.
Rolls-Royce was chosen by Turkish Airlines to supply Trent 700 engines to power its latest order for three A330F freighters which are due for delivery between 2012 and 2014. The $200 million order includes a TotalCare long-term service agreement, Rolls said.
Avolon announced it has selected the CFM56-5Bengine to power its eight Airbus A320 aircraft announced in December 2010 (ATW Daily News, Dec. 17, 2010). The A320s are expected to deliver from 2014.
AVIATION QUOTE Sometimes things are bigger than you, and the best you can hope for is to keep your wings level and have patience and a little luck. - Warren L "Wally" Simpson, a pilot with more than 75 round-trips 'over the hump' in WWII.
ON THIS DATE
April 5th
· In 1937... The first jet aircraft designed and built in Czechoslovakia, the Aero L-29 Delfin, makes its first flight. Over 3,000 of these two-seater jet trainers are produced for the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact air forces.
· In 1937... The Douglas Aircraft Company takes over Northrop.
DAILY VIDEO
EDITOR’S CHOICE
HUMOR
Training The Blonde Flight Attendant An airline captain was breaking in a very pretty new blonde stewardess. The route they were flying had a stay-over in another city, so upon their arrival, the captain showed the stewardess the best place for airline personnel to eat, shop and stay overnight.
The next morning as the pilot was preparing the crew for the day's route, he noticed the new stewardess was missing. He knew which room she was in at the hotel and called her up wondering what happened to her. She answered the phone, sobbing, and said she couldn't get out of her room.
"You can't get out of your room?" the captain asked, "Why not?"
The stewardess replied, "There are only three doors in here, "she cried," one is the bathroom, one is the closet, and one has a sign on it that says 'Do Not Disturb'!"
· In 1937... The first jet aircraft designed and built in Czechoslovakia, the Aero L-29 Delfin, makes its first flight. Over 3,000 of these two-seater jet trainers are produced for the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact air forces.
· In 1937... The Douglas Aircraft Company takes over Northrop.
halls120 wrote:· In 1937... The first jet aircraft designed and built in Czechoslovakia, the Aero L-29 Delfin, makes its first flight. Over 3,000 of these two-seater jet trainers are produced for the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact air forces.
· In 1937... The Douglas Aircraft Company takes over Northrop.
Jack Northrop founded three companies using his name. The first was the Avion Corporation in 1927, which was absorbed in 1929 by the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation as a subsidiary named "Northrop Aviation Corporation". The parent company moved its operations to Kansas in 1931, and so Jack, along with Donald Douglas, established a "Northrop Corporation" located in El Segundo, California, which produced several successful designs, including the Northrop Gamma and Northrop Delta. However, labor difficulties led to the dissolution of the corporation by Douglas in 1937, and the plant became the El Segundo Division of Douglas Aircraft.
Northrop still sought his own company, and so in 1939 established the "Northrop Corporation" in nearby Hawthorne, California, a site located by co-founder Moye Stephens. The corporation lasted until 1994. It was there that the P-61 night fighter, the Flying Wings (B-35 and YB-49), the F-89 interceptor, the Snark intercontinental cruise missile and the F-5 Freedom Fighter jet fighter (and its derivative, the successful T-38 trainer) were developed and built.
halls120 wrote:· In 1937... The first jet aircraft designed and built in Czechoslovakia, the Aero L-29 Delfin, makes its first flight. Over 3,000 of these two-seater jet trainers are produced for the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact air forces.
· In 1937... The Douglas Aircraft Company takes over Northrop.
The Delfin first flew on April 5th 1959, Northrop rose again as The Northrop Corporation.
halls120 wrote:· In 1937... The first jet aircraft designed and built in Czechoslovakia, the Aero L-29 Delfin, makes its first flight. Over 3,000 of these two-seater jet trainers are produced for the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact air forces.
· In 1937... The Douglas Aircraft Company takes over Northrop.
Jack Northrop founded three companies using his name. The first was the Avion Corporation in 1927, which was absorbed in 1929 by the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation as a subsidiary named "Northrop Aviation Corporation". The parent company moved its operations to Kansas in 1931, and so Jack, along with Donald Douglas, established a "Northrop Corporation" located in El Segundo, California, which produced several successful designs, including the Northrop Gamma and Northrop Delta. However, labor difficulties led to the dissolution of the corporation by Douglas in 1937, and the plant became the El Segundo Division of Douglas Aircraft.
Northrop still sought his own company, and so in 1939 established the "Northrop Corporation" in nearby Hawthorne, California, a site located by co-founder Moye Stephens. The corporation lasted until 1994. It was there that the P-61 night fighter, the Flying Wings (B-35 and YB-49), the F-89 interceptor, the Snark intercontinental cruise missile and the F-5 Freedom Fighter jet fighter (and its derivative, the successful T-38 trainer) were developed and built.
