NewsCrashed Lion Air 737-800 flight data recorder retrievedIndonesian investigators have removed the flight data recorder from the Lion Air Boeing 737-800 that crashed into the sea while attempting to land at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar on the afternoon of 13 April. The recorder will be sent to Jakarta and analysis is expected to start soon, Indonesia's director general of civil aviation Herry Bakti told Flightglobal Pro. He adds that there have been difficulties in removing the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder as the jet is still partially submerged in water. "They tried to take it from the tail of the aircraft but it's been difficult because of the waves. The aim is to remove it by today," says Herry.
LinkFAA Sees Lessons From 787 Battery WoesUS regulators are discussing whether the batteries that burned on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner hold any lessons for other aircraft or vehicles. George Nield, associate administrator for commercial space transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration, said a dialogue is taking place about whether the overheating of two lithium-ion batteries on the 787 could have broader implications. "Everyone's looking to see if there are any lessons to be learned from this," Nield told Reuters during a conference hosted by the Space Foundation this week.
LinkFIMI Fund To Acquire Up To 47 Pct Of El AlThe FIMI fund agreed to invest up to USD$75 million in El Al Israel Airlines in return for up to 47 percent of the flag carrier, Israel's largest private investment fund said on Sunday. FIMI will form a controlling group in El Al with Knafaim Holdings, which owns 39 percent of the airline. Knafaim has an option to sell FIMI 30 million shares in El Al worth USD$5 million. In the first stage, at the time the deal is closed, FIMI will invest up to USD$50 million for a 38 percent holding in El Al. The fund will receive two options worth USD$12.5 million each and if both are exercised FIMI will hold 47 percent.
LinkDucati CEO In Pole For Alitalia's Top SeatGabriele Del Torchio, chief executive of Italian motorcycle maker Ducati, is the front-runner to take the driver's seat at loss-making Alitalia, Italian newspapers reported on Saturday. Alitalia's former chief executive Andrea Ragnetti quit after only a year in the job in February as the struggling airline reported a net loss of USD$367 million in 2012. Alitalia, 25 percent owned by Air France-KLM, suffered last year from a drop in demand for air travel amid the euro zone debt crisis and recession in Italy. The Alitalia board is expected to name a new chief executive next week, Il Corriere della Sera said without citing their sources. Il Messaggero said the board could meet on April 18.
LinkJudge Denies AMR Chief USD$20 Mln PayoffA US bankruptcy judge has rejected a proposed severance package of nearly USD$20 million for Thomas Horton, the chairman and chief executive of American Airlines' parent company AMR, saying the payout wasn't allowed under federal bankruptcy law. Judge Sean Lane in Manhattan issued his decision on Thursday, after having approved at a March 27 hearing AMR's planned USD$11 billion merger with US Airways. Horton's USD$19.9 million severance had been part of the merger agreement and was to consist of equal amounts of cash and shares of the combined company.
LinkFirst British Airways 787 breaks cover One of British Airways' first Boeing 787-8s has emerged, part-painted, from the US airframer's facilities, as the carrier prepares to expand its 787 order. The aircraft (G-ZBJA) still has a white fuselage but its vertical fin carries the Union flag livery of the UK operator. While some publicity material - including officially-licensed Boeing models of the BA twinjets - have featured blue engine nacelles, those on the initial airframe appear pale grey. BA's own artistic impressions have shown white engines.
LinkAmerican splits Airbus order equally between A319 and A321 American Airlines will split its order for 130 Airbus A320 family aircraft equally between the A319 and A321, says engine supplier International Aero Engines (IAE). The Fort Worth-based carrier will take 65 A319s with CFM International CFM56-5B engines and 65 A321s with IAE V2500-A5 engines, says Jon Beatty, president and chief executive of IAE, at a media event in Palm Beach on 11 April. American previously had not disclosed how many of each type it planned to take delivery of beyond 2013. It will accept 15 A319s and five A321s from the airframer this year. Beatty says that the V2500 is airlines' preferred engine choice for the A321 because it performs better at higher thrust ratings. The engine is used on both the smaller A320 and larger A321 and optimised about halfway between the types.
LinkF135 blade crack traced to casting process - P&W A Pratt & Whitney analysis has narrowed the likely cause of a turbine blade crack on the F135 in February to a fault in the casting process, says Bennett Croswell, president of the military engines division. The analysis indicates that the Lockheed Martin F-35 engine blade cracked despite being made correctly according to the blueprint for making the part, Croswell says. That finding points to a flaw in the casting process itself. "There may be features in the castings that are allowed by the blueprint, but now we've learned that those features we should not allow," Croswell says.
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