NewsAsiana Crash Rescue Video Shows Girl OverlookedA video obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper shows that the supervisor directing the firefighting effort at the Asiana 777 crash site was not told that a teenage girl was on the ground until after she was run over and killed by a fire truck, the paper reported. The video, which the Chronicle obtained from an undisclosed source, was taken from a camera mounted on the helmet of a San Francisco fire battalion chief and turned over to investigators who are investigating the death of Ye Meng Yuan, a 16-year-old passenger who survived the initial crash-landing but later died on the runway. The battalion chief who arrived at the crash scene and took charge was not told that crash survivor Ye had been found near the plane, leaving him powerless to prevent her death, the Chronicle reported. The newspaper did not post the video online but published still frames of the footage.
LinkGreek Civil Aviation Workers Call Off StrikesGreek civil aviation workers have called off a planned, three-day walkout against layoffs which would have disrupted flights this week at the height of the tourism season, their union said on Tuesday. Greece pins its hopes on tourism to exit a deep recession and transport strikes have in the past marred its image abroad, hurting the key sector which accounts for about a fifth of economic output. Responding to the planned dismissal of about 300 civil aviation workers, about a tenth of the total, their union OSYPA called last week for 24-hour rolling strikes for August 9-11, which would have affected some regional hub airports.
LinkSpiritAero Delays Earnings, To Shed Oklahoma UnitAircraft parts supplier Spirit AeroSystems on Tuesday said it plans to divest its Oklahoma operations, including sites in Tulsa and McAlester, in a bid to improve operations and drive down costs. The company also delayed its quarterly earnings report, due for release on Tuesday, and said it expects to record a big charge. Spirit, based in Wichita, Kansas, makes parts for planes such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 as well as wing parts for Bombardier and Gulfstream business jets. Cost overruns have hurt profitability in recent years. Spirit said it expects to take a pre-tax charge of USD$350 million to USD$400 million against second-quarter results related to anticipated cost increases from 2014 to 2021 in Gulfstream business jet programs.
LinkMan Arrested At Connecticut Airport After Bomb ThreatPolice arrested a man at Connecticut's main airport on Monday after he allegedly told security screeners he was carrying a bomb, officials said, leading to delays on two departing flights. "At 3:12 pm ET, a male traveller who was passing through the security checkpoint at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, claimed that he had a bomb," the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement. A TSA official who asked not to be named said the man did not have any dangerous items in his possession.
LinkAirbus Won 932 Orders January-JulyAirbus said it won 932 gross aircraft orders in the first seven months of the year, already beating its 2012 tally and taking it closer to its full-year target for more than 1,000 passenger jet orders. New orders last month were led by UK low-cost carrier easyJet's confirmation of a deal for 100 A320neo and 35 A320ceo single-aisle planes, Airbus said in a statement on Tuesday. Parent EADS last week raised the 2013 order target for passenger jets by 25 percent to more than 1,000 aircraft. Gross orders last year totaled 914 airliners.
LinkPhilippine Airlines takes delivery of first Airbus A321 Philippine Airlines (PAL) took delivery of its first Airbus A321 aircraft on 6 August. It is the first of 44 A321s ordered by the carrier, says Airbus, and has been configured with 12 business class and 187 economy class seats. PAL will deploy the aircraft on selected domestic and international routes.
LinkATSB looks into Qantas 737 flight deviation incident The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating an incident on board a Qantas Airways 737-800 where an inadvertently activated system caused the aircraft to deviate from its flight path. The aircraft, registration VH-VYE, was operating a scheduled passenger service on the Canberra-Brisbane route when the incident happened on 25 Ferbuary. The ATSB said in its initial report that after the climb phase, when the jet was at 41,000ft (12505m), the autoflight system approach push button (APP) was "inadvertently selected". "With the autopilot engaged, the arming of the APP meant that, when associated with a pre-selected instrument landing system frequency, the autopilot would command the aircraft to intercept and capture the associated localizer and glideslope beams when within range," says the ATSB. At about 200km from Brisbane airport, some 45 minutes after the APP was activated, the autopilot commanded the aircraft to climb. Responding to the unexpected climb, the pilots disconnected the autopilot and manually descended to the assigned flight level. Following the altitude recovery, the aircraft deviated to the left of the assigned flight path, and the crew identified that the autopilot had not been re-engaged.
LinkPolish air force receives first upgraded MiG-29 Poland's WZL-2 Military Aviation Works has delivered its first upgraded RAC MiG-29 to the nation's air force. According to a refurbishment and overhaul agreement signed in August 2011, the military depot will modernise 13 single-seat MiG-29A fighters and three MiG-29UB trainers, assigned to the 23rd air base in Minsk Mazowiecki. Worth 126 million zlotych ($40 million) and being performed in co-operation with Israel Aerospace Industries, the deal also includes the provision of logistics support and training for pilots and technicians.
LinkUS Navy hopes to fly X-47B demonstrators into 2014 The US Navy hopes to continue flying its two Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrators (UCAS-D). The service had earlier said that the prototypes would be retired after the type had demonstrated the ability to make carrier arrested recoveries onboard the USS George H W Bush: an achievement first made on 10 July. "The two X-47B air vehicles will reside at [NAS Patuxent] River [Maryland] while the N-UCAS program continues to assess potential opportunities for additional test operations at Pax River and at-sea," the US Naval Air Systems Command says. "These efforts will focus on reducing risks for the follow-on unmanned carrier-launched airborne surveillance and strike [UCLASS] program and help the navy to better understand how to operate unmanned systems of this size in the areas of research and development."
LinkTurkey's first A400M performs taxi trial Turkey's first A400M tactical transport has moved a step closer to delivery, with the aircraft having performed its first engine runs and taxi trials at Airbus Military's San Pablo final assembly site in Seville, Spain. Aircraft MSN9 is the first of 10 A400Ms on order for the Turkish air force, and the third production example of the type to have been completed, following two French air force examples. Its four Europrop International TP400-D6 turboprop engines were run simultaneously for the first time on 29 July, and Airbus Military has since released video footage showing the transport performing an initial taxi trial, using its outboard engines only.
LinkUSAF, NASA aim to master wing-flex control The US Air Force Research Laboratory and Lockheed Martin have kicked off an $18 million research program into active aeroelastic control technologies, which if proved practical would in principle translate into thinner, lighter and better optimised wings with a much higher aspect ratio than is possible with the rigid wings that have characterised most powered flight to-date. The initial USAF programme, which is worth about $18 million, covers the cost of developing the unmanned X-56 and performing about 20 initial test flights on the purpose-built machine. It includes two of the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft, three sets of fibreglass high-aspect ratio aeroelastic wings and one "stiff" wing.
LinkHawaiian Airlines reports July trafficHawaiian Airlines flew 5.9% more passengers in July as compared to the same month last year. The carrier transported 936,297 passengers for the month. Hawaiian's load factor also rose by 0.2% for July to 84% for the month.
LinkAllegiant Air traffic rose in July Allegiant Air, based in Las Vegas, reported July traffic increased by 7.9% as compared to July 2012. The carrier flew 758,000 passengers in July, and the carrier's load factor also rose by 0.9% to 91.6% for the month.
LinkAirline execs discuss how to boost customer satisfaction Executives from Alaska Air Group and Virgin Atlantic appeared at a travel industry conference in San Diego to discuss how to increase customer satisfaction. "We can all do better every day," said Glenn Johnson, executive vice president of Alaska Air Group and president of the affiliated Horizon Air. "We're trying to make (air travel) predictable, giving people back the currency of time so they can be in control of their experience." Craig Kreeger, CEO of Virgin Atlantic Airways, discussed the advantages of global alliances, including Delta Air Lines' plans to acquire a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic. "Virgin Atlantic will have a much broader array of destinations for those in the United Kingdom, and it offers a broader set of options for those in the U.S. as well," Kreeger said.
LinkFlights on schedule after Sabre technology glitch An outage at airline booking system Sabre caused difficulties for airlines including American Airlines, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines on Tuesday morning. The Sabre system, used by more airlines in North America than any other, stopped working for just under three hours. A spokeswoman for Sabre, which operates online booking systems for airlines including American, Virgin and JetBlue, told CNBC Sabre was experiencing a system issue. The systems were coming back online around 2 a.m ET, however, she said, adding the firm was "closely monitoring" the situation. According to American Airlines' statement, the outage started at 11:45 p.m. ET.
LinkVirgin Atlantic CEO: U.S. custom waits "tremendously frustrating"Virgin Atlantic CEO Craig Kreeger called custom wait times at New York-area airports "embarrassing" and "tremendously frustrating" for passengers arriving into the United States. He added that it is "a real shame" that one of "the most important nations" doesn’t recognize the vital role that travel plays in the global economy, comparing the U.S. to other countries that provide plenty of customs staffing and resources. JFK Terminal 4 was the worst wait for U.S.-bound air travelers with a 93.8 minute average peak in May, according to a Global Gateway Alliance study. Newark Airport was the ninth-longest wait, coming in at 51.3 minutes.
LinkEuropean airport traffic rose in June, ACI says European airports reported a 1.8% increase in passengers for June compared to the same month last year, according Airports Council International Europe. "Our traffic figures are pointing to a rather weak and gradual recovery for EU airports," Olivier Jankovec, director general for the European arm of ACI, said in a statement. "This is consistent with the fact that economic sentiment across the euro-zone is generally improving."
LinkMost fliers use mobile devices to search for flightsA FlightView survey of more than 900 business fliers who use air travel at least once a month found that 94% use mobile devices to search for flights. More than half say they would rather use a desktop or laptop to purchase tickets.
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