NewsMH17 News
Rebels hand over recorders to Malaysian team
Rebels in control of Ukraine's Donetsk region have handed over cockpit and flight data recorders from the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 to a team of Malaysian investigators. Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said in a press conference held in the early hours of 22 June in Kuala Lumpur that his government had been working “behind the scenes” to reach agreement on three key points with rebel leader Alexander Borodai. Subsequently, the two recorders were handed over to Malaysian officials at a ceremony attended by the media.
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Combat exclusion zone to surround crash site
Ukraine's president has ordered that an combat exclusion zone of 40km be placed around the wreckage site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, to aid the investigation into the crash. Petro Poroshenko says he has "immediately" ordered a cessation of hostilities within the zone "to ensure that specialists can easily work". The search area for debris and items from the Boeing 777-200ER has been extended to 120km2 but there remains uncertainty about whether crucial equipment, particularly the flight recorders, have been transported away from the scene.
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Bodies, Black Boxes From MH17 Handed Over
The remains of some of the nearly 300 victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane downed over Ukraine were being taken to the Netherlands on Tuesday as a senior Ukrainian separatist leader handed over the plane's black boxes to Malaysian experts. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told a news conference on Monday that a train carrying around 200 body bags was on its way to rebel-held Donetsk and then to Kharkiv, which is in Ukrainian government hands, from where the bodies would be taken back to the Netherlands to be identified. The train left the crash site after the Malaysian prime minister reached agreement with the separatists for recovered bodies to be handed over to authorities in the Netherlands, where the largest number of victims came from. Early on Tuesday, senior separatist leader Aleksander Borodai handed over the black boxes in the city of Donetsk.
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Lufthansa Joins Calls For MH17 Airline Summit
Lufthansa joined Emirates in calling for an airline summit to discuss the industry's response to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, saying international security protocols should be reviewed. Since MH17 was shot down last week, questions have been raised as to why passenger planes were flying over a region hit by fighting. Tim Clark, chief executive of Emirates, on Sunday said IATA could call an international conference to see what changes need to made in the way the industry tackles regional instability. "We always put the safety and security of our customers and our crews first at the Lufthansa Group and so - needless to say - yes, we strongly support such a summit," a Lufthansa spokesman told Reuters news agency.
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Fighting Flares In Ukraine As Crash Investigators Arrive
Fighting flared in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Monday as investigators began to inspect the bodies of victims of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The fighting in Donetsk served as a reminder of the dangers the experts face working in a war zone. International inspectors got access to the remains of hundreds of victims stored in refrigerated railway wagons near the crash site but governments expressed concern over broader access to the rebel-held area. Donetsk is at the heart of a rebel uprising against rule by Kiev, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to retake the city as part of what Kiev calls its "anti-terrorist operation" against the separatists.
LinkCommercial News
Bohai Leasing Approves 70 Airbus A320 Deal
The Hong Kong unit of China's Bohai Leasing has signed a deal worth about USD$7.76 billion to buy 70 A320neo aircraft from Airbus, the Chinese company announced. Subsidiary Hong Kong Aviation Capital signed the agreement on July 17 and it was approved by a special meeting of its board of directors the following day, Bohai Leasing said in a statement.
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Rolls and Airbus – how the latecomer excelled
Rolls-Royce took more than two decades to get an engine onto an Airbus product. But the UK company is now in pole position as Toulouse’s prime widebody engine partner after securing its third Airbus sole-source supply deal, to power the A330neo. In truth, Rolls had been part of the Toulouse scene since the late 1980s through the International Aero Engines consortium which began powering the A320 in 1989. But it was the widebody market where it needed to be – and nearly was, right at the start of the Airbus project. It is ironic that it took Derby so long to get one of its gas turbines bolted to an Airbus, given that the original “A-300” was to have Rolls-Royce power when proposed in the 1960s. The engine was the 54,000-58,000lb thrust RB.207 and the aircraft was a widebody twinjet ancestor of what would become the first Airbus.
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American Airlines, union reach bargaining agreements
American Airlines and a union representing 11,000 of its workers have reached collective bargaining agreements, deals that the union says improve wages and job security. "These agreements will allow us to focus on the next steps for integrating our airlines," said Doug Parker, the airline’s CEO. "We can now start the process of bringing these employee groups together with their co-workers from American through joint collective bargaining agreements."
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Analysts predict healthy U.S. airline profit in Q2
U.S. airlines should announce second-quarter profits of $3.8 billion, not including special charges and items, up from $2.6 billion a year ago, industry analysts say.
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Poste Italiane Puts Conditions On Alitalia-Etihad Deal
Poste Italiane will only invest more money in Alitalia if it avoids taking on the airline's past liabilities, three people close to the matter said, a condition likely to hamper a rescue deal with Etihad Airways. Abu Dhabi's state-owned Etihad plans to buy 49 percent of the loss-making airline in a deal the Italian government hopes will make Alitalia profitable again. Poste Italiane, the state-owned Italian postal services company, is Alitalia's second-biggest shareholder with nearly 20 percent. Its position on the airline's past liabilities could derail a deal that has been in the works for months.
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Hawaiian Airlines looks to boost international business
Hawaiian Airlines is crafting a marketing strategy designed to boost international business and Kevin Yim, senior director of global marketing communications, says customizing the airline's approach to different countries is key. For instance, the airline uses phone agents in marketing to South Korea, because it's learned those customers prefer to do business by phone.
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Southwest Airlines helps craft vision for Kansas City airport
As the largest market share owner of Kansas City International Airport, Southwest Airlines is playing a key role in charting the course for the airport, where future renovations are in view. Officials from the airline have been meeting since June to assess future passenger traffic growth -- and whether a new terminal may make sense.
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Southwest improves boarding process with its new reservation system
Southwest is using Amadeus' Altea reservation system but putting the focus on a simple product lineup rather than exercising all of the capabilities of the system. For instance, the airline isn't looking at adding assigned seating options. "We studied assigned seating quite a bit in the past because we had the same question," explained Southwest CFO Tammy Romo. "And as we really met with our customers what we found is that what they really wanted was a different boarding process. So of course we now have boarding positions and so we've addressed that."
LinkLight Aviation
Grob seeking buyers for updated G520
Years after production halted, the Grob G520 is back in the spotlight, with Grob Aircraft seeking buyers for its revived G520 NG. The German company is pitching the aircraft to governments worldwide, talking up its ability to perform reconnaissance at extreme altitudes and its 7.5h endurance. The company, which filed for insolvency in 2008 but was revived by current owner H3 Aerospace, says it has conducted a number of demonstration flights for potential customers and could begin production next year.
LinkUAV
Urgent UAV capability required for MH17 crash site assessment
In the wake of the fatal downing of an airliner over occupied Ukraine on 17 July, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has issued an urgent solicitation to acquire an unmanned air vehicle capability to monitor the area. The OSCE is conducting a special monitoring mission in Ukraine following the crash of the Boeing 777-200ER that is understood to have been brought down by a surface-to-air missile. The organisation now requires a UAV “turnkey solution” to aid with the assessment, and responses are due by Friday 25 July.
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Aviation Quote
There's a lot of Hollywood bullshit about flying. I mean, look at the movies about test pilots or fighter pilots who face imminent death. The controls are jammed or something really important has fallen off the plane, and these guys are talking like magpies; their lives are flashing past their eyes, and they're flailing around in the cockpit. It just doesn't happen. You don't have time to talk. You're too damn busy trying to get out of the problem you're in to talk or ricochet around the cockpit. Or think about what happened the night after your senior prom.
— Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF
On This Date
---In 1914... Britain’s first airplane passenger service is launched. The short-lived service flies from Leeds to Bradford and back, on half-hour intervals.
---In 1920... Aviation enthusiast David R. Davis and airplane designer Donald W. Douglas team up to form the Davis-Douglas Company. Their goal is to build the first aircraft capable of flying non-stop across the U.S.
---In 1933... One-eyed pilot Wiley Post lands after completing the first solo flight around the world. Post pioneers the early development of a pressure suit and proves the value of navigating instruments, especially the automatic pilot.
---In 1959…The Sud-Aviation Caravelle enters operational service with Air France.
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REAL SERGEANTS:
1. Can cuss for ten minutes without ever repeating a word.
2. Have a spine.
3. Can play a cherry Lieutenant like a finely tuned instrument.
4. Can see in the Dark.
5. Have eyes in the back of their heads.
6. Still don't trust the Russians.
7. Still hate the French.
8. Don't know how to be politically correct.
9. Don't give a damn about being politically correct.
10. Think that "politically correct" should fall under S### in the UCMJ.
11. Love deployments because there is less paperwork and more "real work."
12. Can run 5 miles with a hangover.
13. Do not fear women in the military.
14. Would like to date G. I. Jane.
15. Still know how to use a buffer.
16. Can tell you anything you want to know about an M1911A1 although
they are no longer in the inventory.
17. Believe that they do have a rendezvous with destiny.
18. Believe that "Nuts" wasn't all that Brigadier General McAuliffe said
to the Germans at Bastogne.
19. Don't know how to use a "stress card".
20. Idolize John Wayne.
21. Don't believe that AAFES really needs a "commander".
22. CENSORED
23. Would have paid money to see Custer getting his clock cleaned.
24. Really don't like taking S### from those who haven't "been there".
25. Know how to properly construct a field latrine.
26. CENSORED
27. CENSORED
28. Might admire the Germans, but still realize they got their butts kicked
twice.
29. Aren't afraid of the Chinese, who probably don't have enough
rowboats to invade Taiwan.
30. Would rather be OPFOR than MOPP 4.
31. Don't believe a darn thing the Iraqis say.
32. Don't need a GPS to find themselves.
33. Have enough BDU's in their closet to start a surplus store.
34. Think that MRE's taste good (with a little hot sauce).
35. Are convinced that "wall-to-wall" counseling really works.
36. Have more time on the front-line than most others have in the chow line.
37. Know how to make coffee when the measuring scoop goes missing.
38. Know that it's not good coffee when you can see through it.
39. Don't blame poor marksmanship on their M-16.
40. Know that inept leaders will always say they have inept soldiers.
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AIRCRAFT SCRAMBLE
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