NewsCommercial
EASA to order seal checks on Trent 1000s
Operators of Boeing 787s with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines will be ordered to carry out repetitive inspections of rotor seals following a recent aborted take-off. The problem which sparked the low-speed abort, which occurred at around 60-65kt, has been traced to failure and release of rotor seals on the intermediate-pressure compressor.
Link
Mitsubishi beefs up US test fleet
A third Mitsubishi Aircraft MRJ regional jet has arrived at the company’s US test facility at Moses Lake. FTA-2, the company’s second flight test aircraft, departed Nagoya at 09:20 on 14 December, and arrived at Washington's Grant County International Airport at 09:30 on 20 December, says Mitsubishi in a statement.
Link
MC-21 makes progress ahead of first flight next year
Six months after a public roll-out ceremony, Russian manufacturer Irkut has completed installing a modular final assembly line for the MC-21-300 airliner and made progress in ground testing, the company says on 20 December. The 180-seat, single-aisle aircraft is scheduled to achieve first flight from Irkut’s assembly complex in Irkutsk early next year, with entry-into-service expected to follow in 2018.
LinkAirlines
Arik Air hampered by further operational set backs
Nigerian carrier Arik Air has resumed operations after a Dec. 20 meeting called by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) addressed concerns between the airline and protesting aviation unions. Earlier in the day, the Lagos-based carrier said a group of aviation unions had disrupted operations by “occupying” its headquarters and blocking access to both the offices and the terminal at Lagos.
Link
Flybe names new CEO, details Heathrow plans
UK regional carrier Flybe has named the former head of Irish regional CityJet, Christine Ourmieres-Widener, as its next CEO and has secured slots to launch services from London Heathrow. The Exeter-headquartered airline has scooped up valuable Heathrow slots as a competition remedy from International Airlines Group’s (IAG) 2011 acquisition of UK carrier bmi, which has since been merged into British Airways (BA). Flybe will use the slots to launch two new Scottish links from Terminal 2: a 6X-weekly Heathrow-Aberdeen route and a 9X-weekly Heathrow-Edinburgh service. Both will launch on March 26.
Link
Hong Kong Airlines plans to accelerate intercontinental expansion
Hong Kong Airlines plans to accelerate its intercontinental expansion with the scheduled delivery of its first Airbus A350 in August 2017. In 2010, the carrier ordered 15 A350s, which will be introduced starting from 2017, and 10 A330s that were delivered starting from 2012. It also placed an order for nine more A330s in September 2016.
Link
Island Air to acquire three Q400s
All-ATR operator Island Air will acquire three new Bombardier Q400 turboprops in the coming months, a move that follows the recently-restructured carrier's cancellation of a Q400 order a few years ago. Bombardier announced the news, saying it has already delivered one of the three Q400s to Elix Aviation Capital Limited, an Irish company that will lease the aircraft to Island Air. The aircraft are expected to enter service in early 2017, it says.
Link
LATAM raises 2017 operating margin guidance on minimal capacity growth
Santiago, Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group is estimating its 2017 operating margin will be in the 6%-8% range in 2017, a 1.5 point boost over the company’s 2016 range of 5.5%-6.5%, according to LATAM’s preliminary guidance for 2017 released Dec. 19.
Link
Lufthansa Threatens Frankfurt Flight Reduction
The row between Lufthansa and Frankfurt Airport owner Fraport looks set to escalate as the airline threatens to reduce the number of flights it operates at the airport. The German state of Hesse earlier this month approved Fraport’s proposal to increase fees to airlines, a move Lufthansa strongly opposes.
Link
MH370 Search Area Recommended To Be Extended
Australian air safety investigators leading the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 now believe that the plane is not in the current search area in the southern Indian Ocean. “There is a high degree of confidence that the previously identified underwater area searched to date does not contain the missing aircraft,” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in a First Principles Review.
Link
Norwegian mulls moving in to South America
Fast-expanding low-cost carrier (LCC) Norwegian is examining the possibility of setting up operations in Argentina. While cautioning that discussions were still at an early stage, the Scandinavian carrier confirmed Dec. 20 that it was looking at the possibility of setting up one or more bases in the South American nation, which has the continent’s third-largest economy.
LinkAirports
LAX uses bluetooth beacon technology to improve the efficiency of wheelchair operations
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) claims to have become the first airport on the planet to use Bluetooth beacon technology to track and despatch wheelchairs for passengers in need of assistance. Like other airports LAX is no stranger to using Bluetooth-enabled beacon technology to promote its retail and F&B offerings to passengers by sending tailored sales pitches to traveller's smartphones.
Link
UK airport strike called off
Threats of a two-day strike by UK airport workers that would have potentially disrupted passengers heading off for Christmas holidays have been eased. A new pay offer for the 1,500 baggage handlers, check-in staff and cargo personnel, who work at 18 UK airports, is to be put to a vote in the next few days. The move follows talks with their employer Swissport Dec.20 at the UK industrial arbitration service, Acas.
Link
UK lawmakers lambast new St. Helena airport in South Atlantic
An influential UK parliamentary committee has described as “a fiasco” the building of a £285 million ($355 million) airport on the remote UK South Atlantic possession of St. Helena. The airport has been discovered to be unusable to commercial flights by wind shear on the approach.
Link
Military
Boeing and Saab complete first T-X flight
Boeing and Saab’s bid for the US Air Force trainer competition took flight from St. Louis, Missouri, on 20 December, demonstrating the clean-sheet design jet’s performance for the first time. During a 55min flight, the twin-engine jet climbed close to 11,000ft and reached speeds up to 230kt, Steve Schmidt, lead T-X test pilot told, reporters Tuesday. Boeing will persevere through the chilly Missouri winter to gather flight performance data for the T-X competition, which the company must deliver by 30 June 2017.
Link
Loose bracket caused F-35B fire
A fire aboard a US Marine Corps F-35B was caused by a loose bracket designed to hold together electrical wires in the aircraft’s weapons bay, F-35 programme executive officer Lt Gen Chris Bogdan says. The loose bracket allowed electrical wires to move and chafe, stripping the insulation around the wires. Those electrical wires sparked near hydraulic lines, igniting a fire in the right side weapons bay, Bogdan says.
Link
Antonov rolls out An-132 demonstrator
Antonov rolled out the new An-132D multipurpose turboprop transport on 20 December in Kiev, Ukraine, as the Saudia Arabia-backed project prepares to enter the flight test phase. The roll-out of demonstrator comes about two years after Antonov launched the project, which updates the 40-year-old An-32 design with Honeywell avionics, Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A engines and other improvements.
Link
Aviation Quote
It's when things are going just right that you'd better be suspicious. There you are, fat as can be. The whole world is yours and you're the answer to the Wright brothers' prayers. You say to yourself, nothing can go wrong ... all my trespasses are forgiven. Best you not believe it.
- Ernest K. Gann, advice from the 'old pelican,' The Black Watch, 1989.
Daily Video
Editor's Choice
Trivia
DC-10 Trivia
1. The DC-10 made its first commercial flight in August, 1971. Which major air carrier had the distinction of making this first flight?
A. Air Canada
B. Pan American Airways
C. American Airlines
D. United Airlines
2. In a single-class configuration, what was the maximum number of passengers that a DC-10 could carry?
A. 420
B. 340
C. 380
D. 300
3. The DC-10-30AF, an all-freighter version of the airliner, was used most prolifically with FedEx, with orders starting in the mid-1980s. But for which airline was this variant originally designed?
A. Alitalia
B. Japan Airlines
C. Delta
D. British Airways
4. DC-10s have been involved in a number of accidents and incidents over the years. One notable disaster occurred in March, 1974, when a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed near what major city?
A. Berlin
B. Athens
C. Paris
D. Madrid
5. Another notable DC-10 accident occurred in July, 1989, when United Airlines Flight 232 crashed in which midwestern U.S. city?
A. Sioux City, Iowa
B. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
C. Omaha, Nebraska
D. Sioux City, South Dakota
6. The July, 2000, crash of Air France Flight 4590, the only crash of the legendary Concorde, was caused by a piece of titanium that fell off a DC-10 that had lifted off several minutes before the Concorde took off. Which airline owned the DC-10 from which the fatal piece of metal fell?
A. VARIG
B. Lufthansa
C. Continental
D. Northwest
7. The KC-10 Extender, the aerial refueling tanker based on the DC-10, was developed to increase the US Air Force's strategic reach across the globe. In what year did the KC-10 enter operational service?
A. 1980
B. 1982
C. 1983
D. 1981
8. In 1994, ORBIS International began flying a DC-10 aircraft that had been converted for use as what?
A. A private VIP transport
B. A flying eye hospital
C. A flying dental clinic
D. A space-launch platform
9. The company 10 Tanker Air Carrier, LLC, modified a DC-10 to fight forest fires in rural areas. The aircraft could drop how much water or retardant on a fire in a single pass?
A. 18,000 U.S. gallons (68,137 liters)
B. 15,000 U.S. gallons (56,781 liters)
C. 12,000 U.S. gallons (45,425 liters)
D. 21,000 U.S. gallons (74,494 liters)
10. The last DC-10 in service with a major American passenger carrier was retired in January, 2007. That airline, Northwest Airlines, used the aircraft to fly from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, to which destination?
A. Mexico City
B. London
C. Honolulu
D. Tokyo
