Federal investigators say pilot error was the "probable cause" of an aborted takeoff that collapsed a jet's nose gear in Philadelphia. The National Transportation Safety Board says US Airways Flight 1702's pilot and co-pilot chose to take off rather than ensure its computer was properly configured. The NTSB's final report was released Thursday. It says the first officer...
A rat found scuttling around the cabin forced a Chinese airliner to return to an airport shortly after takeoff on Friday morning. The rodent was found shortly after the Loong Air flight left the eastern city of Hangzhou for the southwestern resort city of Xishuangbanna, the airline said on its official microblog. It wasn't clear how the rat gained access to the plane, although the offici...
Boeing Co said on Friday that it is considering layoffs of airplane engineers, a plan that it said may cause it to reorganize or consolidate its engineering teams, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Boeing said in a memo to employees that the company is deciding whether to make voluntary layoffs available to those workers, according to the document. The company also said it does...
Meet the newest plane in the United States Air Force, the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber. It's so new that it exists only as an artist's rendering; a prototype has yet to be built. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James unveiled the highly anticipated design today at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. The plane is designated right now as the &q...
A British Airways jet that was damaged by fire during an aborted takeoff in September flew from Las Vegas to a California airport on Friday after six months of repairs including an engine replacement and fuselage patch. The Boeing 777 took a circuitous route over the Mojave Desert to Victorville, where it will be repainted before being flown back to the United Kingdom, airline spokeswoman...
She was asked to move seats. An elderly woman is suing the Israeli airline El Al for gender discrimination. Renee Rabinowitz was asked to give up her seat on an El Al flight home to Israel at the request of an ultra-Orthodox man, who did not want to sit next to her. She’s being represented by the Israel Religious Action Center, a liberal Israeli group that has previously fought against...
Once N7001U takes off from Paine Field in Everett, Washington next Tuesday, the crew won't even retract its landing gear. Makes sense. It'll only be airborne for just over 10 minutes. The first 727 ever built rolled off the line in 1962 and hasn't flown in 25 years. But it's about to make a trip to Boeing Field (King County Airport), where it will become a permanent exhibi...
Subsequent to the recent decision by the ICAO Council to prohibit the carriage of lithium ion batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft, the UN aviation agency has issued the following clarifications: Passenger baggage: Lithium ion batteries carried by passengers in their personal electronic devices, whether in their carry-on or checked baggage, are not affected by this new restrict...
An ATR 72 prototype has taken to the skies to launch the second flying demonstration campaign as part of the EU’s Clean Sky Joint Undertaking (CS JU) program. The aim of this flight trial is to test an all electrical energymanagement system, optimizing the electrical power distributi...
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP partner and head of the firm’s aviation and asset finance practice in Asia, Paul Ng advised on more than US$10 billion in transactions at the Singapore Airshow, Asia’s largest gathering for the global aerospace community. Milbank was counsel on no less than five transactions signed at the Airshow including a over $3 billion jet engin...
UTC's Pratt & Whitney has suffered a fresh problem during testing of new aircraft engines for the Airbus A320neo, but flight trials of the latest version of Europe's best-selling airliner are continuing, people familiar with the matter said. The problem occurred when an oil pump failed after an engine had been deliberately shut down in flight and left to turn with the natural airflo...
The US Department of Labour’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered Bald Mountain Air Service (Homer) to pay over USD500,000 in back pay, interest and compensatory damages to a pilot it fired in 2012 after he raised repeated safety concerns at work ranging from missed drug tests for pilots to forged or falsified records. The OSHA says the Alaska-based operator had viol...
The managing director of Tanzania Tourist Board Devota Mdachi has expressed her gratitude to the ongoing construction of terminal three of Julius Nyerere International Airport. During a visit to the site she noted the new facility will attract more international airline to the destination of Tanzania once is fully completed and begins operating. Mdachi made this observation recently after vi...
London is the location for Qantas’ next flagship global lounge, with construction on a new, dedicated facility at Heathrow Airport to begin in September 2016. The premium lounge will occupy a split-level space in Terminal 3 that will have capacity for approximately 230 people and offer views over the Heathrow airfield when it opens in early 2017. Its design will combine the signature f...
France's aviation accident investigation bureau BEA released its final report this week on the May 2011 pitch trim runaway incident involving a Falcon 7X in Malaysia, which caused Dassault to temporarily ground the 7X fleet. The report reveals how the crew recovered from an unusual and dangerous attitude. The pilot flying used his military experience and applied a procedure he had learned f...
The Russian Transport Ministry does not exclude bankruptcies of airlines in case demand for air transportation remains low, Deputy Minister of Transport Valery Okulov said Thursday. "We do not exclude the risk of bankruptcy of airlines if the situation does not change towards improving demand and traffic growth," he said. In 2015, against the background of the difficult economic si...
Central European budget carrier Wizz Air is installing an advanced Airbus A320 family aircraft cockpit simulator at its crew training center in Budapest, which will be operational this summer. It will supplement Wizz Air’s full-motion simulator, giving the company added flexibility and allowing additional scheduling options to continue to meet the training requirements for Wizz Air&rsq...
Regional carrier Republic Airways has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, blaming several quarters of falling revenue after grounding aircraft during a pilot shortage. The short-haul carrier, which feeds flights to American, Delta and United airlines, listed assets of USD$3.6 billion and USD$3.0 billion of liabilities, court documents showed. Republic said the bankruptcy process woul...
Final assembly work has begun on the first two Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainers destined for the Polish air force. Revealed during a 24 February ceremony at the manufacturer’s factory in Venegono Superiore, Italy first flight of the initial Honeywell F124-engined jet is due in May. Warsaw has ordered eight aircraft under a €280 million ($308 million) dea...
Safran will take a €654 million ($720 million) one-off, non-cash charge to cover what it called “the depreciation of program-related tangible and intangible assets” associated with its delayed Silvercrest engine. Announcing otherwise very positive 2015 financial results in Paris today, the French engine maker confirmed that it has agreed to a revised schedule for certifying the en...
Capital AviaNeft, a Russian provider of aircraft refueling services and full-service support for business aircraft, is offering post-paid terms for ground handling services in Russia through its Capital Bonus loyalty program. The company said its new program “has no competitors in the Russian business aviation market,” where cash-on-demand for business aircraft services and fueling is...
