Root cause and added containment question are key priorities

We've delved into our archives to retrieve a June 11, 1979 report on the grounding of the DC-10 fleet following the May 25 crash of an American Airlines DC-10 shortly after takeoff from Chicago O' Hare airport. That was the last time the FAA grounded a fleet until last month's grounding of the Boeing 787 fleet.

The freighter conversion business begins 2013 with a clear division: The market for narrowbody conversions is dynamic and growing, while the market for widebody aircraft has stagnated. The market's current status is belied by the statistics for 2012, when conversions were almost evenly split between the aircraft types. The 64 conversions included 28 widebody and 33 narrowbody aircraft, with the other three on turboprops, the Aviation Week Fleets database shows.

Australian regulators are playing a huge role in shaping the future of the country's airline industry. But with crucial rulings looming, the carriers' destinies will soon be back in their own hands.

North Korea said last week it would conduct its third nuclear test and continue long-range missile trials designed to reach the U.S. just as the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) was gearing up for a long-awaited return to flight of the system designed to protect the U.S. homeland from such an attack. The vow came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a Washington-backed set of sanctions for Pyongyang in response to its December rocket launch.

Plans for a 90-seat turboprop are rapidly taking shape on the drawing boards of European regional airliner manufacturer, ATR. On the back of a record year in terms of sales and deliveries, the company has also been quietly working on a business plan, which they hope will urge joint owners EADS and Finmeccanica to green-light the project this year.

No end in sight as battery-power probe intensifies.

When safety issues arise with products used by millions of Americans, Congress is often quick to exercise its oversight role. But for the most part, lawmakers are willing to let the FAA and Boeing take time to discover just what caused the 787 battery fires that have grounded the fledgling fleet (see page 30). Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee who plans to retire in 2014, is one exception. He had a brief outburst last week pressing for congressional inquiry into the matter.