On June 1, an Airbus A330 went down in the Atlantic. Due to the depth of the ocean and the rough undersea terrain, the flight data recorder (FDR) will probably never be recovered. Already, calls are going out throughout government and industry to institute technology to transmit FDR data from aircraft via satellite or other uplink. Before we launch satellites and fit aircraft with costly, high-bandwidth, real-time uplink systems, let us consider another option.
Cathay Pacific Airways has bolstered its balance sheet by selling a stake in its maintenance offshoot and selling and leasing back six Boeing 777-300ERs. The carrier has raised HK$1.9 billion ($245 million) by selling 12.45% of maintenance business Haeco to Swire Pacific, a conglomerate that holds major shareholdings in both companies. Cathay’s holding in Haeco will fall to 15%, while Swire’s rises to 45.96%.
Rockwell Collins is rig-testing a full-performance active sidestick controller for civil aircraft, and hopes to launch the next-generation cockpit feature by partnering with an airframe maker to develop the initial application.
Scientists and engineers are beginning to realize that the unique microgravity environment on the International Space Station is available for them to use—free of charge—for research and testing. But getting there remains the big hurdle to full U.S. utilization of the orbiting national laboratory.
Demand for air travel could begin growing again late this year or early in 2010, enabling Boeing and Airbus to maintain their narrow-body production rates, concludes a new analysis by Jefferies & Co. Year-over-year traffic declines among a group of 13 airlines worldwide shrank to 2.5% in August, down from 8.8% in May and represent the third consecutive monthly improvement. The trend suggests that traffic growth among the group could be back in positive territory within several months.
In an unusual admission in a realm where even most lawmakers are denied basic information, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair reveals the size and budget of the intelligence community—200,000 employees and $75 billion annually. Speaking of cyber-security, he also fesses up to thievery of sorts: “We do have to be very aggressive in the areas that you cited in cyber, both protecting our own secrets and stealing those of others, because not only in the developed countries but through the world information is moving to networks.
The job of an air traffic controller is stressful and offers ample exposure to fatigue-producing conditions—rotating shifts, long hours and a demanding, heavy workload. Because mistakes can cost people’s lives, all stakeholders are working to mitigate fatigue’s insidious effects on human performance. Investigators have identified operational drivers of air traffic controller fatigue in several accidents and incidents. NTSB investigators discussed several of those events at the FAA’s Fatigue Management Symposium in June 2008.
Japan Airlines’ search for a strategic investor could lead to a shake-up of the global airline alliance system. The carrier says it wants to choose a foreign investor by the end of October. The investor would pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a stake of around 10% in the airline, which has a market capitalization of about $4.8 billion. Japan Airlines’ (JAL) value to an alliance can hardly be overstated. It is the largest carrier in Asia and the biggest in the world’s second-largest economy.
Nonproliferation wonks marvel at a transcript of the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb’s Aug. 31 appearance on TV. On Aaj News Television’s “Islamabad Tonight,” Abdul Qadeer Khan says equipment for the nuclear bomb programs in Pakistan, Libya and Iran was purchased from the same companies in Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi and Singapore. “The same suppliers were responsible for providing the material through the same third party in Dubai . . . company run by Sri Lankan Muslims.” Another company in Dubai manufactured parts for Libya.
Lufthansa Technik has joined with Felix Airways from Yemen to provide component support services for the regional airline’s fleet of Bombardier CRJs. The carrier operates two CRJ200s and two CRJ700s and is scheduled to take delivery of more aircraft in the near future. Under terms of the seven-year contract, Lufthansa Technik will provide provisioning studies, write specifications, perform troubleshooting, and supply documentation and engineering services.
Sukhoi on Sept. 10 brought the Superjet 100 regional jet to the Shirak Airport in Gyumri, Armenia, for high-altitude trials. The airfield is at 5,000 ft., tucked between mountains and limited to takeoffs and landings from the south on the 3,220-meter-long (10,561-ft.), 45-meter-wide runway.
Turkish weapons company Roketsan is planning a first-quarter 2010 introduction into service of its Cirit semi-active laser-guided missile. The rotorcraft-launched weapon has been integrated on the AH-1 attack helicopter with the basic development program now complete. Work also continues on the company’s two imaging infrared-guided anti-armor missiles. The medium-range system, called Omtas in Turkish, has an engagement range of up to 4 km. (2.5 mi.) The long-range missile, known as Umtas, has a fly-out of up to 8 km.
Brazil has taken two steps forward and one step back in its potential purchase of the Dassault Rafale fighter, but the details of France’s associated aid in development of the Embraer KC-390 tanker/transport remain unclear. The announcement by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in favor of the Rafale does not appear to be final, although the fighter has been seen as a strong candidate and its position was strengthened by da Silva’s Sept. 7 independence day statement that negotiations to buy 36 Rafales were to commence.
An independent body advising the U.K. government on environmental issues has come out in favor of capping aviation emissions as London prepares its negotiation stance in the run-up to the United Nations climate change talks in in December. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) says “an interim period where rising aviation missions are offset by emissions reductions in other sectors would be feasible.
As part of a U.S. Army contract, Wilbur Wright erected a temporary hangar on a field near the Maryland Agricultural College, now the University of Maryland, in College Park, and there trained the first two military aviators to pilot an airplane supplied by him and his brother, Orville. The year was 1909 and that airfield remains, making College Park Airport the oldest continually operated airport in the world. Now owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the site will mark its centennial on Oct.
Mitsubishi Aircraft will build aluminum wing boxes for its MRJ regional jet, backing away from the ambitious plan to use composites. The company, an offshoot of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has also announced a three-month delay to the program. Composites turned out to save much less weight than expected, says Mitsubishi, adding that a metal structure will make it easier to adapt the wing to different versions of the aircraft. A third version could join the model line-up; a 100-seat stretch of the MRJ is being considered.
Word of an inflight hijacking of an Aeromexico Boeing 737-800—two days prior to the eighth anniversary of 9/11—renewed public fears of a major terrorist attack. But aviation authorities defused the attempt without fatal incident, arresting Jose Flores Pereira, 44, on charges of hijacking Flight 576. When the aircraft was en route from Cancun to Mexico City, Pereira threatened to detonate a bomb unless he could warn Mexican President Felipe Calderon of an impending earthquake.
Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee, appears to have qualms about the markup of the Fiscal 2010 defense appropriations bill. The $636.3 billion approved is $3.9 billion less than the Obama administration requested. “The Defense Dept.
FAA has released a notice of proposed rulemaking to update FAR Part 23 standards to accommodate new light and very light jets. The proposal is to eliminate the exemptions, special conditions and equivalent levels of safety findings the agency now uses to certify this burgeoning class of aircraft under Part 23. The agency says the current system leads to inconsistencies and “misinterpretations.” The proposal would codify the current practice of certificating multiengine turbojets weighing up to and including 19,000 lb. Comments are due by Nov. 16.
Seeing as how Boeing will be unable to sell its first three 787 test aircraft to paying customers, why not make them into next-generation aerial refueling platform prototypes? Sell them worldwide as efficient flying gas stations. Boeing could even build a third production line in Alabama, where Northrop Grumman promised to build its tanker-transport facility, and use it, initially, to fill in the back-ordered production capacity for airline models until it gets back on schedule.
BAE Systems has delivered the first wide-area day/night sensor to upgrade the U.S. Army’s Constant Hawk electro-optical surveillance aircraft. The Airborne Wide Area Persistent Surveillance Sensor (Awapss) integrates visible and infrared imaging sensors in a stabilized turret, and captures and stores 100-megapixel images at one frame pair per second. BAE is working under a $23.8-million contract to produce two systems—for installation on a Shorts 360 and a King Air 350—and two spare sensors.
David P. Arnold of the University of Florida is among 41 researchers to win U.S. Defense Dept. Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers . The awards are the highest honors bestowed by the U.S. government on faculty members who are beginning their independent research careers. The others are: Seth R. Bank, Christopher W. Bielawski, Gregory A. Fiete and Xiaoqin Li, all of the University of Texas; Elizabeth Boon of the State University of New York at Stony Brook; Markus J. Buehler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Scott A.
Boeing delivered the Qatar Emiri Air Force’s second C-17, and the first to be painted in a non-military livery, from Long Beach, Calif., on Sep 10. Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al-Malki, head of Qatar’s airlift selection committee, explained the unusual markings (which are the same as those of the national airline) are intended to build awareness of Qatar’s participation in operations around the world. The aircraft will be based at Al Udeid Air Base, near Doha and becomes the 17th C-17 to be delivered to an international customer.
Full funding of 22 U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, both Navy and Air Force requests for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the addition of 10 USAF C-17 airlifters highlight the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee’s $636.3-billion funding request for Fiscal 2010. It also includes recommended funding for six Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft as well as additional UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-47 Chinook and UH-72 Lakota helicopters for the Army, for a total of $108 billion in procurement.
