Boeing said Friday that it is making "steady progress toward building the first 787," pointing to the rollout of its second 747-400LCF, the Dreamlifter designed to move 787 parts among factories around the world. The manufacturer plans to operate three of the modified freighters at the height of 787 production. It said the first Dreamlifter made a successful pickup last week of the first 787 parts produced in Japan, including a forward fuselage section made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the center wheel well and center wing tank made by KHI and Fuji Heavy Industries.

Rolls-Royce signed a long-term TotalCare service agreement with Singapore Airlines covering the Trent 800s on SIA's 58 777s.

Aviation Partners Boeing said Turkish Airlines placed an order for 24 737-800 Blended Winglet shipsets. The carrier installed three sets on -800s in 2002. Turkish Technic will install the winglets at its Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen facility. APB said 57% of the -800s currently in service are equipped with winglets.

Mexican LCC Interjet converted 10 A320 options into firm orders, which Airbus has tacked onto its 2006 order book. The options were part of an order placed at the 2005 Paris Air Show (ATWOnline, Nov. 8, 2005). The Toluca-based airline celebrated its one-year anniversary in December and carried more than 1 million passengers in its first 12 months of operation.

Airbus named former MBDA executive Didier Evrard to head the A350 XWB program, effective immediately. MBDA is a France-based missile manufacturer. Evrard, 53, "brings proven leadership and program development management capabilities in combination with an understanding of customer needs and business objectives," Airbus President and CEO Louis Gallois said.

Goodrich signed a $10 billion, 20-year contract with Airbus to provide nacelle and thrust reverser systems for all variants of the A350 XWB, which was relaunched last month (ATWOnline, Dec. 4, 2006). Goodrich will integrate its technology into each engine offering and provide Airbus with complete propulsion systems for installation during final assembly. It becomes the first large equipment integrator chosen for the revamped A350.

The Oct. 14, 2004, crash of a Pinnacle Airlines CRJ200 during a repositioning flight was owing to "unprofessional behavior, deviation from standard operating procedures and poor airmanship" on the part of the cockpit crew, "which resulted in an inflight emergency from which they were unable to recover," the US National Transportation Safety Board stated in a report issued yesterday.

Iran Air's six A310s can be fitted with new GE engines thanks to a special approval granted by US authorities, according to Iranian officials cited in press reports. The A310s are stored at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport.