Defective fan blades on General Electric CF34-3B1s should be taken out of service before another inflight fire or engine failure occurs—so says the NTSB, labeling the associated safety risks “unacceptably high.”
Tiger Airways this year plans to add two Airbus A319s to its Australian operation so it can use airports smaller than those needed for its A320s. Use of Sydney’s general aviation facility, Bankstown, is a possibility. If Tiger does use Bankstown, Sydney finally would have a second airport for scheduled services. The Singaporean budget carrier is also setting up a pilot-training program in Australia.
Expansion of Singapore’s Budget Terminal for low-cost operators is expected to begin in July to increase its handling capacity from 2.7 million passengers annually to 7 million. Planned additions include seven check-in counters (for a total of 25), three boarding gates (for a total of 10) and more baggage handling equipment. When work is completed early next year, the floor area will increase slightly to 309,000 sq. ft.
Chicago-based NavAero Inc. has received a supplemental type certificate (STC) from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for its t-bagC2 electronic flight bag system for use on almost all models of the Boeing 737. Saab Aerotech Aircraft Services and SAS Scandinavian Airlines helped obtain the STC for the Class 2 EFB for 737NG and classic series aircraft. The installation will be part of flight demonstrations occurring at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Officials at NavAero says this is the first Class 2 EFB approved by EASA.
British space scientists and astronomers have until Mar. 21 to say why programs threatened by funding cuts at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) should be spared the ax. The council has issued a list of priorities, with several notable programs listed as “lower priority.” These include Bepi-Colombo, the European Space Agency (ESA) Mercury mission.
Donald S. Lopez, deputy director of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington and a World War II fighter ace, died Mar. 3 at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., from a heart attack. He was 84.
The British Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee is the latest body to try to determine when Iran might be capable of fielding a nuclear weapon. In a report published last week, the panel notes: “Although technological constraints are likely to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, if that is its intention, in the near future, there is nevertheless a strong possibility that it could establish a ‘breakout’ nuclear weapons capability by 2015.”
Get moving, Senate, and make FAA reauthorization legislation a top priority. So urge 35 aviation groups in a letter signed, sealed and delivered to policymakers on Mar. 5. Just about everyone in the transport and general aviation sectors—controllers, airport operators, airlines, aircraft makers, pilots, flight attendants, maintenance technicians, even the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Assn.—is represented in the coalition seeking passage of a comprehensive, long-term reauthorization bill.
U.S. airlines want the FAA to change its proposed Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast mandate to reduce the avionics costs and provide benefits sooner so they can reap a return on their investments.
The White House and the Pentagon finally have an agreement on the UH-71 presidential helicopter. It has survived, it will be restructured, and they have identified $4 billion to fund the rejiggered program. Details will be revealed soon. From the beginning it was thought the program was underfunded and had too few people assigned to it to meet all the demands for concurrency. Military pilots with insight into the program say the right helicopter was picked—a product of AgustaWestland.
The first air-to-air refueling tests for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 are planned to begin this week, clearing the way for the eventual transfer of the first Joint Strike Fighter demonstrators to Edwards AFB, Calif.
Apr. 15-16—AVIATION WEEK Interiors, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Apr. 15-17—MRO Conference and Exhibition, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sept. 23-25—MRO Europe, Madrid. Oct. 14-16—MRO Asia, Singapore. PARTNERSHIPS Mar. 31-Apr. 6—FIDAE, Santiago, Chile. Apr. 1-3—JEC Composites, Paris. Apr. 7-10—U.S. Space Foundation, Colorado Springs. May 27-June 1—ILA Berlin air show. June 16-18—Aircraft Interiors-Middle East, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
USN Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., has been nominated for promotion to vice admiral and assignment as deputy chief of naval operations for communication networks at the Pentagon. He has been director for operations of the U.S. Southern Command in Miami. Rear Adm. (lower half) William E. Shannon has been named program executive officer for strike weapons and unmanned aviation at NAS Patuxent River, Md. He has been vice commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, also at Patuxent River. Rear Adm. (lower half) Kendall L.
Rafale International, a joint venture of Dassault Aviation, Thales and Snecma, has opened an office in Athens to sell fourth-generation Rafale fighters to the Greek air force. The office also will serve to expand technology exchange and cooperation with Hellenic Aerospace Industry and other Greek defense companies. In November, Dassault completed delivery of Mirage 2000-5 combat aircraft to Greece. Reinforcing arms exports is a major objective under French President Nicolas Sarkozy (AW&ST Mar. 3, p. 33).
In mid-May, Singapore Airlines plans to launch all business-class service on transpacific flights to New York and Los Angeles with its five A340-500LRs. “The peak demand for the nonstop flights is from our business-class customers, and this change will expand business-class capacity to 100 from 64 seats on each flight,” says Huang Cheng Eng, SIA executive vice president of marketing and regions. Initial service will be offered on the Singapore-New York route, expanding to daily flights by the end of June, with service to Los Angeles starting by late September.
Paul Tate, who has been chief financial officer of Frontier Airlines , has been appointed chief operating officer of Air Methods of Denver, effective Mar. 31.
Boeing has reached the halfway point in design releases for its 747-8 Freighter, which is due to begin production in early autumn. Design releases have been equally distributed among the aircraft’s major components—wing, fuselage, interiors, propulsion and systems—and have gone to all key suppliers. Launch customers All Nippon Cargo and Cargolux are to start taking deliveries in late 2009. Boeing has 78 orders from 10 customers for the freighter.
In audited 2007 full-year results issued last week, London-based Inmarsat reported revenues of $576.5 million, 15.3% higher than 2006, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $388.1 million, up 17%. Pre-tax profit rose 39%, to $124.8 million. Results included Inmarsat’s share in CIP Holdings Ltd., notably its subsidiary Stratos, a major Inmarsat distributor. Inmarsat has a call option to acquire CIP through Apr. 14, 2009, and both companies have indicated it will be exercised.
Tons of ice and dust cascade down a 2,300-ft.-tall cliff at the edge of the ice cap surrounding the north pole of Mars in this image collected by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRise) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The false-color image, part of a larger scene centered at 83.7 deg. N. Lat., shows the carbon dioxide frost that covers the polar cap at left. The frost is disappearing as the planet’s northern spring advances, and at the moment MRO passed overhead on Feb. 19, an avalanche of material had just plunged down the 60-deg.
It has long been believed that data fades quickly from a computer’s memory and that its encryption is sound once the computer is shut down. Not so, found Princeton University researchers who pried even encrypted data from memory chips after computer power was turned off.
Airbus A380s will usher in a “new era” for the fast-growing Emirates, says airline President Tim Clark. The Dubai-based carrier has 58 A380s on order, five of which will be delivered this year. Emirates will offer nonstop A380 service between Dubai and New York beginning Oct. 1, London Heathrow on Dec. 1 and Sydney-Auckland on Feb. 2, 2009. The aircraft on these routes will be in a 489-seat, three-class configuration. Its A380 fleet will also comprise a medium-range, three-class 517-seat configuration and a medium-range, two-class 604-seater.
The unused Long March 3C version of the current generation of Chinese launchers will finally go into service this year, having apparently been shelved after its development was first described about a decade ago. It is composed of a Long March 3A core rocket with two strap-on boosters. Launch capacity has been stated as 3.7 metric tons to geostationary orbit.
Kentron, now Denel Dynamics, was established with the aim of providing an isolated South Africa with an independent guided-weapons capability, irrespective of cost. Its problems typify those faced by the South African defense sector. Outgoing CEO Shaun Liebenberg is trying to determine how to secure Denel Dynamics’ future during his final months at Denel’s helm. His recommendations were due to go before the Denel board at the end of February.
Northrop Grumman’s San Diego facility scooped up an $18.6-million USAF contract to construct a Virtual Combat Environment for Electronic Conflict. The facility is to allow design and development of advanced electronic warfare, cyberspace and information operation technologies; evaluation of sensors; demonstration of layered sensing and battle management; and identification of advanced disruptive technologies.
With the delay of Boeing 787s and the opening of more slots in Tokyo, Japan Airlines is considering how to juggle seats for the best yields, as is its rival All Nippon Airways.
