The report of the skilled relanding of a DHL Airbus A300 freighter, without control hydraulics after a missile strike to its wing, also refers to the equal skill shown in relanding a United Airlines DC-10 in 1989 (AW&ST Dec. 8, p. 42). What puzzles me is the apparent lack of a simple safety device--the hydraulic fuse. This would allow pressure to be transmitted but will lock a line when flow rate becomes excessive. This type of device was fitted, I believe, to the A system of the Lockheed L-1011 of the 1970s and was required to be installed in the No.
AND LOTS MORE WORRIES Six areas of concern have been identified by analysts who just completed a two-year analysis of the Air Force's combat capabilities. First on the Capabilities Review and Risk Assessment worry list is the continued development and protection of a global information grid that produces data on demand to warfighters and policymakers. Also on the list are time-sensitive targeting, battle damage assessment and base defense. The last headache was airlift and tankers, where the worries include a shrinking force structure and aging aircraft.
Indonesian private carrier Lion Air aims to capitalize on the weakened situation of state-owned, debt-ridden Merpati Nusantara Airlines to expand its international network. With a fleet of 18 MD-82s, the airline, which started operations in June 2000, will acquire two Boeing 777s early next year to begin flying to Guangzhou, China, and Cheenai, Calcutta and Mumbai in India. It will be the first Indonesian airline to fly to India.
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Nascent protostars glow inside an opaque condensation of dense gas in this infrared image captured by NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility, newly renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope. The inset shows the same scene in visible light, which does not penetrate the gas cloud in the Elephant's Trunk Nebula 2,450 light years distant in the constellation Cepheus.
Several mature low-fare carriers and a former regional feeder airline are acquiring new-mission aircraft in a tactical switch that should generate heated competition even at some of the nation's primary hub airports.
Plans for reinforced European defense and security are down, but not out, following the breakdown of constitutional talks aimed at enshrining such plans in a new European Union treaty. Discussions adjourned on Dec. 13 after the EU heads of state failed to agree on the main tenets of the proposed constitution, in particular voting rules that would eliminate special advantages accorded to Spain and Poland in a previous treaty signed two years ago.
Successive British governments will face everything from minor skirmishes to full-on battle over a 30-year grand strategy for air transport development. Intended to sustain Britain, and in particular the southeast of England, at the heart of a worldwide air traffic route network, the Labor government, Dec. 16, unveiled ambitious capacity expansion plans. These included additional runways at Stansted and Heathrow airports, along with significant regional expansion.
NO BID Faced with congressional instructions to go slow, NASA puts its plans to request industry proposals for the Orbital Space Plane on indefinite hold while the White House figures out a human spaceflight policy. That is a big turnaround for the program, which had been pushing to get a request for proposals (RFP) out the door by the beginning of December. But congressional opposition arose, spearheaded by Reps. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) and Ralph Hall (D-Tex.), their parties' honchos on the House Science Committee.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Harry B. Axson, Jr., has been named deputy director of operations at United States Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla. He was military personnel policy director in the Office of the Deputy Army Chief of Staff.
Jack L. Johnson, Jr., has been named chief security officer of the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. He has held the position on assignment from the Secret Service. U.S. Army Col. (ret.) Richard B. Thomas has been promoted to federal security director from deputy director at Miami International Airport. He succeeds Ed Guevara, who has resigned.
Michael A. Taverna (Dubai), Douglas Barrie (London)
China's two consolidated aerospace enterprises are squaring off over the air force's future trainer needs, with one of the two camps attempting to court European aerospace giant EADS as a potential partner. The first flight of the FTC-2000/JL-9, the China Aviation Industry Corp. I's (AVIC I's) fast-jet trainer contender, was reportedly made on Dec. 13. Meanwhile, AVIC II is scouting around for teammates for its candidate, the L-15/JL-15. The latter is slated to fly no earlier than 2005.
AT WHAT COST? Although the U.S. Army is financing development of a low-cost cruise-missile interceptor, the weapon may have a tough time making it into the service's inventory, indicates Maj. Gen. John M. Urias, Army program executive officer for air, space and missile defense. "The jury is still out" on what role there might be in the service's air defense architecture for such a weapon, he said.
EADS, LHT LINK UP IN DIRCM EADS and Lufthansa Technik (LHT) have agreed to collaborate on directional infrared countermeasures (Dircm) designed to protect civil aircraft from attack by portable surface-to-air missiles (AW&ST Dec. 15, p. 83). EADS will design and supply the systems, based on technologies developed for military aircraft, while LHT will be responsible for installation. Avisys, a U.S. specialist in self-protection systems for VIP (very-important-person) aircraft--a major target of the venture--will also participate.
END OF AN ERA More than 46 years after adding nuclear artillery shells to the U.S. weapons inventory, the Energy Dept.'s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has dismantled the last of such rounds. The W-79, to be fired by 8-in. artillery, was stored at NNSA's Amarillo, Tex.-based Pantex facility. But advocates of nuclear weapons don't have to worry; the Bush administration is pushing development of new generations of such munitions.
ONE VOICE European low-fare carriers are creating a united voice in a counterattack against mounting criticism by full-service airlines that alleges the low costs use unfair methods. The latter are set to form a Brussels-based trade association similar to their competitors' Assn. of European Airlines.
The once-in-a-lifetime event has now happened twice in our lifetimes. Clearly, operators of aircraft with under-wing podded engines should expose their flight crews to total hydraulic failure scenarios during simulator sessions. Doing so may provide the edge that saves the next crew to experience this kind of casualty.
LABOR PAINS The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which has no jurisdiction over issues involving the airline industry, has charged the Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA) with unfair labor practices. The case is related to the union's attempt to enforce a contract scope clause with DHL Worldwide. The NLRB claims jurisdiction on grounds that ALPA is the bargaining agent for 17 pilots at Ross Aviation, a fixed base operator in Albuquerque, N.M. The National Labor Relations Act protects the rights of the 17 pilots and the enforcing agency in the NLRB.
The global fleet of Bell Helicopter Textron's Model 407 light utility helicopter has exceeded 1 million flight-hours after less than eight years in service. Of this amount, more than 50% of the hours have been accrued in the past three years. The turbine-powered aircraft entered operations with customers in 1996. There are 548 of the helicopters operating in 41 countries, flying corporate, law enforcement and emergency medical service missions, according to Bell.
Struggling to create more capacity, regulatory authorities are being tasked by the British government to consider mixed-mode operations at Heathrow airport.
BRICK AND MORTAR DHL Worldwide Express is increasing its capability in the Middle East to meet growing demand. The $10-million expansion includes upgrading facilities at the Jebel Ali facility in the United Arab Emirates, the service center in Beirut and a new installation at Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan. The company also is evaluating additional aircraft for its fleet, which has doubled to 14 transports in the past 18 months. Regional jets are under consideration to augment or replace four turboprop aircraft.
Stan Sloane has become executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solutions, Gaithersburg, Md.. He was president of Lockheed Martin Management and Data Systems.
Bruce Torelli makes a good point in noting that a by-product of the technical civilization enabling humanity to explore space is the light pollution that hides the night sky for an increasing proportion of the population (AW&ST Nov. 24, p. 6). Projections by Cinzano and colleagues, experts on modeling global light pollution, show that 80% of the U.S. population and over 25% of humanity worldwide have lost their view of the night sky. By 2025, these percentages will have increased substantially, given the approximately 6% annual growth in light pollution.
THEY'RE BACK Remember the Air Transportation Stabilization Board? After eight months of little activity, the board and its consultants will shift into high gear again to handle one last big case. United Airlines parent UAL Corp., turned down a year ago on a $1.8-billion-loan guarantee application and in Chapter 11 ever since, seeks a $1.6-billion guarantee--this time as the cornerstone of exit financing it has lined up with JPMorgan and Citigroup. The total loan still would be $2 billion, so the at-risk portion has doubled.
MISSILE WORRIES Operational shortfalls highlighted during the recent Iraq war are putting additional pressure on the Air Force to field the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) ballistic missile launch warning system to replace the Defense Support Program (DSP) spacecraft. Existing satellites couldn't pick up some of Iraq's short-range Ababil and Al-Samoud ballistic missiles in time to relay information to the Joint Tactical Ground Station equipped to directly receive such alerts, says Brig. Gen. Robert P.
