Clarification: The MD-11 that crashed at Hong Kong on Aug. 22 was operated as a China Airlines flight even though it was flown in Mandarin Airlines colors (AW&ST Sept. 27, p. 44). Its flight and cabin crew were from China Airlines.
Geoff Hoon has taken over as U.K. Defense secretary, succeeding Lord Robertson who started his new job last week as NATO secretary general. A surprise choice, Hoon has little background in military affairs but comes to the job with extensive European credentials and is expected to press ahead with moves already underway to create a stronger European security and defense identity within Europe. A lawyer, Hoon was a member of the European parliament from 1984-94.
The spares inventory and ordering systems for 10,500 Boeing and McDonnell Douglas jet transports flying today have been combined and integrated into the Boeing Sonic system. The melding of Sonic, which stands for Spares Ordering Nonstop Inventory Control, and the Douglas Co-op (Customer Order Online Processing) system required shutting down Co-op, removing and reformatting data for over 500,000 Douglas parts and thousands of orders, and then transferring the data.
A cabinet shakeup by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi has brought some familiar faces back into ministerial posts in his coalition government. Toshihiro Nikai, 60, a senior minister of the Liberal Party, has been named Transport Minister; Hirofumi Nakasone, 53, son of former premier Yasuhiro Nakasone and a Liberal Democratic Party member, is Science and Technology Minister; Tsutomu Kawara, 62, also a Liberal Party member and a former defense minister, will take that post again; and Takashi Fukaya, 64, a Liberal Democrat, will be International Trade and Industry Minister.
Lorraine Bolsinger has become vice president-services product management at GE Aircraft Engines, Evendale, Ohio. She was general manager for military marketing and marine engines.
The Senate's defeat of a global nuclear test ban portends a shift toward the nation's increased reliance on its nuclear deterrent, and the phaseout of strategic arms control as that deterrent's backstop, experts say.
AirTran may accelerate the retirement of its 40 DC-9-30s as it receives new Boeing 717-200s, the airline warned investors last week. AirTran Holdings officials said the retirements could result in a charge of up to $150 million against earnings for the fourth quarter. The airline faces rising costs of operating the DC-9s, particularly if the FAA enacts requirements for the wholesale replacement of thermal/acoustic insulation on the aircraft.
Prepare for possible political instability abroad arising from Y2K computer date rollover problems and an increased demand on U.S. military and humanitarian assistance, a new CIA assessment warns. ``Y2K has a unique capacity to produce multiple, simultaneous crises,'' CIA's Lawrence K. Gershwin tells a Senate committee. Russia, Ukraine, China and Indonesia are especially worrisome.
The remarkable growth of fractional business-jet ownership in recent years is apt to continue for the foreseeable future, barring the impact of a severe U.S. economic downturn. Even in that environment, most industry players believe fractional sales would remain strong, though possibly at a reduced level.
Motorola is seeking to solve another Iridium problem with a new satellite phone that is one-third smaller than initial Iridium phones. The 9505 model handset is scheduled to go on sale early next year. Motorola also hopes to have encrypted Iridium phones ready by mid-2000.
The NASA/AeroVironment Helios electric drone used throttle alone to control pitch during its successful second flight. Normally full-span elevators on the flying wing are used to damp pitch, but engineers believe throttle control will be more reliable for the drone's envisioned months-long solar-powered flights. With dihedral, the outboard of Helios' 14 motors are higher than the inboard, allowing the use of differential thrust to control pitch on the Sept. 29 flight.
Ghanem Al-Hajri has been elected president of Airports Council International for 2000-01. He is director general of the Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, airport authority. He succeeds Jean Fleury, former chairman/CEO of ADP Paris airports authority.
The South Korean National Tax Service (NTS) has imposed a record penalty of 541.6 billion won ($446.5 million) on subsidiaries of the Hanjin Group, including Korean Air, and their managers for tax avoidance. The NTS also has launched a formal investigation of group founder Cho Choong-hoon and his sons, Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho and Hanjin Shipping President Cho Soo-ho, on charges of revenue fraud and violating the foreign exchange law.
A U.S. District Court jury found American Airlines liable for the emotional distress suffered by 13 passengers on a 1995 Los Angeles-New York flight that struck turbulence, and ordered the carrier to pay the passengers $2.22 million in damages. Only one of the passengers on board the flight has suffered any lasting physical injuries from the 30 sec. of severe turbulence. Lawyers predicted the award, if it stands, will spur lawsuits from other turbulence-related incidents.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace's proposed merger with Aerospatiale Matra will create, along with the combination of British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems, two powerful entities ready to compete and/or strike deals on roughly equal terms with their U.S. competitors. The move also will help break the deadlock among Airbus Industrie partners over transforming the consortium into a Single Corporate Entity.
Robert Holly has been named a partner in Fort Worth-based DDH Aviation. He was vice president-marketing services for the Bombardier Aerospace Corp.'s Canadair Challenger.
British Aerospace Systems&Equipment of Plymouth, England, has successfully completed a two-week initial flight trial of its Terprom digital terrain mapping and navigation system on a British Army Lynx helicopter. The system provided terrain cues at altitudes as low as 100 ft. Further flight tests of Terprom, initially designed for fast, low-flying jets, are planned with the British Army and a U.S. helicopter manufacturer next year.
Seeking a commanding lead in the race to build ever more powerful telecommunications spacecraft, Hughes Space and Communications Co. officials have unveiled plans for a satellite that would offer unprecedented power, transponder capacity and solar cell efficiency. The ``702-plus'' geosynchronous platform, based on Hughes' new HS 702 bus, would provide 25 kw. of power at end of life and solar cells with 35% efficiency, enabling it to carry more than 100 transponders.
The East Timor crisis has provided Australia's Defense Dept. with an unexpected chance to test the new Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN), the country's over-the-horizon radar network. It is tracking East Timorese air operations from a transmitter at Longreach in Queensland. Defense officials say JORN operates at ranges up to 6,500 naut. mi. from its transmitter--well above the published figure of 1,875 naut. mi. Such a capability would give the Australians an ability to monitor air traffic throughout Asia, depending on conditions in the ionosphere.
President Clinton has signed a $47-billion Transportation Appropriations Act for Fiscal 2000, despite a $144-million congressional cut in his budget request for the FAA's operations and capital programs. Although the act expands the Coast Guard's search and rescue and drug interdiction operations, the President said, the FAA shortfall will slow the hiring of safety and security personnel (AW&ST Oct. 11, p. 30).
The second in what may be a long string of reports on lessons from the air war over Yugoslavia was released by the Pentagon late last week. It says that to ease allied concerns about collateral damage, the U.S. adopted a two-tier system in which military commanders approved most targets, but those in downtown Belgrade and those likely to involve great collateral damage required coalition approval.
Go, the low-cost subsidiary of British Airways, will add two new services starting Dec. 15, bringing its route network to 17 destinations in nine countries. The carrier plans to inaugurate daily services from its London Stansted hub to Lyons, France, and Zurich. The latter service is subject to government approval, which is expected next month.
John D. (Mike) Rice, director of the New Mexico Aviation Div., and Gary R. Ness, director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission, have been elected to the board of directors of the National Assn. of State Aviation Officials Center for Aviation Research and Education. Demetrius D. Glass, director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation, was elected board chairman and Ness board treasurer. Other board members are: Raymond J.
Singapore Airlines was expected to confirm its membership in the Star Alliance late last week. Star members gathered in Tokyo to celebrate the entry of All Nippon Airways into the airline grouping. SIA's membership had been in some doubt after its attempts to buy an equity stake in Star Alliance member Ansett Australia failed. But it reportedly turned away other overtures. Its inclusion will lead Star into a dominant position in Asia, with Thai International, Ansett, Air New Zealand and ANA already members.
The Army and Boeing are testing the Rotorcraft Pilot's Associate (RPA) in a Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter, and believe the system is ready to be transitioned to operational aircraft. The RPA software and design methodology are versatile enough that they have been chosen for other vehicles. Boeing will use RPA to plan and monitor a flight of several unmanned combat air vehicles, and the Army may use it to help a ground reconnaissance vehicle crew.
