In hopes of erasing lingering doubts about the cause of the TWA Flight 800 crash, the FBI has agreed to turn over to the National Transportation Safety Board summaries of interviews with 458 eyewitnesses to the July 1996 accident. Skepticism about the NTSB's theory--that the 747-100 crashed because Jet A vapor exploded in its center tank--has been fanned by the FBI's refusal to allow the NTSB full access to the eyewitness or the Bureau's accounts of its interviews.
Leroy Keith, formerly director of Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, has been named technical director of the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines.
Ariane 5 program managers have decided to install a second attitude control system (ACS) on flight 503 in order to correct a roll torque problem that caused flight 502 to inject a dummy payload into an incorrect orbit. The next launch will be the second and final qualification mission for the heavy-lift booster.
A $375-million Japanese research spacecraft important to future Japanese commercial communications and relay satellite development is in a useless orbit following the malfunction of the LE-5A second stage of its H-2 booster. The incident marks the worst launch vehicle failure in the history of the Japanese space program.
Passengers responding to a survey conducted by the International Air Transport Assn. (IAIA) rated the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport ``best in the U.S.'' for connecting flights to destinations within North America. IATA's Airport Monitor Survey asked passengers to rank 30 airports in North America in six categories. DFW received high ratings in three other classifications--availability of connecting flights to cities outside of North America, ease of ground transportation and overall convenience for leisure travel.
EuroLOT, the new regional airline created by Polish airline LOT last year, has concluded an agreement to acquire five 48-seat ATR 42-300s and holds an option for three more. The aircraft, to be delivered starting in June, are intended to serve routes too thin for the carrier's 64-seat ATR 72s. Together, EuroLOT and LOT operate eight ATR 72s. A total of 23 ATRs are now in operation with five Central European airlines.
Recent imagery from a U.S. weather satellite may be the first that shows the still-smoldering area where a meteorite struck Earth. Satellite imagery has often provided the convincing evidence of ancient craters. Most have been worn over the eons and thus are obscure scars sometimes spotted more easily from the perspective of space. But this would be the equivalent of real-time imagery when considered on geologic time scales.
The Venezuelan air force is in the market for a new jet trainer to replace its fleet of aging T-2Ds. Contractors have been invited to submit proposals for an initial procurement of six aircraft, although the total buy is expected to involve 18-24 trainers. The British Aerospace Hawk, Aer- macchi MB. 339, Aero Vodochody L-159, Embraer AMX, MAPO-MiG MiG-AT and Romania IAR-99 are among the expected contenders. A decision is to be announced at the end of April.
Japan's National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) is developing an aerodynamic model of a supersonic transport for drop tests. The 40-ft., 4,000-lb. unmanned and non-powered vehicle is to be dropped from altitudes of 47,000-65,000 ft. in four tests planned in 2001 and 2002. A launch vehicle and site have not been selected for the 2.6-billion-yen ($2.1-million) program, but the most likely choice is to drop the vehicle from a J-1 flying above the Woomera test station in Australia.
AN EXPERIMENTAL SATELLITE for the Teledesic low-Earth orbit Ka-band communications system was launched Feb. 25, and controllers expected to contact it late on Feb. 26. The Teledesic T1 prototype was built by Orbital Sciences, Teledesic, and Boeing, and previously was called ``Batsat'' by Orbital, without revealing its Teledesic role.
Jean-Claude Lepage has become executive vice president of France's Labinal group. He will remain executive officer of the Labinal Aero Systems Div. and chairman/CEO of Labinal affiliate Technofan.
Neal Lane has become director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, succeeding Jack Gibbons, who has retired. Lane has been director of the National Science Foundation and will be succeeded by Rita Colwell, president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute.
Stephen R. Stanvik has been appointed vice president of the Raytheon Systems Co.'s (RSC) Air/Missile Defense Systems, Bedford, Mass. Thomas C. Ligon has been named vice president of RSC's Naval and Maritime Systems, Portsmouth, R.I. Stanvik was manager of missile and defense systems and Ligon manager of naval systems for Raytheon Electronic Systems.
At what point does airline competition end and anticompetitive practices begin? The Justice Dept. and Transportation Dept. are both wrestling with the question but in different ways. With a new wave of evidence-seeking, Justice has expanded its inquiry into whether small, new-entrant and low-fare airlines are unfairly treated by dominant carriers at key hubs. The issues are not easy. Have upstarts been forced off some routes by below-cost, predatory pricing, or have new carriers simply made some bad business decisions?
The existing U.S. commercial launch industry, led by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, threatens to be overwhelmed--or even driven out of the commercial launch business--by upstart low-cost competitors unless the government and the two aerospace giants move to retool the federal space launch site infrastructure, senior space managers warn. The issue is critical even though the U.S. is about to introduce the new Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle family. Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin are developing EELV families for USAF.
ROCKWELL COLLINS WILL SUPPLY the communication and navigation suite for the new Boeing Business Jet, a derivative of the 737-700. The package is based on the Rockwell Collins Series 900 com/nav sensors. It includes Collins GLU-920 Multimode receiver which has ILS/MLS/GPS (instrument landing system/microwave landing system/GPS) in a single unit. The MMR was recently certified on Icelandair's 757-200s. Also on board will be a Collins TCAS-2 (Traffic-alert Collision Avoidance System-2) and WXR-700X forward-looking wind shear weather radar.
Southwest Airlines' initial operating experience with the Boeing 737-700 indicates the aircraft is achieving a dispatch rate of more than 99% while experiencing only minor technical anomalies that are not affecting service.
Mary A. Simmerman has been appointed general manager for supplier and materials management for the U.S. Air Force airlift and tanker programs for the Boeing Co., Long Beach, Calif. She was director business operations and program affordability for the C-17 program.
Philip A. Odeen chaired the National Defense Panel, which was created by Congress to provide independent, innovative thinking about future U.S. defense needs and to critique the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review (AW&ST Dec. 8, 1997, p. 28). Here are excerpts from Odeen's recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Boeing is progressing with its production recovery plan as the company works toward a sharp rate increase on next-generation 737 transports, scheduled to reach 14 aircraft per month in April, according to Boeing officials. Ronald B. Woodard, president of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said overall parts shortages, behind-schedule jobs and out-of-sequence work are at--or better than--current recovery plan target levels developed by the company late last year.
Charles Carr has been named vice president-communications and Wolfdietrich Hoeveler head of public relations, for Eurofighter GmbH., Halbergmoos, Germany. Andy Lewis, based in Wharton, England, is now director of group sales support for Eurofighter.
James L. Masoner has been appointed manager of sales and service at the Neosho, Mo., facility of Premier Turbines. He was a customer service manager for General Electric Engine Services Inc.
