Recovery of an intact flight management computer has helped change the course of the investigation of the American Airlines Boeing 757 crash near Cali, Colombia, on Dec. 20. The new data confirm an earlier suspicion that the Flight 965 crew mistakenly told the computer to fly to Romeo, a nondirectional beacon (NDB) located at Bogota, about 130 naut. mi. to the northeast, and 120 deg. off the desired path. Investigators believe the crew thought they were commanding the aircraft to fly to Rozo, an NDB that was straight ahead and part of the Cali approach.
The Institute for National Strategic Studies recently undertook a detailed evaluation of U.S. national security issues as they relate to potential conflict and foreign policy. The institute is an adjunct of the National Defense University in Washington. Following are excerpts from its report ``Strategic Assessment 1996: Instruments of U.S. Power. Below the level of great power challenges lies the question of nuclear deterrence against a regional power possessing NBC (nuclear, biological or chemical) weapons.
JOHN D. MORROCCO, PIERRE SPARACO and MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM
Photograph: Raytheon's AIM-9X design features a rotate-to-view nose, with an oblique window that houses the missile's seeker and can be slaved to a helmet-mounted sight. Hughes unveiled its design for the U.K.'s Future Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (FMRAAM) here, while Raytheon revealed its rotating seeker concept for the U.S. AIM-9X competition. Raytheon's AIM-9X design features a high-resolution, ``rotate-to-view'' seeker. The outer seeker head casing, slightly larger in diameter than the missile body, rotates 360 deg.
Long-term defense funding issues swirl in the background of the cruise missile raids on Iraq. As in three earlier attacks beginning in 1991, the Pentagon used cruise missiles last week to attack Iraqi targets and to avoid the possibility that U.S. aircrews could be shot down and captured. However, future production or conversion of the missiles--either the Navy's Block 3 Tomahawk land attack missile (TLAM) or the Air Force's conventionally armed air-launched cruise missile (CALCM)--is not a certainty.
American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Assn. (APA) have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor pact, which if ratified would extend to the year 2000. The agreement--which must be endorsed by the APA Board of Directors and the organization's membership--was reached Sept. 2. American's 9,200 pilots have been working without a current contract since 1994.
Flying displays at this year's Farnborough Air Show featured some outstanding presentations, but were marred by the failure of the Sukhoi Su-37 to qualify for the normal show display until later in the week. Sukhoi chief project pilot Yevgeny Frolov flew his routine prior to the Sept. 2 opening day, but Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) officials said that he had violated the parameters of the flying zone, especially the no-fly zone over the spectators.
U.S. SATELLITE MANUFACTURERS, prospering from a multitude of new orders, continue to search for new sources of launch services to get their spacecraft into orbit. Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) is now negotiating for launches on Japan's new H-2A commercial booster. The company has reached an initial agreement with Japan's Rocket System Corp., a launch service consortium of 73 space-related companies, to launch five SS/L-assembled communication satellites between 2000-2005. The preliminary contract is valued at $370 million.
Boeing Commercial Airplane Group launched the Boeing 757-300 and disclosed orders for 80 jetliners valued at more than $8.4 billion--but it did not launch the stretched 747-500X or -600X. It is getting closer, however, according to Ron Woodard, president of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. Boeing's board of directors has authorized the aircraft maker to make offers to customers, and Woodard said he expected decisions from airlines ``very soon.
Continental Express, the regional airline partner of Continental Airlines, has become the first North American customer for the EMB-145 with a firm order for 25 of the 50-seat Embraer regional jets. It also took options for a staggering 175 more.
The bankrupt Fokker Aircraft Co. is still attracting interested suitors who are engaged in exploratory talks with a court trustee, even as the Dutch manufacturer's last commercial transports are assembled. Dutch officials claim that, theoretically at least, ongoing exploratory talks held by the Court of Amsterdam's trustee with interested parties still could pave the way for an 11th-hour agreement to revitalize the company.
Airports in two western U.S. states again broke records for passenger traffic in July. Albuquerque, N.M.'s international ``Sunport'' logged 620,670 arrivals and departures, an 8% increase over July, 1995, and the busiest in the field's history. Southwest Airlines led with 263,822 passengers. To the north, Colorado Springs--one of the fastest-growing airports in the nation--served 495,946 travelers, setting a new record. The airport handled 2.75 million passengers in the first seven months of 1996, 123% more than in the same period in 1995.
Edward J. Bender (see photo) has been appointed sales manager of the Military Products Div. of Palomar Products Inc., Carlsbad, Calif. He was director of North American sales for Datron World Communications, Escondido, Calif.
A FEDERAL EXPRESS DC-10 was extensively damaged by fire at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., Sept. 5 after the crew made an emergency landing due to warnings from smoke detection devices on the main cargo deck. The aircraft, Flight 1406, was diverted to Stewart shortly before 6 a.m. en route from Memphis to Boston. After landing safely and taxiing off the runway, crewmembers were able to get off the aircraft and were taken to a local hospital, where they were later released.
FOUR AVIATION WEEK GROUP EDITORS won top honors in the first Royal Aeronautical Society aerospace journalist of the year competition. The awards were presented in London during the Farnborough Air Show.
The Mars Pathfinder lander is being assembled for the last time at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for its mission to Mars. The scheduled 24-day launch period begins Dec. 2. The unfolding side panels of the lander, with the micro-rover attached to one of them, are scheduled to be closed Sept. 30 at the KSC Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-2 (Saef-2). The Pathfinder is intended to prove designs for a new generation of complex science missions to Mars that will be less expensive than previous missions there, but flown far more frequently.
Farnborough '96 opened on an upbeat note last week with senior U.K. cabinet ministers guaranteeing that the biennial air show would continue to be held here despite government plans to sell off the site to the private sector. A sprinkling of new aircraft were on display for the first time here, including the thrust-vectoring Su-37 and the first U.K.-built Eurofighter 2000.
U.S. Navy Capt. John V. Chenevey has succeeded Rear Adm. Dana B. McKinney as commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Div., China Lake, Calif. Chenevey was Washington-based program manager for conventional strike weapons. McKinney has become commander of the NAWC's Aircraft Div., succeeding Rear Adm. Don Newsome.
LOCKHEED MARTIN'S TACTICAL AIRCRAFT Systems, Ft. Worth, Tex., is applying a configuration management software system that it first acquired for F-22 software, to a broader use for the F-16. The company is using SQL Software's PCMS Dimensions to manage the life-cycle configuration for the test stations for F-16 avionics software. Over 100 vendors are using the system, working in parallel on hardware, firmware and software changes.
Messier-Bugatti, Snecma group's wheel and brake subsidiary, is implementing a revised strategic plan that is intended to slash costs further and boost the company's profitability and market share. In 1995, after accumulating losses for several years, the Velizy-headquartered company made a $3.92-million profit on $292.6-million sales and its Chairman/CEO Yves Leclere expects further increases.
THE ASSN. OF FLIGHT Attendants planned to file a challenge to the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s tentative finding that ValuJet Airlines is fit to resume revenue operations. The union, the bargaining agent for ValuJet's cabin crewmembers, had charged prior to that Aug. 29 ruling that ValuJet Chairman Robert Priddy and President Lewis Jordan are unfit and unwilling to operate a safe airline, a charge the airline rejects. ValuJet has four days to respond to any challenge to the order.
U.S.-Indonesia relations will survive even if the Clinton Administration withdraws its offer to sell the island nation nine F-16A/Bs, according to the Suharto government. Despite those assurances, some U.S.-based analysts predict that Jakarta might respond to a cancellation by ordering more British Aerospace Hawks.
Northrop Grumman has at long last acknowledged the existence of its Ferret reconnaissance missile by placing one on display at the Army Aviation Simulation Symposium in suburban Virginia. Four have been built so far (AW&ST May 30, 1994, p. 73). Its classified ``special acquisition sensor'' borrows heavily from the multispectral sensors developed for the company's Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) weapon. Real-time target detection of helicopters, UAVs and missiles was demonstrated during recent unpowered Ferret flight tests at China Lake, Calif. The 6-ft. long, 145-lb.
The GE-P&W Engine Alliance used Farnborough to unveil its concept for a new engine series to power the Boeing 747-500X/-600X, and introduce the principal officers of the recently-formed joint venture. General Electric will build the high-pressure core of the ``GP7000'' series, and Pratt&Whitney will build the fan and low pressure compressor and turbine. Pratt&Whitney will have final assembly and test responsibility.
