China has given final approval for Beijing- based Air China to buy five Boeing 747-8 passenger aircraft, completing a deal announced last year. The order is the first in 14 months for the 467-passenger, four-engine transport and raises the model's order count to 111: 35 passenger aircraft and 76 freighters. It also increases the year's sales count for Boeing to 671 aircraft, 667 of which are for single-aisle 737NGs and 737 MAXs.
USAF Brig. Gen. Balan R. Ayyar has been assigned to become rule-of-law deputy for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, under U.S. Central Command in Kabul. He has been commander of the Air Force Recruiting Service and director of recruiting at Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph AFB, Texas. Honors and Elections
Airbus Military is once again investigating the loss of a boom from one of its A330-based Multi-Role Tanker Transports (MRTTs). On the eve of the ILA Berlin Air Show, the company encountered an embarrassing problem with its A330-based tanker program. During a post-production checkout flight, the refueling boom of a tanker bound for the United Arab Emirates fell off the aircraft in flight. This is the second such incident for Airbus Military.
Nongluck Phinainitisart, chief commercial officer of Thaicom, and Jean-Paul Hoffmann, VP-corporate communications for SES, have been named to the New York-based Society of Satellite Professionals International's Awards Committee.
It is probably a myth that exit-row passengers actually read the briefing cards on commercial aircraft, but there is another latent hazard that has gone largely unaddressed. A recent flight I was on was nearly filled—except for the extra-price exit-row seats. In an emergency evacuation event, there could have been pandemonium with panicked passengers trying to figure out how to open the exits. It is a safe bet that this condition was not taken into consideration when the aircraft underwent its certification trials.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. has finished assembling the first Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet intended for Mexican carrier Interjet. This green aircraft is undergoing flight trials and should be delivered to SuperJet International, the joint venture between Sukhoi and Alenia Aermacchi, by the end of September.
If circumstances dictate outcomes, Ethiopian Airlines should be a small carrier. It is based in one of the world's poorest countries that has an economy still largely dependent on agriculture. And yet, the airline's management is building a regional powerhouse.
General Electric will inspect a GEnx-2B engine that failed at high thrust during the takeoff run of an Air Bridge Cargo Boeing 747-8F in Shanghai on Sept 11. Although GE says it is too early to connect this event with the failure in July of a GEnx-1B engine on a 787 at Charleston, S.C., the initial evidence indicates several similarities. The crew rejected the takeoff and returned to the ramp where visual inspection revealed contained damage to the low-pressure turbine, though just as with the Charleston event, parts of the turbine assembly exited from the tailpipe.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is negotiating with the FAA to allow the Grasshopper reusable launch test vehicle to fly at higher altitudes as part of a planned series of launch and landing evaluations. The Grasshopper is a prototype testbed for a reusable first-stage booster concept that SpaceX hopes will lower launch costs. Following initial static fire tests of the 106-ft.-tall vehicle, SpaceX aims to execute several mini-hops with flights expected to reach 200-240 ft.
A high-profile ATM blunder in Washington underscores the growing demand for high-fidelity surveillance data of aircraft on the ground. On July 31, miscommunication between remotely located approach controllers in Virginia and tower controllers at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) led to a loss of separation as the tower cleared aircraft to depart northbound while terminal area controllers were lining up arrivals for landing in the opposite direction.
Can industry really police itself? That's the question the Transportation Department's Inspector General will pose the second time starting Sept. 19, in an audit of the FAA's voluntary disclosure reporting program. The IG's review of the program comes as lawmakers continue to be concerned about the findings of a 2008 Inspector General's audit that found an FAA inspector and Southwest Airlines ducked the system.
Bernhard Gerwert (see photo) has been appointed CEO of EADS's Cassidian division and a member of the EADS Group Executive Committee. He was the division's chief operating officer. Other new committee members are: John Leahy, chief operating officer-customers, and Guenther Butschek, chief operating officer, both of Airbus.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 lofted NROL-36, a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Sept. 13. The launcher included a 4-meter fairing and a single Centaur upper stage, but no solid rocket boosters. As is typical of classified missions, there was little comment about the status of the ascent. The only confirmation was success through the payload-fairing separation.
