TCAS Software Safety Upgrade Counters Deficiencies, ACSS Says Improvements to address what Eurocontrol safety specialists have termed serious issues in traffic alert and collision avoidance (TCAS) system software logic are poised for market introduction to business, commercial and military users by Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems (ACSS).
Sabena technics started offering Airbus A320 line maintenance in Kuwait City and is in the planning stages of building a hangar there, in conjunction with partner Al Wazzan Group. Sabena technics plans to perform light and heavy maintenance checks on A320 aircraft at the new facility. Wataniya is the launch customers.
Compact Videoscopes Two new industrial videoscopes from Olympus NDT measure one-third the size and half the weight of its previous devices, making the new equipment well-suited for remote visual inspections when access is limited. Designed for operation by users at any experience level, Olympus' new IPLEX LX and IPLEX LT tools should simplify remote visual inspections of areas such as inside boiler rooms, airplane fuselages and wind turbine gear boxes.
Aegean Airlines signed a follow-up airframe maintenance contract with Lufthansa Technik for 19 additional aircraft. Lufthansa Technik Malta and Shannon Aerospace, both wholly owned by LHT, will perform the C checks on 14 Airbus A320s, three A321s and two Boeing 737s between December and February 2011.
Chromalloy won a $3.3 million contract award to provide high-pressure turbine nozzle repairs for the F108 gas turbine engines that power the U.S. Air Force KC-135R fleet of more than 400 tanker aircraft, deployed from Tinker Air Force Base.OM
Pressure to cut costs is sending airframes outside airline shops and often far from home markets. Labor rates, which represent up to 70% of heavy-check costs, simply differ too much among regions to ignore. Cost-saving pressures intensified in 2009, but there are new twists on the cost side. Labor rates have converged among some regions. Long-term, some low-cost regions may become more expensive. New MRO facilities could open in countries or regions not now actively considered. Exchange rates could shift. And the U.S.
William Chauvette , well known in the aviation aftermarket industry, died on Sept. 5 in Quechee, Vt., at 59. He held positions at General Dynamics, PerkinElmer Sealol, Westfield Gage, Bearing Inspection, and Turbine Controls, and most recently had returned to work at Westfield Gage. Airframes
Rolls-Royce is developing a fuel-burn performance improvement package on the Trent 900 designed to keep the Airbus A380 engine competitive in its fiercely contested battle with the Engine Alliance GP7200. The package, which like the one for the Trent 700EP, will be offered as an upgrade kit for existing engines. It introduces elliptical leading-edge modifications throughout the entire compression system, including improved high- and intermediate-pressure compressor blades and vanes.
Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance will continue heavy maintenance for Virgin Atlantic Airways’ Boeing 747-400 aircraft through 2011. The U.K. carrier decided to extend its original contract with AFI KLM E&M, signed in July 2008 and due to expire at the end of 2010, for another year. Heavy maintenance takes place at AFI KLM E&M’s Schipol Airport facilities in the Netherlands. Nine C and D checks are scheduled for 2011.
Brim Aviation to install Brim Aviation tundra pads, a cargo rack and a Tech Tools 369/500 bubble window on a MD Helicopter 600N helicopter, Several STCs
Boeing won two separate U.S. Air Force contracts together worth $4.2 million to support the modernization of 365 A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. The first, to be performed by Boeing and Southwest Research Institute, provides engineering services for the A-10 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program. Boeing will work with partners Raytheon Technical Services and BAE Systems Platform Solutions on the second contract, which is for a trade study analysis and operational assessment/proof of concept for the aircraft’s upgraded data transfer unit.
Lufthansa Technik signed its 2,000th aircraft under a total support contract as part of an 18-aircraft expansion of a deal with Aeroflot Russian Airlines. The new agreement brings the total number of Aeroflot Airbus A320s covered by LHT total support from 45 to 63.
Operating experience in Iraq and Afghanistan is adding urgency to demands for dramatic improvements in rotorcraft technology. While increased speed, payload and maneuverability are high on the U.S. armed services’ wish lists, improvements in operational availability, mission reliability and logistic supportability get high priority. And, there is growing recognition that incremental improvements to today’s rotors will not be enough.
Bombardier Customer Services began offering new repair solutions for operational damage to V2500-A5 nacelle panels. Its Belfast and Dallas MRO facilities offer the new repair capability that restores panels to their original specification while maintaining their acoustic properties.
Pratt & Whitney Canada Customer Service Centre Europe signed a new 10-year fleet management program agreement with the Netherlands Police Agency KLPD (Korps landelijke politiediensten) to provide comprehensive maintenance for P&WC engines installed on its fleet of Eurocopter EC135 and AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters. The joint venture of P&WC and MTU Aero Engines will support 12 PW206B2 engines installed on KLPD’s six EC135P2s and four PT6-67C engines powering its two new AW139s.
PATS Aircraft reissued STCs to alter the fire protection systems and lower cargo compartments on Boeing 737-700, -700C and -800 series aircraft, STCs ST01184LA and ST00405LA-D
Rockwell Collins reissued STC to install Rockwell Collins WXR-2100 MultiScan weather radar system on Boeing 737-600, -700, -800 and -900 series aircraft, STC ST01470LA-D
King Aerospace Commercial Corp. named John Burnam and Blair Descourouez regional sales managers. Burnam previously was a completion sales executive with Gulfstream Aerospace, and Descourouez was VP of operations for Ambassador Jet Center.
After 21 years, interest in the Federal Aviation Administration’s maintenance human factors symposium is as high as ever. The annual program, co-sponsored by the Air Transport Association, hosted 400 delegates in September in San Diego. Forty speakers from China, Australia, Europe, the U.A.E and North America shared international perspectives. A larger, more diverse audience of airline and MRO senior management than in previous meetings indicated the continuing safety impact and financial benefit of proper attention to maintenance and ramp human factors.
Ethiopian Airlines expanded its powerplant contract with Delta TechOps to become an open-ended agreement to maintain, repair and overhaul the carrier’s Pratt & Whitney 2040 engines. Delta TechOps started maintaining Ethiopian’s engines in 2005.
