An inquiry into the Jan. 19 crash of an X-31 aircraft near Edwards AFB, Calif., will be substantially aided by the flow of telemetry from the plane to Dryden Flight Research Center, according to a NASA spokesman. The agency has established a five-member board to investigate the crash. The board, headed by NASA astronaut-test pilot Guy Gardner, will submit its results within sixty days.
TAP Air Portugal's 1994 passenger traffic declined 3.6% from 1993's level to 7.59 billion revenue passenger kilometers. The number of passengers boarded also was down, falling 2.7% to 3.5 million. Cargo traffic rose 5.7%, however, to 180.2 million freight tonne kilometers. In December, TAP's traffic declined 1.9% to 558 million RPKs, while passenger boardings rose 4.6% to 256,933. Cargo traffic for the month fell 9.9% from December 1993 to 13.6 million FTKs.
Lockheed rounded out flight testing of an F-16C fitted with above-wing conformal fuel tanks with seven more flights, capping the program with 21 flights earlier this month after completing major flight testing by the end of November, Lockheed said yesterday.
MarkAir reported a 1994 operating profit of slightly more than $3.4 million, its first since 1991. The airline attributed its return to operational profitability to a 38% increase in passenger revenues and a 6.5-percentage-point increase in passenger load factor to 67%. It did not release its net profit or loss. "These figures represent a dramatic turnaround and are a direct reflection of the many efficiencies we've implemented over the past few years," said Neil Bergt, chairman. He said MarkAir's unit costs are down to 6.3 cents per available seat mile.
Hughes Danbury Optical Systems has completed polishing and verifying the eight mirrors for the planned Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) four months ahead of schedule, NASA reported yesterday. The four "nested" pairs of cylindrical mirrors, with mathematically determined geometric shapes on the inside that reflect x-rays at shallow angles to a focal point behind the mirror array, have been measured to an average smoothness of 3 Angstroms, NASA said.
Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation (S.288) last week that would abolish the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board of review and eliminate the provision in federal law imposing a 1,250-mile perimeter rule at Washington National Airport. The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. John Warner (R-Va.) and Charles Robb (D-Va.), also would eliminate reserved parking spaces for members of Congress and other top government officials.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today is expected to award its first licenses for a new generation of multi-billion dollar satellite communications networks. Five "Big LEO" ventures ranging in cost from $800 million to nearly $4 billion have applied for licenses to provide voice and data communications around the globe (DAILY, Nov. 18, 1994 page 256). The proposed systems range in size from 12 to 66 satellites.
Pratt&Whitney's thrust-vectoring engine nozzle design should start flight testing on the Air Force's F-15 STOL Maneuvering demonstrator in April or May, a little less than two years after rival General Electric's concept began test flights on an F-16, P&W's program chief told The DAILY yesterday.
U.S. Major Carriers Productivity, In RPMs And ASMs Per Employee Third Quarter 1994 Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Airline (000) (000) America West 358,942 324,995 American 3,890,464 3,419,478 Continental 1,255,454 1,216,236
FAA played yesterday, for the first time, Chicago area air traffic control tape covering the time leading up to the crash of American Eagle ATR-72 Oct. 31 in Roselawn, Ill. Spanning little more than an hour, the tapes included the time when the airplane was picked up by the Chicago ATC center, Boone Radar, until after it crashed.
Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) joined Northwest in urging DOT to reverse its decision that on-time performance reports should include delays or cancellations arising from mechanical problems. DOT decided late last year to change the reporting policy, saying the current system, which excludes such data, penalizes carriers that have more reliable service. For example, a carrier that fulfills its schedule with backup aircraft may have a worse on-time record for the day than one that grounds all flights operated with the defective aircraft (DAILY, Sept. 27).
Swissair, which in September said its 1994 earnings would be considerably better than the previous year's, has revised its forecast and now says its results for the year ended Dec. 31 will not be better than last year's (DAILY, Sept. 21). Figures were not available, but Swissair said that its 1994 revenues were affected by fare discounting, as they were in 1993, and that results were hurt by adverse currency exchange rates.
Air Transport Association will conduct its annual engineering, maintenance and materiel forum April 23-25 at the Commonwealth Convention Center, Louisville, Ky. With "Reliability and Cost Control - the Critical Balance" as its theme, the forum will include workshops on avionics systems engineering, materiel management and the change from A&P (airframe and propulsion) to AMT (aviation maintenance technician) licensing. UPS, the host, will show attendees its main package sort facility. For information, call Marqui Lyons at 202-626-4101.
Confirming a decision it made in December, aircraft leasing company Bavaria Fluggesellschaft of Munich has ordered two 149-passenger 737-700 transports for delivery in December 1997, plus two more "subject to later reconfirmation," Boeing said yesterday. The two aircraft on firm order are valued at about $80 million, Boeing said. The leasing company said last month that it intended to order the aircraft.
Some of the experts who attended a recent Institute of Navigation meeting in Anaheim, Calif., expressed concern about the signal strength of Block IIR Global Positioning System satellites, which will gradually replace the current Block II GPS network. The follow-on satellites will be substantially less powerful and more susceptible to interference, a source said. Cheaper, less sensitive receivers could have difficulty tracking some of the signals from the new spacecraft.
An ATR-72 flown by Fu Hsing Airlines, a domestic Taiwanese carrier, has been reported missing in a mountainous region south of Taipei. The aircraft was on a ferry trainer mission with two crewmembers and two trainees aboard, said an ATR spokeswoman. It was flying from the Pescadores Islands to Taipei. As it approached Taipei, the aircraft, which was at about 4,000 feet and 12.5 miles out, began to overtake another aircraft and was ordered by air traffic control to do "a 360." The aircraft then disappeared from the radar screens.
The government of Zambia has granted startup carrier Aero Zambia a certificate to operate regional and international service, Reuter reported from Lusaka. The new airline will fill the void left by the collapse several weeks ago of Zambia Airways. Aero Zambia, which is privately held and backed by Belgian investors, employs Zambian engineers and pilots.
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) has introduced a bill that would require any savings realized by the Defense Dept. in a merger or acquisition to be used for job creation and retraining in communities where the consolidation causes the elimination of jobs. Filner introduced the bill last Thursday and it was referred to the Committees on National Security and on Economic and Educational Opportunities.
A Martin Marietta Atlas II booster placed the U.S. Navy's latest UHF Follow-On communications satellite in orbit Saturday night, and satellite- builder Hughes Aircraft said deployment of the platform was proceeding on schedule yesterday afternoon.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP. is in line for additional work on the Open Skies program. The Defense Nuclear Agency said in a Jan. 23 Commerce Business Daily notice that it plans to award a sole source contract to the company to develop "a critical ground-based test component for the DARMS (Data Annotation, Recording and Mapping System) and software for all OSMAP (Open Skies Management and Planning) systems." Northrop Grumman's Pico Rivera, Calif., unit has been involved with the mission planning portion of Open Skies for several years (DAILY, Sept. 8, 1992, page 396).
United and some other carriers that plan to use the new Denver Airport intend to increase fares by an average of $20 on each flight originating or ending at Denver to cover the increased costs of operating at the $4.2 billion facility, which is scheduled to open Feb. 28. Denver Mayor Wellington Webb will announce today whether the often-delayed airport will open next month.
