Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
What Have We Become?! (Click on article to Read)
Article from Sunday Telegraph 24/01/10
Could have been handled better!
Another example of how low people in this airline have sunk!!!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Big day for Boeing: The B787 Dreamliner flies!
Today, December 15, 2009, was historic. I don't know about you, but I spent hours watching TV and live webcasts earlier today as the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner took off for the very first time. While the world watched, the Dreamliner began its takeoff roll at Paine Field in Everett, WA. I have to admit that I got a bit choked up as Boeing's newest commercial aircraft rotated and lifted off the runway for the first time. The time was 10:27 AM local time.
The weather was not the best -- drizzly and overcast -- but the graceful looking aircraft climbed out as if it were a sunny day, carried out its long-anticipated maiden flight, and returned to earth for a picture perfect landing at Seattle's Boeing Field at 13:33 local time.
From the Boeing press release about the event:
787 Chief Pilot Mike Carriker and Capt. Randy Neville tested some of the airplane's systems and structures, as on-board equipment recorded and transmitted real-time data to a flight-test team at Boeing Field.According to Boeing, the first Boeing 787, which is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, will be joined in the flight test program in the coming weeks and months by five other 787s, including two that will be powered by General Electric GEnx engines.
After takeoff from Everett, the airplane followed a route over the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Capts. Carriker and Neville took the airplane to an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) and an air speed of 180 knots, or about 207 miles (333 kilometers) per hour, customary on a first flight.
Congratulations to Boeing and all those involved with the 787 Dreamliner program on the successful first flight of this beautiful new airplane.
In case you missed the live event, here is a video of the Boeing 787's first takeoff from Paine Field (video provided by AirlineReporter):
If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.
And then, here is the Dreamliner's first-ever landing, at Boeing Field. Note that the pilot flying greased it, and rolled out right down the center line. (Bravo!):
If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on YouTube.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Northwest Flight 188 incident: Pilots' appeal documents
Are you ready for another update on the Northwest Flight 188 incident? Readers will recall that shortly after the incident (in which the pilots of the Airbus A320 were out of radio contact with air traffic control for an extended period of time and overflew their destination while working on their laptop computers) the FAA revoked the licenses of both pilots. The pilots have since filed appeals seeking to have the license revocations rescinded.Today a reader forwarded to me an email pass-around that included facsimile copies of the appeal documents as an attachment. Given that I have not seen the original documents, and considering that I received the copies via an email pass-around, I cannot guarantee that the copies are authentic, however they appear to be credible. I have uploaded them to my Web site, and anyone who is interested in having a look at them can access them there: NW Flight 188 Pilot Appeals (13-page 'pdf' file)
Highlights: The pilots deny that they "intentionally or willfully" violated any federal aviation regulations.
They appear to assign blame for the incident to air traffic control, stating:
The air traffic controller(s) did not comply with the requirements of the air traffic control manual and other relevant orders, rules, procedures, policies and practices with respect to Northwest Flight 188, nor coordinate effectively with Northwest dispatch, and such failure was a causal or contributing factor in the incident referenced in the Administrator's Complaint. Respondent asserts that he had a right to rely, and did rely, that the controllers would comply with all relevant orders, rules, procedures, policies and practices. Such reliance justifies a reduction, mitigation, or waiver of sanction.The appeal goes on to claim that the sanction against them is "not in compliance with Board precedent and policy."
The pilots also claim that there were "mitigating facts and circumstances that caused or contributed to the incident, including but not limited to aircraft systems design and human factors, justifying a reduction, mitigation, or waiver of sanction."
Presumably both pilots will be able to present their case(s) in person at a hearing before the NTSB in the near future.
FlyGlobeSpan Collapse
Anger at airline staff treatment
 Workers have been left stranded by Flyglobespan across the world |
Union officials have spoken of their anger at the treatment of staff following the collapse of airline Flyglobespan.
The Unite union condemned the "shocking" handling of workers who have been left stranded across the world.
It said it was also "horrendous" staff were being left jobless at Christmas.
The carrier's Edinburgh-based parent company, The Globespan Group, went into administration on Wednesday night with the loss of about 800 jobs.
Katrina McBride, from Dalgety Bay in Fife, told the BBC Scotland news website that she had received a "distraught" phone call from her 30-year-old daughter Melanie McBride, who was working as cabin crew for Flyglobespan based in Delhi.
 |  She said she was absolutely gutted about what had happened and they didn't even know if the hotel they were based in had been paid for  Katrina McBride Mother of a cabin crew member |
She said: "Melanie has been out in India since October and was due to be there until January but she called last night distraught saying they had been contacted by cabin crew back home to tell them the news but their managers had told them nothing.
Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8418110.stm
BA Crew Lose in High Court
Air travel: Delayed, not cancelled
By Pilita Clark
Published: December 18 2009 22:26 | Last updated: December 18 2009 22:26
Altering an airline’s culture, Sir Rod Eddington once said, is like trying to perform an engine change in flight.
For proof, one need only look at the predicament faced this week by the airline that Sir Rod once ran. Cabin crew at British Airways announced that they were going on strike, from three days before Christmas and for nearly two weeks.
BA won an emergency court injunction to halt the stoppage, to the relief of some 1m of its passengers around the world who had been booked to fly during the strike period. But in an industry that can produce spectacular displays of labour unrest, this is just a brief cessation of hostilities.
Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/db5b7336-ec0c-11de-8070-00144feab49a.htmlThursday, June 25, 2009
Fears of strike action as BA tells cabin crew 2,000 jobs must go
British Airways has told its cabin crew that it wants to cut 2,000 jobs, leading to fears that the airline could be hit by a summer of strikes
Full Story
Full Story
Air France Accident: Smoking Gun Found
Subject: BREAKING (POTENTIAL) NEWS...
Air France Accident: Smoking Gun Found
While this is all inconclusive, it is still interesting . . .
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 6:21 PM
Subject: Air France Accident: Smoking Gun Found
A Brazilian Naval unit reportedly found the complete vertical fin/ rudder assembly of the doomed aircraft floating some 30 miles from the main debris field. The search for the flight recorders goes on, but given the failure history of the vertical fins on A300-series aircraft, an analysis of its structure at the point of failure will likely yield the primary cause factor in the breakup of the aircraft, with the flight recorder data (if found) providing only secondary contributing phenomena.
The fin-failure-leading-to-breakup sequence is strongly suggested in the attached (below) narrative report by George Larson, Editor emeritus of Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine.
It's regrettable that these aircraft are permitted to continue in routine flight operations with this known structural defect. It appears that safety finishes last within Airbus Industries, behind national pride and economics. Hopefully, this accident will force the
issue to be addressed, requiring at a minimum restricted operations of selected platforms, and grounding of some high-time aircraft until a re-engineered (strengthened) vertical fin/rudder attachment structure can be incorporated.
Les
--------------------------(George Larson's Report)---------------------
This is an account of a discussion I had recently with a maintenance professional who salvages airliner airframes for a living. He has been at it for a while, dba BMI Salvage at Opa Locka Airport in Florida. In the process of stripping parts, he sees things few others are able to see. His observations confirm prior assessments of Airbus structural deficiencies within our flight test and aero structures communities by those who have seen the closely held reports of A3XX-series vertical fin failures.
His observations:
"I have scrapped just about every type of transport aircraft from A-310, A-320, B-747, 727, 737, 707, DC-3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, MD-80, L-188, L1011 and various Martin, Convair and KC-97 aircraft. Over a hundred of them.
Airbus products are the flimsiest and most poorly designed as far as airframe structure is concerned by an almost obsession to utilize composite materials.
I have one A310 vertical fin on the premises from a demonstration I just performed. It was pathetic to see the composite structure shatter as it did, something a Boeing product will not do.
The vertical fin along with the composite hinges on rudder and elevators is the worst example of structural use of composites I have ever seen and I am not surprised by the current pictures of rescue crews recovering the complete Vertical fin and rudder assembly at some distance from the crash site.
The Airbus line has a history of both multiple rudder losses and a vertical fin and rudder separation from the airframe as was the case in NY with AA.
As an old non-radar equipped DC4 pilot who flew through many a
thunderstorm in Africa along the equator, I am quite familiar with their ferocity.
It is not difficult to understand how such a storm might have stressed an aircraft
structure to failure at its weakest point, and especially so in the presence of instrumentation problems.
I replied with this:
"I'm watching very carefully the orchestration of the inquiry by French officials and Airbus. I think I can smell a concerted effort to steer discussion away from structural issues and onto sensors, etc. Now Air France, at the behest of their pilots' union, is replacing all the air data sensors on the Airbus fleet, which creates a distraction and shifts the media's focus away from the real problem.
It's difficult to delve into the structural issue without wading into the Boeing vs. Airbus swamp, where any observation is instantly tainted by its origin. Americans noting any Airbus structural issues (A380 early failure of wing in static test; loss of vertical surfaces in Canadian fleet prior to AA A300, e.g.) will be attacked by the other side as partisan, biased, etc. "
His follow-up:
One gets a really unique insight into structural issues when one has first-hand experience in the dismantling process.
I am an A&P, FEJ and an ATP with 7000 flight hours and I was absolutely
stunned, flabbergasted when I realized that the majority of internal airframe structural supports on the A 310 which appear to be aluminum are actually rolled composite material with aluminum rod ends.. They shattered.
Three years ago we had a storm come through, with gusts up to 60-70
kts., catching several A320s tied down on the line, out in the open.
The A320 elevators and rudder hinges whose actuators had been removed shattered and the rudder and elevators came off.
Upon closer inspection I realized that not only were the rear spars composite but so were the hinges. While Boeing also uses composite material in its airfoil structures, the actual attach fittings for the elevators,
rudder, vertical and horizontal stabilizers are all of machined aluminum."
Air France Accident: Smoking Gun Found
While this is all inconclusive, it is still interesting . . .
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 6:21 PM
Subject: Air France Accident: Smoking Gun Found
A Brazilian Naval unit reportedly found the complete vertical fin/ rudder assembly of the doomed aircraft floating some 30 miles from the main debris field. The search for the flight recorders goes on, but given the failure history of the vertical fins on A300-series aircraft, an analysis of its structure at the point of failure will likely yield the primary cause factor in the breakup of the aircraft, with the flight recorder data (if found) providing only secondary contributing phenomena.
The fin-failure-leading-to-breakup sequence is strongly suggested in the attached (below) narrative report by George Larson, Editor emeritus of Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine.
It's regrettable that these aircraft are permitted to continue in routine flight operations with this known structural defect. It appears that safety finishes last within Airbus Industries, behind national pride and economics. Hopefully, this accident will force the
issue to be addressed, requiring at a minimum restricted operations of selected platforms, and grounding of some high-time aircraft until a re-engineered (strengthened) vertical fin/rudder attachment structure can be incorporated.
Les
--------------------------(George Larson's Report)---------------------
This is an account of a discussion I had recently with a maintenance professional who salvages airliner airframes for a living. He has been at it for a while, dba BMI Salvage at Opa Locka Airport in Florida. In the process of stripping parts, he sees things few others are able to see. His observations confirm prior assessments of Airbus structural deficiencies within our flight test and aero structures communities by those who have seen the closely held reports of A3XX-series vertical fin failures.
His observations:
"I have scrapped just about every type of transport aircraft from A-310, A-320, B-747, 727, 737, 707, DC-3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, MD-80, L-188, L1011 and various Martin, Convair and KC-97 aircraft. Over a hundred of them.
Airbus products are the flimsiest and most poorly designed as far as airframe structure is concerned by an almost obsession to utilize composite materials.
I have one A310 vertical fin on the premises from a demonstration I just performed. It was pathetic to see the composite structure shatter as it did, something a Boeing product will not do.
The vertical fin along with the composite hinges on rudder and elevators is the worst example of structural use of composites I have ever seen and I am not surprised by the current pictures of rescue crews recovering the complete Vertical fin and rudder assembly at some distance from the crash site.
The Airbus line has a history of both multiple rudder losses and a vertical fin and rudder separation from the airframe as was the case in NY with AA.
As an old non-radar equipped DC4 pilot who flew through many a
thunderstorm in Africa along the equator, I am quite familiar with their ferocity.
It is not difficult to understand how such a storm might have stressed an aircraft
structure to failure at its weakest point, and especially so in the presence of instrumentation problems.
I replied with this:
"I'm watching very carefully the orchestration of the inquiry by French officials and Airbus. I think I can smell a concerted effort to steer discussion away from structural issues and onto sensors, etc. Now Air France, at the behest of their pilots' union, is replacing all the air data sensors on the Airbus fleet, which creates a distraction and shifts the media's focus away from the real problem.
It's difficult to delve into the structural issue without wading into the Boeing vs. Airbus swamp, where any observation is instantly tainted by its origin. Americans noting any Airbus structural issues (A380 early failure of wing in static test; loss of vertical surfaces in Canadian fleet prior to AA A300, e.g.) will be attacked by the other side as partisan, biased, etc. "
His follow-up:
One gets a really unique insight into structural issues when one has first-hand experience in the dismantling process.
I am an A&P, FEJ and an ATP with 7000 flight hours and I was absolutely
stunned, flabbergasted when I realized that the majority of internal airframe structural supports on the A 310 which appear to be aluminum are actually rolled composite material with aluminum rod ends.. They shattered.
Three years ago we had a storm come through, with gusts up to 60-70
kts., catching several A320s tied down on the line, out in the open.
The A320 elevators and rudder hinges whose actuators had been removed shattered and the rudder and elevators came off.
Upon closer inspection I realized that not only were the rear spars composite but so were the hinges. While Boeing also uses composite material in its airfoil structures, the actual attach fittings for the elevators,
rudder, vertical and horizontal stabilizers are all of machined aluminum."
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