Monthly Archives: July 2013

Qatar Airways grounds one Boeing 787-8 for a “minor” technical issue

Qatar Airways (Doha) stated yesterday (July 26) it had taken one of its Boeing 787-8 out of service for a “minor” technical issue according to this report by Reuters. New pressure is mounting on Boeing over possible new electrical problems.

The airline and Boeing declined to give further details but industry sources said they were treating seriously reports that the aircraft had been grounded for days after smoke was seen near an electrical panel according to the report.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean/AirlinersGallery.com. Newly-manufactured Boeing 787-8 A7-BCE (msn 38323) is pictured leaving Paine Field near Everett, WA yesterday (July 26) on delivery.

Qatar Airways:

FedEx Pilots’ Union: Report on UPS Boeing 747 crash highlights the need for new regulations on the carriage of Lithium Batteries

The FedEx Express Pilots Union (FedEx Express) (Memphis) has issued this statement reference the release of the Accident Report on the UPS Airlines (Atlanta and Louisville) Boeing 747-400F freighter crash at Dubai (please see our previous report). At the heart of the issue, are lithium batteries safe on any airplane?:

On September 3, 2010, our industry lost two fellow aviators when UPS Flight 6 crashed near Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) released its final report concerning the investigation into this fatal crash. The GCAA, while not pinpointing the origin of the fateful blaze, determined that the ensuing fire was promulgated by lithium batteries and found that smoke-detection equipment took too long to alert the crew.

The report provides recommendations specific to air cargo fire safety. The FedEx Master Executive Council (MEC) joins Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), Int’l in praising the GCAA for its thorough report. The report makes unmistakably clear the dangers of carrying large quantities of lithium batteries. “As cargo pilots, we are fully aware of the potential dangers associated with the carriage of lithium batteries,” said MEC chairman Captain Scott Stratton. “These pilots’ lives were tragically cut short as they valiantly tried to bring their crippled aircraft back to the ground. Through their actions, they were able to prevent a much larger disaster from occurring. We owe it to them as well as to all of those who fly this nation’s commerce every day, to ensure that regulatory directives are harmonized across the globe and robust enough to preclude future events such as this.”

The GCAA recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its European counterpart develop better firefighting standards and equipment for cargo planes, with visual warnings about where a fire is located. The FedEx MEC strongly believes that the United States must take a leadership role in protecting aircraft against the possibility of catastrophic fires caused by lithium batteries. The improvement in regulations covering the transportation of large quantities of lithium batteries must proceed immediately in order to begin to eliminate this deadly hazard. “Now is the time for the U.S. government to act to ensure the safety of our skies,” said FedEx Legislative Affairs chairman Captain Fred Eissler. “We will continue to work with our government leaders, dangerous goods regulatory authorities, and our fellow airline pilots to address the safety issues and concerns found in the GCAA report.”

“The FedEx pilots are committed to working with industry and government leaders to minimize the risks associated with the carriage of dangerous goods,” continued Captain Stratton. “The GCAA’s report adds to the building body of evidence that clearly shows much more effort is needed to facilitate negating the risks associated with the carriage of lithium batteries.”

Copyright Photo: Duncan Kirk/AirlinersGallery.com. The first Boeing 767-300F for FedEx Express is being prepared for its first flight at Paine Field near Everett, WA. 767-3S2F N101FE (msn 42706) taxied to the runway yesterday afternoon.

FedEx Express:

Southwest Airlines’ landed nose wheel first at LaGuardia Airport

Southwest Airlines‘ (Dallas) Boeing 737-700 involved in the crash landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on July 22 landed with the nose wheel striking the runway first (the aircraft did not flare fro landing) according to the NTSB. The NTSB issued this statement:

The National Transportation Safety Board released factual information from the July 22 accident involving a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The airplane’s front landing gear collapsed on landing.

Evidence from video and other sources is consistent with the nose-gear making contact with the runway before the main landing gear.
The flight data recorder on the airplane recorded 1,000 parameters and contained approximately 27 hours of recorded data, including the entire flight from Nashville to New York.
The cockpit voice recorder contains a two-hour recording of excellent quality that captures the entire flight from Nashville to New York and the accident landing sequence.
Flaps were set from 30 to 40 degrees about 56 seconds prior to touchdown.
Altitude was about 32 feet, airspeed was about 134 knots, and pitch attitude was about 2 degrees nose-up approximately 4 seconds prior touchdown.
At touchdown, the airspeed was approximately 133 knots and the aircraft was pitched down approximately 3 degrees.
After touchdown, the aircraft came to a stop within approximately 19 seconds.
A cockpit voice recorder group will convene at NTSB laboratories in Washington to transcribe the relevant portion of the accident flight.

Southwest Airlines:

Boeing’s first 787-9 features a new livery

Boeing (Chicago) continues to make progress on the first 787-9 Dreamliner, which also has become the first 787 to don the new Boeing Commercial Airplanes livery. The airplane has just rolled out of the paint hangar.

This refreshed look for the Boeing family began with the 747-8 and evolved with the 737 MAX. The new livery retains many of the features of the original 787-8 livery, adding a prominent number on the tail to help distinguish among models within the same product family.

The 787-9 will complement and extend the 787 family, offering airlines the ability to grow routes opened with the 787-8. With the fuselage stretched by 20 feet (6 meters), the 787-9 will carry 40 more passengers an additional 300 nautical miles (555 kilometers), with 20 percent less fuel use and 20 percent fewer emissions than similarly sized airplanes. The 787-9 leverages the visionary design of the 787-8, offering the features passengers prefer such as large, dimmable windows, large stow bins, modern LED lighting, higher humidity, a lower cabin altitude, cleaner air and a smoother ride.

Boeing is on track to roll out and fly the 787-9, currently in final production, in late summer. First delivery to launch customer Air New Zealand is set for mid-2014.

Air Tahiti to introduce a new look with its first ATR 42-600

Air Tahiti (3rd) (Papeete) is getting ready to take delivery of its first ATR 42-600. The regional carrier in the Pacific is taking the opportunity to introduce this new livery.

Copyright Photo: Olivier Gregoire/AirlinersGallery.com. ATR 42-212A (ATR 42-600) F-WWLP (msn 1007) at Toulouse will become F-ORVB on the hand over this month.

Route Map: The airline has superimposed its extensive and far-flung French Polynesia network over the outline of Europe to give the observer a feeling for the size of the airline:

Tianjin Airlines promotes the 6th East Asian Games with a new Airbus A320 logojet

Tianjin Airlines (Tianjin) is promoting the upcoming 6th East Asian Games with this new Airbus A320 logojet.

The East Asian Games is a multi-sport event organized and promoted by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA). The games are held every four years with athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), as well as the Pacific island of Guam.

The 2013 Games will be held in Tianjin, China from October 6-15, 2013.

Tianjin Airlines is a sponsor of the 2013 Games. The pictured Airbus A320 was dedicated and unveiled at Tianjin Binhai International Airport on the morning of July 15, 2013.

Tianjin Airlines is a joint venture of the Tianjin Municipal Government and the HNA Group.

Copyright Photo: Kok Chwee (K. C.) Sim/AirlinersGallery.com. Formerly operated by defunct Bahrain Air as A9C-BAO, this Airbus A320-214 was leased from GECAS on June 21, 2013 as OE-ICD. The airliner will become B-9963. OE-ICD is pictured taxing at Steletar Airport in Singapore.

Sky Airline of Chile retires its last Boeing 737-200

Sky Airline (Chile) (Santiago) on July 26 operated the last revenue flight of a Boeing 737-200. Three 737-200s were retired on July 26.

The first of the three airliners that finished their career was CC-CTK, performing flight SKU 055, departing Santiago (SCL) to Carriel Sur, Concepción Airport (SCIE/CCP) at 17:15 (local time). It returned to SCL as flight SKU 054.

Flight SKU 116 was flown from Santiago to Copiapó’s Desierto de Atacama airport (SCAT) using CC-CVI, and flew from there to Santiago as SKU 117 at 19:09.

The last flight was flight SKU 122, flown with CC-CTH. The flight took off from SCL for La Serena (SCSE/LSC), then to Copiapó and returning to Santiago around 22:00 (local). This flight marked the end of the era of 737s in SKY Airline service.

Thanks goes to Alvaro Romero for this information.

Sky Airline (Chile):

WestJet to again lease two Boeing 757-200s from Thomas Cook Airlines

WestJet (Calgary) has announced it has once again leased two Boeing 757-200 aircraft from Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) to deliver nonstop, daytime service between Calgary and Honolulu , Calgary and Maui, and between Edmonton and Maui.

Pending regulatory approval*, flights are scheduled to begin December 13, 2013 , and continue through April 26, 2014 . Details of WestJet’s seasonal non-stop service include:

Route	Weekly frequency
Between Calgary and Honolulu	Twice weekly
Between Calgary and Maui	Four times weekly
Between Edmonton and Maui	Three times weekly

*Flights to be operated by Thomas Cook Airlines’ 757s, subject to Canadian Transportation Agency concurrence.

WestJet flight attendants on board the Boeing 757-200s will ensure the same great WestJet guest experience while Thomas Cook Airlines will provide the aircraft and pilots. The increase in capacity will ensure more Albertans can enjoy non-stop WestJet service to the Hawaiian Islands. WestJet is the only airline providing capacity for Thomas Cook’s tour operator arm in the Canadian market as part of a successful, Canada-wide partnership for the third year in a row.

Copyright Photo: Matt Dueck. North American Airlines (New York-JFK) started operating for WestJet Airlines (Calgary) on February 12, 2011 with its Boeing 757-28A N750NA (msn 26277). The larger aircraft operated with WestJet titles from Calgary and Edmonton to Hawaii. The lease was only for two months. This airframe was converted to a freighter as N971FD with FedEx Express. Since then Thomas Cook has operated their 757s for WestJet but still in the Thomas Cook livery.

WestJet:

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK):

Delta Air Lines adds additional flights at Los Angeles International Airport

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will debut increased domestic service beginning this fall at Los Angeles International Airport with new daily flights to four destinations and expanded service to nine existing markets.

Delta currently operates more than 115 peak-day departures to 40 destinations from Los Angeles, and every flight offers BusinessElite/First Class and Economy Comfort seating. Additionally, every domestic flight features Wi-Fi service.

Delta’s new and expanded Los Angeles service includes (effective dates):

Pacific Northwest service with four new daily flights to Portland, Oregon*, as well as two additional daily flights to Seattle/Tacoma* (September 3)
Expanded Bay Area service with three additional daily flights to San Francisco*, two additional daily flights to Oakland, California*, and one additional daily flight to San Jose, California*, (September 3)
One additional daily flight to New Orleans (September 3)
One additional daily flight to Kansas City, Missouri * (September 3)
Additional flights to both Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio resulting in daily service (September 3)
Retimed daily service to Tampa, Florida, and Raleigh, North Carolina (September 3)
New limited daily service to Missoula, Montana*, and Kalispell, Montana * (December 21 – January 5)
New limited daily (December 21 – January 5) and Saturday only (Januray 11 – March 29) service to Jackson Hole, Wyoming *
Seasonal limited daily (December 21 – January 5) and Saturday only (Januray 11 – March 29) service to Bozeman, Montana * (December 21 – March 29)

*A portion of travel for some itineraries may be on the Delta Connection® carriers: Compass Airlines and SkyWest Airlines (Delta Connection).

Delta is remodeling Terminal 5 at LAX in conjunction with its partnership with the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports. The current project will double the size of the ticketing lobby and screening checkpoints, open an exclusive, separate Sky Priority lobby and checkpoint, and include renovations to the Delta Sky Club and new baggage carousels.

On July 3, Delta added its code to Virgin Atlantic Airways’ twice-daily service to London’s Heathrow Airport as part of its codesharing agreement providing convenient bookings for Delta customers.

Earlier this year, Delta announced increased service at LAX with daily, year-round and seasonal service to 14 destinations, including eight new markets. By this winter, Delta and its partners including Virgin Australia Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic will operate more than 170 peak-day departures to 59 nonstop destinations, including Amsterdam, London-Heathrow, Paris, Sydney and Tokyo, from Los Angeles.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. SkyWest Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 (CL-600-2D24) N822SK (msn 15203) approaches the runway at Los Angeles International Airport.

Delta Air Lines:

SkyWest Airlines-Delta Connection:

The GCAA of the United Arab Emirates issues its final accident report on the UPS Boeing 747-44AF N571UP on September 3, 2010 near Dubai

UPS Airlines‘ (UPS-United Parcel Service) (Atlanta and Louisville) Boeing 747-44AF N571UP (msn 35668) crashed shortly after takeoff from Dubai on September 3, 2010. The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has issued its final accident report.

Accident Synopsis:

On September 3rd 2010, a Boeing 747-44AF departed Dubai International Airport [DXB] on a scheduled international cargo flight [SCAT-IC] to Cologne [CGN], Germany.

Twenty two minutes into the flight, at approximately 32,000 feet, the crew advised Bahrain Area East Air Traffic Control [BAE-C ] that there was an indication of an on-board fire on the Forward Main Deck and
declared an emergency.

Bahrain Air Traffic Control advised that Doha International Airport [DOH] was ‘at your ten o’clock and one hundred miles, is that close enough?’, the Captain elected to return to DXB, configured the aircraft for the return to Dubai and obtained clearance for the turn back and descent.

A cargo on the main cargo deck had ignited at some point after departure. Less than three minutes after the first warning to the crew,the fire resulted in severe damage to flight control systems and caused the upper deck and cockpit to fill with continuous smoke.

The crew then advised Bahrain East Area Control [BAE-C] that the cockpit was ‘full of smoke’ and that they ‘could not see the radios’, at around the same time the crew experienced pitch control anomalies during the turn back and descent to ten thousand feet.

The smoke did not abate during the emergency impairing the ability of the crew to safely operate the aircraft for the duration of the flight back to DXB.

On the descent to ten thousand feet the captains supplemental oxygen supply abruptly ceased to function without any audible or visual warning to the crew five minutes and thirty seconds after the first audible warning. This resulted in the Captain leaving his position. The Captain left his seat and did not return to his position for the duration of the flight due to incapacitation from toxic gases.

The First Officer[F.O], now the Pilot Flying [PF] could not view outside of the cockpit, the primary flight displays, or the audio control panel to retune to the UAE frequencies.

Due to the consistent and contiguous smoke in the cockpit all communication between the destination [DXB] and the crew was routed through relay aircraft in VHF range of the emergency aircraft and BAE-C. BAE-C then relayed the information to the Emirates Area Control Center (EACC) in the UAE via landline, who then contacted Dubai ATC via landline.

As the aircraft approached the aerodrome in Dubai, it stepped down in altitude, the aircraft approached DXB runway 12 left (RWY 12L), then overflew the northern perimeter of the airport at 4500 ft at around 340 kts . The PF could not view the Primary Flight Displays [PFD] or the view outside the cockpit.

The PF was advised Shajah International Airport [SHJ] was available at 10 nm. This required a left hand turn, the aircraft overflew DXB heading East, reduced speed, entering a shallow descending right-hand turn to the south of the airport before loss of control in flight and an uncontrolled descent into terrain, nine nautical miles south west of Dubai International Airport.

There were no survivors.

Read the full report including the causes: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. N571UP is pictured departing from Anchorage International Airport prior to the accident in Dubai.