*A German media report today, suggests that Airbus may be on the verge of ditching the A400M airlifter project, which is several years behind schedule and billions over budget. The report sayd that Airbus told executives last month that they are no longer pursuing the program, and that they had taken steps to end it. The A400M flew for the 1st time December 11, amid questions about the potential customers for the aircraft. About 120 have been ordered, with a price tag of around $29 billion, but clients are being asked to pitch in additional billions to cover unexpected development costs. There was no word from Airbus today on the accuracy of the report.
*2 US Airport terminals were evacuated yesterday due to suspicious items found by TSA agents. Both incidents turned out to be false alarms. The Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California, was evacuated and closed after TSA found what they believed was a hazardous substance in a Wisconsin man's carry-on. The bomb squad, pictured above, was called in, and the passenger detained. He was later released without charge. Officials said later that the substance was 5 jars of honey. Hours later, passengers were evacuated from a section of the Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, Lindbergh Airport Terminal after a battered pink bag caused alarm. The 90 minute alarm began when a bomb-sniffing dog reacted as though something suspicious was on the bag, which is used to mark the end of a line of luggage from a flight, at carousel No. 12, which is used by CONTINENTAL and FRONTIER AIRLINES. The sections of the Airport that were evacuated re-opened about 90 minutes later after officials determined that it was a false alarm.
*QANTAS has experienced another tarmac delay with an A380 aircraft, this time in Los Angeles, California. Australian media report that 398 passengers and crew were stuck for 3.5 hours on the tarmac on board the flagship superjumbo in Los Angeles on Sunday, while engineers tried to rectify technical faults. Eventually passengers on Qantas Flight 12 were off-loaded after the crew had exceeded their allowable on-duty hours. The Sydney-bound flight was rescheduled for the next day and arrived early this morning. A Qantas spokesman said the plane had a brake indication fault that occurred twice, the 2nd time after an attempted repair. It is the 2nd time this week Qantas passengers have been stuck on board an A380 for hours. The incident is similar to Monday's hold-up at Melbourne Airport, where almost 450 passengers were stuck on board an A380 for more than 5 hours while engineers tried to fix a technical fault. The repairs dragged on and eventually passengers were let off the plane after the flight was postponed to the next day. Qantas blamed the strict new security screening regime required for US flights to America for the decision to keep passengers on board for so long. Since the New Year, Qantas has suffered outages of its check-in system, baggage system and aircraft malfunctions that have caused lengthy delays to the travel plans thousands of passengers in Australia and internationally.
*A URAL AIRLINES A320 had to make an emergency return to Ekaterinburg, Russia, yesterday, January 5. Flight 737 was on International Service to Dubai, UAE, with 150 passengers and 8 crew members onboard. While climbing out of Ekaterinburg, the crew requested to return due to technical problems. The A320 then entered a holding pattern for 2.5 hours in order to burn off fuel. The aircraft landed without incident and was removed from service for inspection and possible repairs. According to local media reports, the technical problems were related to iced over electronics, however Ural Airlines said that was not the case, but the investigation into the incident was ongoing. At the time of the incident, the outside air temp was -18C, and the electronics are certified to withstand temps up to -29C.
*A UTAIR Boeing 737 had to make an emergency landing in Moscow, Russia, on January 4. Flight 462, on Domestic Service from Tyumen to Moscow, Russia, was inflight, when during meal service the passenger O2 masks deployed. The crew declared an emergency and performed an emergency descent. They continued on to Moscow, where they landed without incident. According to media reports, passengers reported that prior to the mask deployment, the passenger cabin had begun to get very cool and several passengers began complaining of ear pain. Once the masks deployed, the aircraft went into a sharp descent. Once level at 10000 feet, the Captain reported to passengers that they were having pressurization problems. The aircraft has been removed from service for a full inspection.
*A PINNACLE AIRLINES CRJ200 had to make an emergency return to Winnipeg, Canada, on January 2. Flight 4079 was on International Service from Winnipeg to Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, on behalf of NORTHWEST AIRLINES, with 40 passengers and crew onboard. While climbing out of Winnipeg, the crew selected flaps up, but received a flaps fail message. The crew declared an emergency and returned to Winnipeg, where they landed without incident. According to the Canadian TSB the flaps failed due in part to the extreme cold. At the time of departure, the outside air temp was -31C. The flaps were reset on the CRJ and it was returned to service.
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