AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*Montreal police were called out to Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport early today after security discovered a suspicious object in a piece of luggage in the international departures area. The object turned out to be harmless, said a Montreal police spokesman. Police did not reveal what it was or why it was deemed potentially dangerous. Security personnel spotted the object in a bag around 5:00am at a security checkpoint and the proper authorities were alerted. Several police officers responded to the scene, and quickly established a perimeter around the Airport. Sniffer dogs were also brought in. The Airport was not evacuated, but some international flights were delayed. 2 male passengers were taken into custody and questioned in connection with the incident. "Obviously an investigation is underway to determine why these individuals had this object," said the police spokesman.

*DELTA AIRLINES has announced that it has purchased 9 MD90 aircraft from JAL, with deliveries to begin next January. The purchase will bring the total MD90 fleet to 58 airframes. The addition of the aircraft is part of the process of the carrier shedding its DC9-50s, which will be removed from service later this year.

*FED EX and Boeing are reported to be examining developing a new build freighter based on the 767-400ER, offering a production bridge to the recently awarded US Air Force KC-46A refuelling tanker. The discussions are are geared toward providing a replacement to the 72 Boeing MD10s currently in the logistics company's fleet.

*SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES has emerged from bankruptcy, a positive step that the Airline’s 162 Pilots hope will encourage their management to a speedy resolution of a new Pilot contract. Sun Country was forced to declare bankruptcy in late 2008 after an FBI investigation revealed that the majority owner had stolen billions of dollars from investors of other companies he had owned and others as well. Pilots and other employees had endured 50% pay cuts for a short period to keep the Airline from going out of business. The owner is now in prison, the employees have been repaid with interest and the Airline is growing. Sun Country has recalled all its furloughees, is hiring new Pilots and won FAA certification last year to fly overseas, including regularly scheduled service to Great Britain. Negotiations for a new Pilot contract began almost a year ago.

*Officials in Kingston, Jamaica, said yesterday that a 72 hour ban on Cargo Service between the country and the US earlier this week was likely the result of a bomb hoax. According to media reports, the preliminary investigation conducted by the National Intelligence Bureau suggested that "the report is a hoax, maliciously created to defame an employee of an airport concessionaire". This past weekend, passengers onboard an AIR JAMAICA flight were prevented from disembarking the plane when it landed at the Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, because of a threat that an explosive device was onboard. The US TSA subsequently instituted a temporary ban on cargo flights from Jamaica. That ban has since been lifted. Radio Jamaica has reported that several people, including a woman and a police constable, were detained yesterday as a result of investigations into the threat and could be charged with creating public mischief. The investigation continues.

*KLM will begin 3x weekly service from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to Havana, Cuba, on October 31, 2011. The carrier will operate MD11 aircraft on the route on with departures and returns on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. KLM service replaces that of MARTINAIR. KLM last flew to Havana in the 1950s when the city was used as stopover between Amsterdam and Mexico City.

*Germany based corporate clients of LUFTHANSA have until April 1 to make a final decision about whether to sign the carriers controversial new corporate client contract. According to media reports, Lufthansa has presented clients with a stark choice: "No signature, no corporate rates". The alternative is published fares. Lufthansa has shown little sign of backing down on the three contentious aspects of the new contracts: clawbacks, authorization of marketing information data tapes and release of payment card data.

*Operators of Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines will no longer be required to carry out repeated inspections of certain engine parts that were mandated by Europe's safety regulator after last November's uncontained engine failure on the QANTAS A380. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has cancelled the most recent airworthiness directive it issued on December 21 2010, which listed the requirements for operators to inspect the high pressure / intermediate pressure (HP/IP) structure of Trent 900s. EASA said that inspections so far have not identified other engines that are at risk to "develop a failure scenario similar to the uncontained engine failure event" that took place on the Qantas A380. The safety regulator added that the inspections are "intrusive" and "introduce some risk from possible maintenance errors," thus they deemed it prudent to cancel the inspections.

*Russian airworthiness authorities have granted type certification to the Antonov AN158, a stretched version of the AN148 regional twinjet. The AN158, with a range of 1350nm has a longer fuselage and is capable of accommodating up to 99 passengers. Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) said the aircraft is able to operate in crosswinds of up to 29kt during takeoff and landing. It said that the AN158 is capable of International Civil Aviation Organisation Category IIIa approaches and meets precision area navigation criteria. MAK handed over the type certificate during a ceremony in Kiev attended by the head of Ukraine's state aviation administration and the Ukrainian prime minister. It has also supplemented the type certificate of the baseline AN148 by approving a version with an English-language cockpit.

*Officials from Bougainville island off the coast of Papua New Guinea have set up a quarantine area where they believe the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra may be resting on the ocean floor. The site is northwest of Buka island, and the plane is thought to be in just over 200 feet of water. Earhart and her navigator disappeared in 1937 while enroute from Lae, Papua New Guinea, to Howland Island, near the Hawaiian Islands. Experts in the Earhart disappearance say there is no way that Earhart's Electra could be resting anywhere near Papua New Guinea. Radio transmission's from Earhart indicated that she was well East of Papua New Guinea and over the Central Pacific af the time of her disappearance.

*The Philippine authorities are looking at moving general aviation out of Manila's Ninoy Aquino International airport in 2 years' time, in an effort to create space on the Airport's congested runways. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) plans to transfer general aviation to other national Airports outside Manila. Manila's Airport, which has 3 terminals and 2 runways, will continue to serve general aviation for the time being. Airlines have previously called for the Airport to ban general and business aircraft from operating on its runways to help ease congestion. Philippine low-cost carrier CEBU PACIFIC said it had to delay almost 6800 flights in 2010 as a result of air traffic issues in Manila. The hold-ups totalled about 633 hours. According to a Cebu executive, air traffic congestion in Ninoy Aquino International can cause delays from 4 minutes to 81 minutes per flight.

*The US NTSB has issued a series of Airport lighting recommendations in response to a DELTA AIRLINES incident on October 19, 2009. On that date, Delta Flight 60, a Boeing 767, landed on the taxiway M at Atlanta-Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, rather than the assigned runway 27R. The landing, which took place at 6:05am, was safe. The NTSB investigated and determined that the flight crew and ATC had made a number of errors. However, the agency also noted a number of problems with the approach and runway lights and has issued safety recommendations to the FAA for changes that need to be made. Full information on the lighting recommendations can be found on the NTSB website.

*The Australian Transportation Safety Board (ATSB) has released its Final Report into a serious incident involving a GARUDA INDONESIA Boeing 737-400 at Darwin, Australia, on December 17, 2008. On that date, Flight 710, on service from Denpasar Bali, Indonesia, was on approach to Darwin and ATC cleared the crew to descend to 3000 feet. However, the crew descended to 2000 feet. Shortly thereafter, as the aircraft broke out of the clouds at 700 feet, the tower noted the aircraft was north of the runway and ordered the crew to execute a missed approach and to go-around. The 737 landed without incident on its 2nd approach. In their Final Report, the ATSB stated that the crew of Flight 710 did not follow established approach procedures and made multiple errors while on approach. The approach Controller was also faulted for not obtaining sufficient detailed readback from the flight crew that would have determined if the flight crew understood what was being communicated and instructed to them. The full Report, included details of events as they unfolded, can be found on the ATSB website.

*LAN Flight 300, an A318-100, had to make an emergency return to Santiago, Chile, today, March 3. According to media reports, while climbing out of Santiago, a burning smell developed in the passenger cabin, which was quickly followed by visible smoke. The A318 landed safely back at Santiago about 10 minutes after their initial departure. There is no word on what may have caused the odor and smoke, however the aircraft has been removed from service.

*QANTAS Flight 38, a Boeing 737-800, had to make an emergency diversion to Auckland, New Zealand, today, March 3. While climbing thru 17000 feet, after taking off from Welllington, NZ, the crew reported problems with the air conditioning systems. The crew halted their climb and eventually diverted to Auckland, where they safely landed 3 hours after their initial departure. The 737 was removed from service.

*MAHAN AIR Flight 1088, an A310-300, had to make an emergency return to Shiraz, Iran, yesterday, March 2, after the ingested a bird into the right hand engine while on their initial climb. The crew shut the engine down and landed safely back at Shiraz, about 30 minutes later.

*EASTERN AUSTRALIA Flight 2007, a Dash 8-300 on service for QANTAS, was on approach to Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, March 1, when the stick shake activated about 7 minutes prior to landing. The crew increased the thrust setting and continued on to make a safe landing. The Australian Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation.

*ALASKA AIRLINES Flight 107, a Boeing 737-900, had to make an emergency return to Seattle, Washington, on Saturday, February 26, due to a serious incident. While climbing thru 35000 feet, the left hand engine shut down without command. The crew declared an emergency and landed back at Seattle 25 minutes later. According to the Canadian TSB, a fuel tube carrying metered fuel to the fuel nozzles, had come loose from the Hydro-Mechanical United. The left hand engine has been replaced and the cause of the incident is under investigation.