AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*Airbus is to raise A320-family production rates to 42 aircraft per month from the 4th quarter of next year, in stages from the current monthly rate of 36. It will increase the rate to 38 in August this year and 40 in the 1st quarter of 2012, but has gained enough confidence in its supply-chain management to hike the rate again at the end of 2012. The airframer, which had an A320-family backlog of 2367 jets at the end of April, has been considering a possible further increase to 44. Airbus is aiming to deliver up to 530 aircraft across its range this year, against 510 in 2010. Last year's delivery figures included 401 A320-family jets; over the 1st 4 months of 2011 Airbus delivered 132. Monthly production of Airbus A330s stands at 8.5, increasing to 9 in early 2012 and 10 in the 2nd quarter of 2013.

*Australia's JETSTAR has been bombarded with hundreds of signed emails from its Pilots, warning that the Airline is placing the lives of passengers and flight crews at risk in its bid to force new Pilots on to ''deficient'' group contracts. At close of business yesterday, more than 320 of Jetstar's pool of about 400 Pilots had written to the Airline's group chief executive. Many of the emails had also been copied to the chief executive of Jetstar's parent company, QANTAS. Pilots say the move to force recruits on to contracts outside the enterprise bargaining agreement will lead to distracting conflict on the flight deck and in the long-term a more inexperienced workforce, ill-equipped to handle mid-air emergencies.

*The Australian RAAF has grounded its fleet of Pilatus PC-9/A turboprop trainers after one crashed today at RAAF East Sale after a “suspected engine failure” during a routine training flight. The accident, which occurred at around 3:15pm, local time, saw the crew members eject safely about 1km short of a runway, on the edge of the base. Both Pilots suffered non life-threatening injuries and were being kept in hospital overnight as a precaution. This is the 2nd engine incident and subsequent grounding to afflict the RAAF PC-9 fleet this year, after an engine fire on a 2FTS PC-9 taking off from RAAF Pearce in February.

*Ukraine's Ministry of Transport has issued a Report on an incident involving a DNIPROAVIA ERJ145 at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport on April 28, 2011. In their update, Ukraine investigators said the ERJ, on service for AEROSVIT, had landed on Sheremetyevo's runway 25R in light rain with a flap setting of 22 degrees. When the aircraft was turning off the runway onto taxiway 1, both main gear struts collapsed and the aircraft skidded beyond the runway end. The aircraft received substantial damage to the gear struts and hydraulic systems. The 30 passengers and 4 crew members were evacuated through the main door without injury. The Ministry issued following safety recommendations: Conduct studies into runway overruns of the past years while landing on wet or contaminated runways in relation to brakes failures, and, enhance simulator training to regularly include landings on contaminated (wet) runways in adverse wind conditions (introducing lateral coupling effects) with brakes failures. Media reports in Russia suggest the brakes control unit failed followed by hydraulic failure causing the ERJ to turn off the runway at too high a speed. The Report is not yet available online.

*The NTSB has released a brief update on an incident involving an AMERICAN AIRLINES Boeing 767 at Los Angeles, California, on January 3, 2011. Flight 1586 was on International Service from LAX to Toronto, ON, Canada, and contacted the runway with its tail while taking off from LAX's runway 07L. The flight continued to Toronto, where it landed without incident. In their brief update, the NTSB said ground staff in Toronto detected damage in the tail skid assembly. Damage was also found during an inspection to the aft pressure bulkhead. The damage has been rated as substantial and the investigation continues. There was no word on whether the crew was aware they had suffered a tail strike. The incident itself was not made public until the release of this NTSB update.

*The ATSB has released its Final Bulletin on an incident involving a V AUSTRALIA Boeing 777 near Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 31, 2011. Flight 20 was on International Service from Phuket, Thailand, to Melbourne, Australia, when it encountered severe clear air turbulence, that lasted for about 20 seconds, near Jakarta. The turbulence occurred during meal service, throwing the cabin crew and trolleys into the air. 4 Flight Attendants suffered only minor injuries, thus the crew continued on to Melbourne, where they safely landed about 6 hours later. The F/A's were treated and released at the Airport. In their Final Bulletin, the ATSB notes the aircraft experienced vertical accelerations between 0.01G and 1.55G during the 20 seconds' turbulence encounter. The aircraft dropped 130 feet in the 1st 2 seconds of the event, then climbed 257 feet in the next 2 seconds. The ATSB notes that the weather was clear and no turbulence had been forecast. The full Bulletin can be found on the ATSB website.

*The ATBS has released its Final Bulletin on an incident involving a VIRGIN BLUE Boeing 737 at Hobart, Australia, on November 24, 2010. Flight 1326, on Domestic Service from Melbourne to Hobart, overran the runway upon landing in Hobart. No one onboard was injured and the airliner was not damaged. Without assigning blame, the ATSB noted extremely poor weather, poor runway conditions and Pilot Errors made during the incident. The full Bulletin can be found on the ATSB website.

*The ATSB has released is Final Report on an incident involving a QANTAS Boeing 747 near Sydney, Australia, on November 15, 2010. Flight 17 was on International Service from Sydney, Australia, to Buenos Aires Argentina, and was enroute about an hour into the flight, when the crew reported smoke in the cockpit and made an emergency return to Sydney. The ATSB concluded the incident was related to a minor technical fault. The full Report can be found on the ATSB website.

*The ATSB has released its Final Bulletin on an incident involving a JETSTAR A330 near Singapore, on November 1, 2010. Flight 28 was on International Service from Phuket, Thailand, to Sydney, Australia, and was enroute near Singapore, when the autopilot malfunctioned. The crew diverted to Singapore for a safe landing. The ATSB concluded that the failure was due to severe icing by caused by severe enviromental conditions. The full Bulletin, including details on the event and investigation, can be found on the ATSB website.

*COLGAN AIR Flight 3261, a Dash 8-400 on service for UNITED EXPRESS, encountered severe turbulence at 6000 feet, while on final approach to Washington Dulles, on Monday, May 16. The Dash, inbound from Newark, New Jersey, went on to make a safe landing and was met by Emergency Services. According to the FAA, 1 cabin crew member was injured and transported to hospital. The extent of injuries was not disclosed. The incident is under investigation.

*EXPRESSJET Flight 5837, an ERJ145 on service for UNITED AIRLINES, had to make an emergency diversion to Richmond, Virginia, on Monday, May 16, due to an unsafe gear indication. The ERJ, which was enroute from Washington Dulles to Rochester, New York, has removed from service for inspection and repairs.

*DELTA AIRLINES Flight 257, a Boeing 767, had to make an emergency diversion to Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, May 15. While enroute at 33000 feet from Detroit, Michigan, to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and near Daytona Beach, Florida, the crew requested to descend and begin to dump fuel for diversion. The 767 was then diverted to Atlanta, where they safely landed about 100 minutes later. According to reports, there was an airspeed disagree between the flight crew's instruments. The problem was repaired within 15 minutes, but the crew had to be replaced, as they would have run out of duty hours while enroute. The aircraft departed for Sao Paulo several hours later and arrived about 6 hours behind schedule.

*DELTA AIRLINES Flight 151, a Boeing 767, had to make an emergency return to Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, May 13, due to unspecified gear problems. The crew halted their climb out of Atlanta, and then circled to dump fuel, before landing safely back in Atlanta, about 2 hours after their initial depature to Lima, Peru. The aircraft was removed from service for inspection and repairs. According to media reports, a passenger said that a loud noise was heard, moments after depature. They were later told by crew members that they gear had unexpectedly deployed.

*DRAGONAIR Flight 905, an A330, encountered severe tubulence while on approach to Hong Kong, on Friday, May 13. The turbulence was encountered about 15 minutes prior to landing, causing minor injuries to 2 passengers and 5 cabin crew members. After making a safe landing in Hong Kong, the injured passengers and crew members were transferred to hospital, where they were treated and released. The A330, which was inbound from Beijing, China, was not damaged. According to Dragonair, the crew had just turned on the fasten seat belts sign, and the cabin crew was walking thru the cabin to verify passengers had their belts on, when the turbulence occurred. The incident remains under investigation.

*SHUTTLE AMERICA Flight 3543, an ERJ170 on service for UNITED AIRLINES, had to make an emergency returnt to Toronto, ON, Canada, on Thursday, May 12, after the crew could not retract the landing gear. After holding to troubleshoot, the crew declared an emergency and landed safely back at Toronto, about 45 minutes after their initial departure for Denver, Colorado. The ERJ was later ferried to Columbus, Ohio, where it has since been repaired and returned to service.