AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*Regional turboprop specialist ATR has delivered its 900th aircraft, and expects to break the 1000 barrier within 2 years. ATR's 2nd largest customer, Brazil's TRIP LINHAS AEREAS, took delivery of the milestone ATR 72-500 pictured above, at a ceremony at the airframer's headquarters in Toulouse, France. Trip operates 12 ATR 42-300/320s, 3 ATR 42-500s, 4 ATR 72-200s and 11 ATR 72-500s. So far this year the Brazilian carrier has received 3 ATR 72-500s. It has another aircraft of the type on backlog for 2011. From handover of the 1st ATR 42 to AIR LITTORAL in December 1985, it took ATR about 15 years to achieve its 600th delivery, to AIR DOLOMITI, in April 2000. 6 more years elapsed before the 700th shipment, to AIR DECCAN  in September 2006. But since then, ATR has delivered 100 aircraft every 2 years. With a firm order backlog of 152 aircraft, ATR forecasts a stabilization of deliveries in excess of 50 aircraft yearly.

*2 Mexican Airlines are expanding service to help fill the void by the shutdown of MEXICANA. VOLARIS is planning a major expansion of its network from Mexico City International Airport as the low-cost carrier looks to fill some of the void left by Mexicana. The carrier is launching 7 new routes from Mexico City this month. Service from Mexico City to Hermosillo will launch today. Service to Cancun, Chihuahua, Guadalajara, La Paz and Los Cabos will launch on September 22, followed by service to Merida on September 23. Mexico City-Cancun will be served twice daily with Airbus A319s. The other 6 new Mexico City routes will initially be served once per day with A319s. Low-cost carrier VIVAAEROBUS is  launching 6 new routes to Mexico City and is looking to acquire at least 6 additional Boeing 737-300s to support further network expansion in the wake of Mexicana ceasing operations. VivaAerobus said in a statement that it will launch on October 1 service to Mexico City from Cancun, Oaxaca, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Tuxtla Gutierrez and Villahermosa. Each new route will initially be served with 1 daily flight. The carrier at the same time is also expanding service on its 2 existing Mexico City routes: Guadalajara and Monterrey.

*The chief of AER ARANN is aiming to maintain the carrier's fleet and headcount, insisting it needs financial rather than operational restructuring during its spell in creditor protection. The Airline was placed into examinership on Wednesday, September 8. Although Aer Arann has lost $15 million over the last 2 years, the chief said that a cost-cutting program, redundancies and a new AER LINGUS franchise agreement had placed it on track for "a reasonably good year". He said he has "no doubt" that, without the Icelandic volcanic ash crisis in April, the Airline would have avoided entry into examinership, the Irish equivalent of bankruptcy protection. Since 2008 Aer Arann has cut its fleet from a peak of 15 aircraft down to 13 and made 60 positions redundant, leaving it with a total of 320 staff. It deploys 5 aircraft under Aer Lingus Regional branding, generating 40% of its revenues. The carrier is conducting "business as usual" and hopes to exit examinership within 2 months.

*AIR ZIMBABWE has warned striking Pilots that they could lose their jobs unless they return to work. The Pilots are in the 3rd day of a  pay strike which has grounded the carrier's planes. Air Zimbabwe has begun hiring aircraft and Pilots from South African private Airline QUARIES to cover local routes. The Pilots are being paid $1200 a month but are demanding their full salaries of $2500. The Air Zimbabwe chairman told the state-run Herald newspaper: "If they do not go back to work inside 24 hours, legal and disciplinary action will be taken." According to the Herald, the strike is costing Air Zimbabwe $500,000 dollars a day.

*Italy's ANSV announced yesterday that they were opening a full investigation into the incident involving a VOLGA DNEPR Antonov AN124 at Torino, Italy, on Thursday, September 9. As reported yesterday, the crew rejected takeoff at low speed from Torino, after 3 engines flamed out after the aircraft accelerated thru a flock of birds. No one onboard the Antonov was injured in the incident, however the aircraft was damaged and has been removed from service.

*The Polish Ministry of Infrastructure (PMI) has released its Final Report into an incident involving a EUROCYPRIA Boeing 737 at Katowice, Poland, on November 9, 2009. On that date, Flight 321, arriving from Fuerteventura, CI, Spain, touched down on runway 27 at 8:36pm, with the left main gear outside of the runway. The crew turned the aircraft towards the centerline and the left main gear came back within the runway edge, about 375 meters past the touchdown point. The crew then rolled out the aircraft without further incident. The 737 suffered damage to the landing gear and the aircraft took out several runway lights. The PMI Final Report blames the incident on multiple Pilot Errors. The PMI said the crew continued the ILS approach, despite the actual runway visual range was below minimums. The agency also said that the Captain did not make a decision to go-around, despite momentary loss of visual contact with ground reference points. The Captain also mis-identified the left hand runway edge lights as runway center lights. The full report, in Polish, can be found on the PMI website.

*JETBLUE Flight 578, on Domestic ERJ190 Service from Ft Lauderdale, Florida, to Westchester, New York, with 78 passengers and crew onboard, had to make an emergency return to Ft Lauderdale, yesterday, September 10. About 5 minutes after departure, the crew reported smoke in the passenger cabin. The ERJ landed back at Ft Lauderdale about 20 minutes after their initial departure. Upon arrival, the crew reported the smoke had dissipated and they were allowed to taxi to the gate. The ERJ was later removed from service for inspection.

*AMERICAN AIRLINES Flight 199, on International Boeing 767 Service from Milan, Italy, to New York JFK, had to make an emergency diversion, yesterday, September 10. While inflight at 34000 feet, near Cork, Ireland, the crew declared an emergency, reporting visible smoke in the passenger cabin with a smoke detector going off. The 767 was diverted to Shannon, Ireland, where it landed and was met by Emergency Services. The aircraft was removed from service for inspection and to try to determine the cause of the smoke.

*LUFTHANSA Flight 3220, on International A320 Service from Frankfurt, Germany, to Saint Petersburg, Russia, with 164 passengers and crew onboard, had to divert while enroute, on Thursday, September 9. While inflight at 37000 feet, the crew descended to 20000 feet within 5 minutes due to a cracked windshield. The crew then descended further to 10000 feet and then were diverted to Berlin, Germany, where they landed without incident. The A320 was removed from service for repairs.

*AIR INDIA EXPRESS Flight 206, on Domestic Boeing 737 Service from Mumbai to Chennai, India, with 133 passengers and crew onboard, had to make an emergency landing, on Thursday, September 9. The crew had to abandon their approach into Chennai when they were unable to deploy the landing flaps. They then entered a holding pattern to troubleshoot, however they were unable to rectify the problem. The crew then declared an emergency and landed without incident, at a higher than normal speed. India's DGCA is investigating the incident.

*PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES Flight 302, on Domestic Boeing 747 Service from Karachi to Lahore, Pakistan, with 480 passengers and crew onboard, had to make an emergency return to Karachi, after ingesting a bird into an engine on takeoff, on Thursday, September 10. The 747 landed back at Karachi without incident and was removed from service for inspection.

*RYANAIR Flight 3875, on International Boeing 737 Service from Malta to Venice, Italy, with 170 passengers and crew onboard, had to make an emergency diversion, on Wednesday, September 8. While inflight at 36000 feet, near Elba, the aircraft encountered severe turbulence. Due to reported injuries onboard, the 737 was diverted to Bologna, Italy, where it landed without incident 25 minutes later. According to media reports, officials at Bologna Airport said the aircraft experience 2 serious upsets within 20 seconds, causing injuries to 2 Flight Attendants and 1 passenger. Passengers reported that when the turbulence hit, a drinks trolley hit the ceiling of the aircraft, while passengers not seat belted in were thrown up into the ceiling and back down. Overhead luggage bins also opened during the incident with the contents thrown all over the passenger cabin. An investigation has been opened into the incident.