AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*Boeing has lined up the space tourism company, Space Adventures, to sell seats on the spaceship it wants to build to fly to the International Space Station. Space Adventures currently sells seats on trips to the space station aboard the Russian-built Soyuz spaceship. Thus far, 7 customers have ridden on 8 flights thru Space Adventures. The Boeing CST-100, pictured above, is still on the drawing board, but the company hopes to have the 7 person spaceship operating by 2015. NASA has said it wants private companies to handle flights to the space station, carrying a mix of astronauts and tourists.

*The Japanese Transportation Safety Board (JTSB) has released its Final Report into an incident involving a JAPAN AIR COMMUTER Dash 8-400 on March 25, 2009. JAC Flight 3760, on Domestic Service from Tanegashima to Kagoshima, Japan, with 38 passengers and 4 crew members onboard, when the crew had to shut down the left hand engine due to an oil pressure problem, while on their initial climb out of Tanegashima. The crew elected to continue to Kagoshima, where they landed without incident. The JTSB opened an investigation into the incident after a post flight inspection found major damage in the engine. In their Final report, the JTSB noted that parts of the engine suffered a fatigue fracture while the aircraft was on its intial climb. The fracture caused damage to mutliple other parts of the engine, which resulted in the engine breaking down. The full Report, which rates the incident as serious, can be found on the JTSB website.

*The German BFU has released its Final Report into an incident involving a EUROWINGS BAe 146 on August 17, 2008. The Eurowings aircraft, operating on behalf of LUFTHANSA, from Frankfurt, Germany, to Bristol, England, experienced a near collision with an ultralight aircraft while on their initial climb out of Frankfurt. The 2 aircraft passed each other by a lateral distance of 150 to 200 meters, with the Eurowings jet 200 to 300 feet above the ultralight aircraft. The BFU Report gives only the facts of the incident, without reaching any conclusions. It was noted that the Pilot of the ultralight, an Ikarus C42, had lost orientation and had made an error in using his GPS. The full report can be found on the BFU website.

*AEROMEXICO Flight 553, on Domestic MD83 Service on behalf of AEROMEXICO TRAVEL, from Mexico City to Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, with 80 passengers and crew onboard, landed at the wrong Airport, on Monday, September 13. According to media reports, the MD83 was on approach to Tuxtla's Angel Albino Corzo International Airport at 1:30pm in good visibility. However, instead of landing at the International Airport, the MD83 landed at Francisco Sarabia Airport, aka Teran Airport, which is a military base Airport only. As the aircraft came to a stop, it was immediately surrounded by soldiers. After questioning, the flight crew was allowed to file a new flight plan and departed an hour later for their intended destination, which they reached 15 minutes later without incident. Aeromexico, which is investigating the incident, only started flying the route 1 week ago.

*AIR CANADA Flight 273, on Domestic ERJ190 Service from Toronto to Winnipeg, Canada, had to make an emergency return, on Saturday, September 11. The ERJ had departed Toronto with the right hand bleed air system inoperative under the Minimum Equipment List requirements. While on their initial climb out of Toronto, the crew reported that the left hand bleed air system had failed and that they were having cabin pressure problems. The ERJ landed back at Toronto without incident and has since been repaired and returned to service.

*AIR CANADA Flight 501, on International ERJ175 Service from Toronto, ON, Canada, to Chicago OHare, with 49 passengers and crew onboard, had to make an emergency return, on Thursday, September 9. While climbing thru 28000 feet, the ERJ suffered a dual bleed failure. The crew requested return, reporting cabin pressure problems. The aircraft landed back at Toronto 25 minutes later without incident and has already been repaired and returned to service.