AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*ALLEGIANT AIR will begin flying the Boeing 757 in early 2011. The carrier will introduce the aircraft on its new Hawaii service which will launch in the 1st quarter of the new year. Allegiant's 757, registration N901NV, is shown above sporting a new livery for the Airline. Media have reported that the aircraft is fitted with 217 all coach style seats, however this has not been confirmed by Allegiant.

*BRITISH AIRWAYS is planning to retire its last Boeing 757-200 from revenue service on October 31. Due to the unique nature of the event, a special enthusiast flight is being planned for November 6. BA is also expected to paint the last 757 in a special livery to celebrate over 17 years of faithful service. The last 3 757s in service are G-CPER, G-CPES and G-CPET, besides those operated by OPENSKIES.

*The Italian ANSV has reported that the process of analyzing the black boxes from the WINDJET A319 that landed 400 meters short of the runway in Palermo, Italy, on Friday evening, has begun. Windjet Flight 243 was on Domestic Service from Rome to Palermo, with 123 passengers and 6 crew members onboard, when the incident took place as the A319 attempted to land on runway 07 in heavy thunderstorms and windshear. According to media reports, the tower could not see Flight 243 as it approached and intially had thought the A319 had gone down into the sea. After notifying the Coast Guard, they learned that the aircraft had come down next to the runway. 34 people suffered minor injuries in the incident, however the aircraft suffered substantial damage and will most likely be written off.  Officials from the Palermo Airport report that the wreckage has been removed to a nearby hanger from where it came to rest next to the runway and the Airport reopened last evening. The aircraft took out the localizer antenna for the ILS runway 25, thus all ILS approaches to runway 25 are not available. It will take at least 3 weeks to replace the antenna. A Public Prosecutor will also be naming a team of consultants today to conduct a separate investigation into the accident.

*ANA Flight 1291, on International Boeing 777 Service from Tokyo, Japan, to Seoul, South Korea, with 307 passengers and crew onboard, had to make an emergency return, on Saturday, September 25. While on their initial climb out of Tokyo, the crew had to shut down the left hand engine. The 777 landed back at Tokyo without incident, about 30 minutes after their initial departure. The aircraft was removed from service for repairs. According to a statement from ANA, the ECT in the engine rose, while at the same time the oil quantity and pressure dropped. The engine also began vibrating, at which time the crew shut the engine down.

*AIR EUROPA Flight 5911, on Domestic Boeing 737 Service from Tenerife to Lanzarote, CI, Spain, with 50 passengers and crew onboard, had to reject takeoff, on Friday, September 24. According to media reports, the crew rejected takeoff due to an unknown indication received. A main gear tire burst as the aircraft slowed down on the runway. About 4 hours before this incident, the 737 had lined up for takeoff, but returned to the gate after the same, but unknown, indication was received. Passengers were offloaded and ground staff repaired the aircraft. It was then cleared for departure, however as noted above, the crew rejected takeoff. The 737 was then removed from service for repairs.