AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*HORIZON AIR will add the college colors and logos of 3 more universities-the University of Idaho, the University of Montana and Montana State University- to its fleet of planes that already sport colors from 5 other colleges. Horizon, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, began painting its Q400 turboprop planes with college colors 2 years ago. Colleges already represented in Horizon’s fleet include the University of Washington, Washington State University, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Boise State University. The University of Idaho will be next to have a plane painted beginning in early November, followed by the other 2 schools. None of the schools is paying anything to have its colors on Horizon’s planes; Horizon said the planes were due to be painted anyway and that passengers respond positively to the college's being highlighted.

*The UK AAIB announced yesterday that a THOMSON AIRWAYS Boeing 767 suffered a hard landing at Bristol, England, this past Sunday. The AAIB said the 767, arriving from Cancun, Mexico, was damaged in the landing. According to a media report, creases were seen at the crown of the aircraft and the 767 has been removed from service. The AAIB reported that this particular aircraft was involved in another hard landing in September 2000, when it was in service with VIETNAM AIRLINES. That incident caused structrual damage to the crown. The AAIB has opened a full investigation into this latest incident.

*The French BEA have released their Final Report into an incident involving an AIR TAHITI ATR72 at Manihi, French Polynesia, on May 2, 2009. Flight 534 was on Domestic Service from Manihi to Fakarava, French Polynesia, with 17 passengers and 4 crew members onboard. As the ATR rolled down the runway at Manihi for takeoff, the Captain attempted to rotate the aircraft. He needed extreme control forces and had to ask the First Officer to assist in rotation. The First Officer used trim to reduce the control forces. After the ATR became airborne, the crew reported a sensation of the aircraft floating and a perception that the flight controls were ineffective, however no further anomolies were observed during the climb or the 30 minute flight. The crew requested a long final into Fakarava. During slow down and landing, the crew reported that again the controls felt ineffective, but did complete a safe landing. In their Final Report into the incident, the BEA said the entire incident was due to the center of gravity being off balance. The BEA said that 222kg of cargo had mistakenly been loaded in the forward cargo hold, rather than the rear cargo hold, which caused the center of gravity to be off balance. The full report can be found on the BEA website.

*EXPRESSJET Flight 2496, on Domestic ERJ145 Service on behalf of CONTINENTAL AIRLINES, from Houston, Texas, to Louisville, Kentucky, with 46 passengers and crew onboard, had to make an emergency landing, yesterday, October 4. The crew halted their descent into Louisville at 9000 feet due to an unspecified problem. After working their checklists, the crew then declared an emergency, reporting a flaps failure. The crew then requested a longer than normal final and that Emergency Services be dispatched for their landing. The ERJ landed safely, as seen in photo above, about 25 minutes after the emergency began. The aircraft was removed from service for repairs.

*ATLASJET Flight 10, on Domestic A321 Service from Istanbul to Antalya, Turkey, with 174 passengers and crew onboard, had to make an emergency diversion, yesterday, October 4. While climbing thru 28000 feet, the crew reported that due to dropping oil pressure, they had shut down 1 engine. The A321 was diverted to Isparta, Turkey, where they landed without incident, about 40 minutes after taking off from Istanbul. The aircraft was removed from service for repairs.

*LUFTHANSA CARGO Flight 8393, on International MD11 Cargo Service from Krasnojarsk, Russia, to Frankfurt, Germany, with 3 crew members onboard, had to make an emergency return to Krasnojarsk, yesterday, October 4. The crew requested to return due to the right hand flap not fully retracting after takeoff. The MD11 has already been repaired and returned to service.

*NAS AIR Flight 214, on Domestic ERJ190 Service from Jazan to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with 114 passengers and crew onboard, had to diverted to Wadi ad Dawasir, Saudi Arabia, yesterday, October 4. According to media reports, the ERJ diverted due to smoke in the passenger cabin. The aircraft has been removed from service for inspection.

*BRUSSELS AIRLINES Flight 453, on International A330 Service from Brussels, Belgium, to Bujumbura, Burundi, made a safe landing under challenging conditions, on Sunday, October 3. The A330 had just touched down at Bujumbura in nighttime conditions, when a power failure caused the entire Airport, including the runway, to plunge into darkness. Standby power kicked in after 8 to 10 seconds and the Brussels A330 rolled out safely. The Civil Aviation Authority of Burundi said that there have been 4 other power outages in the last year and have made it a priority to fix the problem for good.