*All flight restrictions in Europe and Russia have been lifted as the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano Grimsvotn continues to dissipate. Officials in Iceland said that the volcano stopped erupting yesterday morning. Hundreds of flights had been canceled since the eruption began on Saturday. Iceland said late yesterday that the Grimsvotn eruption was much stronger and produced more ash than last years eruption of Eyjafjoll. The dissipating ash cloud forecast for tomorrow is pictured tomorrow.
*Belgian media reported that RYANAIR crews are complaining about a sudden surge in testing for cannabis use. "Every week, a nurse comes from Ireland and takes stewards and stewardesses into an office where they cut hair samples for drug tests," an employee who wanted to remain anonymous told Belgian's L'Avenir daily, which covers the region that includes the Charleroi Airport used by Ryanair. The controls were bi-annual, but have been conducted 3 times in the past 3 weeks, a Ryanair spokesman confirmed. The controls are "stipulated in staff contracts," he said, citing "passenger security" reasons. The Belgian Transport Minister criticized the "exaggerated" practice during an interview on a Belgian radio station.
*Boeing aims to deliver the 1st 787 Dreamliner to ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS (ANA) in August or September, following a test aircraft's maiden flight in Japan in July as part of a simulation of revenue operations. Boeing will work with ANA to deploy the 2nd flight test aircraft, ZA002, on flights within Japan during the week of 4 July to simulate in-service operations across several Airports in Japan in a service ready operational validation. The flights are expected to be operated between Tokyo Haneda Airport and Airports in Osaka (both Itami and Kansai Airports), Okayama and Hiroshima. Boeing said the flights will show the aircraft's "readiness to enter service on a commercial basis".
*Indonesia's Transport Ministry has ordered MERPATI NUSANTARA to stop operating Xian MA60s to 3 Airports in the wake of a safety audit carried out following a fatal accident. Merpati is not allowed to operate the aircraft to the coastal Ende and Waingapu Airports in East Nusa Tenggara province, or Ruteng Airport in West Nusa Tenggara province, said director general of civil aviation. He said there is proof of Pilot "indiscipline" in the May 7 crash at Kaimana, which killed all 25 people onboard the MA60, the 1st fatal loss involving the Chinese-built twin-engined type. Procedures for landing preparations needed to be made at a greater altitude than that used by the crew, he said. The ministry, which did not find any fault with Merpati's 12 remaining MA60s, has cleared 10 aircraft in the audit. But 2 aircraft have been grounded, it added, without elaborating.
*Spain's CIAIAC has released their Final Report into a serious incident involving an IBERIA A340 at Quito, Ecuador, on August 31, 2007. On that date, Flight 6635, on International Service from Madrid, Spain, to Quito, landed hard on Quito's runway 17 that burst both outboard right main and 1 body gear tyres. The aircraft, registration EC-JFX and pictured above, came to a stop on the runway. No one onboard was injured. The Airbus received damage to a total of 8 tires and a wiring harness of the body gear was damaged. In their Report, the CIAIAC said the Probable Cause of the incident was: "Touch down at a high drift angle (angle between aircraft axis and runway centerline) combined with a high rate of descent as result of an unstabilized approach that was conducted with an excessive rate of descent and unusually big yaw and roll corrections to maintain intended lateral course". No evidence was found of any defects in the tires or aircraft systems nor any evidence of foreign objects on the runway surface. The full Report, in Spanish, can be found on the CIAIAC website. As a side note, a little over 2 months after this incident, on November 9, 2007, another Iberia A340 overran the same runway at Quito after another hard landing. The investigation has already been concluded and the results already published.
*KLM CITYHOPPER Flight 1477, a Fokker 70, had to make an emergency return to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, today, May 26. While enroute to Glasgow, Scotland, at 34000 feet and about 180 miles from Amsterdam, the crew requested return, reporting a bleed air problem. The Fokker landed safely back in Amsterdam, about 75 minutes after its initial depature. The aircraft was removed from service for inspection and repairs.
*JETSUITE Flight 240, an Embraer Phenom 100 on service from San Jose, California, to Sedona, Arizona, ran off the runway upon landing in Sedona, yesterday, May 25. The 3 passengers and 2 Pilots all survived, with the Co-Pilot suffering back injuries, while the passengers and Captain suffered minor injuries. According to media reports, the Phenom came in high for landing in Sedona. It then landed long on the runway and ran off the runway and then went 300 feet down a ravine, before coming to a stop. The aircraft suffered substantial damages in the incident, which is under investigation by both the NTSB and FAA. JetSuite is a new carrier out of California that charters exclusively Phenom 100's. They have 12 planes in their fleet and have numerous daily flights all over the southwest.
*TAP AIR PORTUGAL Flight 1828, an A320, had to make an emergency return to Terceira Lajes Airport, in the Azores Islands, yesterday, May 25. About 10 minutes after departure, an engine failed with a loud bang. The crew shut the engine down and returned to the Lajes for a safe landing. The flight to Lisbon, Portugal, was canceled and the aircraft removed from service for repairs.
*AIR BERLIN Flight 2547, an A330, had to make an emergency medical diversion to Luxemburg, on Tuesday, May 24. While enroute at 40000 feet from Alicante, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany, and near Luxemburg, the crew requested diversion due to a passenger falling ill. While descending towards Luxemburg, the patients condition deteriorated quickly, becoming critical. The A330 landed in Luxemburg about 20 minutes after requesting diversion, however the passenger was pronounced dead upon arrival. No other details were released.
*AIR CANADA Flight 511, an ERJ190, had to make an emergency return to Toronto, ON, Canada, on Tuesday, May 17. The incident was just disclosed yesterday. The ERJ, on service to Chicago OHare, was dispatched with the right hand air conditioning system inoperative as per Minimum Equipment List requirements. After takeoff, the crew halted their climb at 22000 feet after receiving a Bleed 1 Leak message. While working their checklists, the crew noted the cabin pressure was climbing at about 1000 feet/minute. The flight crew donned their 02 masks, declared an emergency and then performed an emergency descent to 10000 feet. The passenger O2 masks did not deploy. The aircraft landed safely back in Toronto, about 45 minutes after their initial departure. According to the Canadian TSB, numerous testing procedures were performed on the ERJ. The air management system controller was replaced and the aircraft was returned to service.
No comments:
Post a Comment