AVIATION NEWS BRIEFS

*Nearly 1/3 of plane accidents worldwide occur on the ground due to poor runway designs or air traffic control miscues, the International Civil Aviation Organization said Tuesday. The agency said the number of accidents reached a record low number in 2010. But the International Air Transportation Association has forecast traffic will rise by 70% within a decade, and the ICAO director of air navigation urged against complacency. Between 1995 and 2008, there were 1429 airline accidents in the world. Of these 431 occurred during takeoff or landing, which saw aircraft skidding off runways, according to the UN aviation agency. Pilot Error or poorly designed runways were often cited as the causes of crashes. The ICAO also pointed to factors such as Airport design and construction, air traffic control, air traffic management systems and processes, airline operations, flight crew awareness and communications.

*AMERICAN AIRLINES has taken delivery of its 1st 737-800 featuring the new Boeing Sky Interior design, as part of a broader $5.5 billion investment in new aircraft and onboard enhancements aimed at improving the customer experience. The Boeing Sky Interior features larger overhead bins that pivot down and out similar to the 787 widebody, programmable LED lighting, sculpted sidewalls along with new designs for windows, switches and call buttons. The cabin is configured with 16 first class seat and 144 economy class seats.

*Boeing said it has ruled out developing a significantly larger 200 seat 757-sized aircraft to replace today's Next Generation 737s, and will instead focus its product development studies around an aircraft "modestly bigger" than today's 145 to 180-seat 737-700 and -800.

*Pilots at GULFSTREAM INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters APA Local 1224, announced they have agreed to a 5 year collective bargaining agreement with the carrier. The new contract will be in effect through May 2016.

*Canada's AIR INUIT will spend $32.5 million and Quebec another $5 million to expand the carrier’s operations at Dorval Airport. The capital expenditure will cover moving from its current location and building a new, large hangar at the Airport and the purchase of a de Havilland Dash-8 flight simulator. The bulk of its fleet is 12 de Havilland Dash-8 turboprops, but Air Inuit also operates 2 Boeing 737s and 7 15 seat Twin Otters as well as a variety of King Airs, Hawkers, Turbo Otters, Beavers and 2 helicopters. Air Inuit serves 14 communities accessible only by air.

*Peruvian charter operator CDS REGIONAL EXPRESS has ordered 4 Xian Aircraft MA60s. Reports say that 2 of the aircraft will be used to carry passengers on charter routes, while the remaining 2 will be operated as cargo aircraft.

*The Brazilian judge who sentenced 2 US Pilots last week for their role in the crash of GOL Flight 1907 on September 29, 2006, also called for a criminal investigation into how Brazil's military-based air navigation service provider runs that country's air traffic control system. In addition to the Pilots, the judge convicted the air traffic controller on console duty at the time of the accident of criminal negligence for mismanaging communications, sentencing him to 3 years and 4 months of community service. However a 2nd controller, who was handling the flight earlier and was viewed by the Brazilian prosecutors as the "dominant cause of the accident", was acquitted by the judge because he could not find him reckless according to the standards to which he was trained. The judge said that the 2nd controller was "wildly unqualified to serve as an air traffic controller and didn't belong in the vicinity of a console". The controller had failed the controller's exam 4 times prior to be given the job. All 154 passengers and crew onboard the GOL Boeing 737 were killed when it crashed after colliding with the US bound private Legacy 600. The Legacy made a safe emergency landing after the collision.

*Airbus has finalized an A380 design package available to Airlines that will allow them to fly the aircraft further or with more payload. The design changes are available as an option to Airlines and boost the maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft by 4 metric tons to 573,000 metric tons. The change would enable the aircraft to fly 120 nautical miles  farther or to carry the equivalent of 20 more passengers. The changes will be available starting in 2013.

*Spain's IBERIA has announced that it will begin 2x weekly service between Madrid, Spain, and Luanda, Angola, on September 29. The Airbus A340 service will operate on Monday's and Friday's.

*SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA) plans to establish a no-frills low-fare subsidiary that will serve medium and long-haul routes using widebodies. Operations at the Singapore based wholly-owned subsidiary will begin within a year, and it will be managed separately from SIA, said the Star Alliance carrier. SIA's regional carrier SILKAIR will retain its business model.

*For the 1st time in 45 years, QANTAS Pilots have moved to take strike action. The Australian and International Pilots Association today filed papers with Fair Work Australia seeking permission to hold a ballot of its 1700 members on proposed industrial action. The vice-president of the Pilots’ union, said the industrial action, if endorsed by its members, could include working to contract obligations and stop-work meetings. Any industrial action would be at least 3 weeks away because of the time it will take the Australian Electoral Commission to conduct a ballot of the 1700 long-haul Pilots.

*FINNAIR Flight 79, an A330, had to make an emergency return to Helsinki, Finland, yesterday, May 24. While climbing thru 33000 feet, about 125 miles from Helsinki, the crew reported a hydraulic leak and requested return. The Airbus landed safely back in Helsinki about 30 minutes later. According to reports, the aircraft was repaired within 2 hours and then departed shortly thereafter for Nagoya, Japan.

*IRAN AIR Flight 409, an A300, had to make an emergency return to Tehran, Iran, yesterday, May 24, due to an unspecified technical fault. The Airbus was removed from service for repairs and another aircraft brought in to complete the flight to Bushehr, Iran.

*AIR INDIA Flight 627, an A319, had to make an emergency landing in Nagpur, India, yesterday, May 24. On approach to Nagpur, the crew of the Airbus, inbound from Mumbai, India, reported a hydraulic failure. The aircraft went on to make a safe landing and was later removed from service for repairs.

*JETSTAR PACIFIC Flight 596, a Boeing 737, had to make an emergency landing in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Monday, May 23. The crew aborted their 1st approach into Da Nang, reporting they could not extend their flaps beyond 1 degree. They then used alternate extension to bring the flaps to 15 degrees and then made a safe landing at higher than normal speed. The aircraft, which was inbound from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, was repaired and returned to service later the same day.

*AIR CANADA Flight 230, an ERJ190, had to make an emergency return to Vancouver, BC, Canada, on Tuesday, May 10. The incident was just made public yesterday. While on its initial climb, the crew reported their were unable to retract the landing gear and were also unable engage the autopilot. They halted their climb at 5000 feet and landed back in Vancouver, about 20 minutes after their initial departure for Calgary, AB. The ERJ has already been repaired and returned to service.