AVIATON NEWS BRIEFS

*GULFSTREAM has resumed the G650 flight-test program, following a temporary suspension of flying after the April 2 fatal crash of a test aircraft. The 1st flight since the accident took place yesterday, with Serial Number 6001 flying for 1 hour and 39 minutes. "We have conducted all the necessary reviews to assure ourselves that we can safely resume the flight-test program at this point," said the senior vice president, Programs, Engineering and Test, Gulfstream. The FAA agreed with resumption of flight testing. To date, the G650 flight-test program has accomplished 470 flights, accumulating 1560 hours towards the estimated 2200 hours required for certification. Gulfstream resumed flying with the 4 remaining flight-test aircraft. The company still anticipates certification in 2011, with service entry in 2012, as was originally planned at the aircraft's public launch in 2008.

*The 1st Embraer 175 for UK carrier FLYBE was recently captured in Brazil, prior to its delivery in June. The carrier has ordered 35 of the type.

*EASYJET has taken delivery of its 200th Airbus at ceremonies at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France. The European budget carrier become's the world’s youngest and quickest Airline to reach a fleet of 200 Airbus aircraft. Its maiden flight was with passengers from Toulouse to Paris, and then onto London with the Flight number of EZY200.

*French carrier AIGLE AZUR is adding twice weekly service from Paris, France, to Tunis, Tunisia. The Airbus A320 series service will operate on Mondays and Fridays and can already be booked online.

*A new S7 Boeing 737-800 was captured last week at Boeing Field in Washington State, just prior to its delivery to the Russian carrier. The 737 sports the new One World livery for the carrier. S7 is Russia's fastest growing Airline and recently passed AEROFLOT as the countries largest domestic carrier.

*The NTSB has released a brief update on the landing accident involving a GREAT LAKES AVIATION Beech 1900D at Denver, Colorado, on May 17, 2011. Flight 5150 was on Domestic Service from Pueblo to Denver, Colorado, and ppon touchdown at DIA, the Beech veered left off the runway, at which time the left hand main gear collapsed shortly before the aircraft came to a stop. The 11 passengers and crew were evacuated without injury. Reports at the time said the crew reported a rudder failure and a wind shear alert while on finals. In their update, the NTSB said that both crew reported in written testimony that prior to landing the N, RH and L lights illuminated green, the left "H" however did not illuminate. They also observed that the gear in transit light remained illuminated and the gear motor continued running for about 16 seconds until the circuit breaker popped. Seeing 3 greens, and knowing that the gear down indications had back up systems, both crew agreed that the gear was down and locked. The First Officer reported that the Captain also performed a visual check and confirmed all 3 gear struts were down and locked. A few seconds after touchdown, the aircraft began to wobble however and the left landing gear collapsed. The NTSB said the top cap of the nose gear actuator was found on the runway near the point of touchdown and was fractured. This part as well as the nose and left main gear actuators were removed from the aircraft for further analysis. The damage to the Beech was limited to the nose gear, left main gear, left wing tip and skin of the underside of the left wing. The investigation continues.

*The Canadian TSB has released its Final Report into the crash of a CANADIAN AIR CHARTERS Piper Chieftain on approach to Vancouver, BC, Canada, on July 9, 2009. On that date, the Piper was on Cargo Service from from Victoria, BC to Vancouver. The aircraft crashed in flames near the Richmond Auto Mall, while on approach to Vancouver International Airport. Both Pilots onboard were killed. In their Final Report, the TSB said the cause of the crash was related to wake air turbulence from an AIR CANADA A321. The Report notes that the plane was arriving in darkness at Vancouver International Airport using visual flight rules at 10:00pm and was 1.5 nautical miles behind and 700 feet below the flight path of the Air Canada Airbus A321. On their approach, air-traffic control put out a turbulence warning but did not advise the Piper Pilots of a safe distance they needed to be from the Airbus. The safe distance set by flight rules for a light aircraft behind a medium-weight airplane is 4 nautical miles, or 1000 feet below, which the Canadian Air Charters plane was not. Despite the distance, the Report concludes the turbulence by the much larger plane caused “an upset and loss of control at an altitude that precluded recovery".

*The NTSB has released its Final Report into an incident involving an ATLANTIC SOUTHEAST AIRLINES CRJ200 at Atlanta, Georgia, on June 11, 2009. On that date, Flight 5414 was on service for DELTA AIRLINES from Columbus to Atlanta, Georgia, with 19 passengers and 3 crew members onboard. The crew had to abort their 1st approach for landing after the left main gear would not extend. They then circled for about 45 minutes to troubleshoot the problem. Unable to rectify the situation, the crew brought the CRJ in for partial gear down landing on the runway 27R. Upon landing, the CRJ veered left off the runway and came to a standstill almost perpendicular to the runway in the grass several meters off the runway. No one onboard was injured. In their Final Report, the NTSB said the Probable Cause of the incident was: "The failure of the left main landing gear to extend due to high levels of particulate contamination in the hydraulic fluid". The full Report can be found on the NTSB website.

*AUSTRIAN AIRLINES Flight 93, a Boeing 767, had to make an emergency return to Vienna, Austria, on Friday, May 27, after the landing gear could not be retracted. The aircraft landed back in Vienna, about 20 minutes after its initial departure for Washington Dulles. After 45 minutes on the ground, it once again departed for Dulles, where it arrived without incident, only 30 minutes behind schedule.

*AIR CHINA Flight 1549, an A330, reported an unusual onboard fire, while enroute from Beijing to Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, May 25. According to reports, while the Airbus was enroute, the cabin crew smelled smoke and traced it to an overhead bin. Inside the bin, they found that the lithium batteries in a passenger's camera had caught fire. In a statement, Air China said the flames were about 20cm in height. Cabin crew members carried the burning camera to a lavatory and used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out. The Airbus continued on to Shanghai, where it landed without incident. The carrier and Chinese aviation officials are investigating. On a side note, lithium batteries are suspected of contributing to the cargo fire onboard UPS Flight 6, the Boeing 747 that crashed in Dubai last year while making an emergency return to the Airport.