AircraftNews.Com

There has been a deafening silence in the general press about the AF 447 tragedy of recent times. What with drones running round in various places bombing baddies with the occasional bit of collateral damage generally agreed to be regrettable by the responsible (what a way to use the word) parties and regular suicide bombings not to mention ferries turning over and NSW Cabinet Ministers being laid low by spurned lovers it does not take long for even such a monumental tragedy to fade into the background but those of us who fly are worried and will not rest until some sense can be made of it.
At present the official position is that we do not know the cause but suspect a perfect storm of events starting with a sensor failure led to a loss of control. The more time passes the more this seems pretty thin. If this could be the case then thousands are daily in danger. I expect that behind the scenes this is being taken very seriously and I also suspect that given the propensity for litigation currently prevailing loose lips sink financial ships is guiding the dissemination of information i.e. what you don’t know wont hurt you (or more accurately in some cases wont hurt the company).
It seems we have reached the point predicted frequently by experts where systems too complicated to be completely analyzed have been created and are in daily world wide service.
In the design philosophy of the Airbus et al a very serious effort has been made to build in protection by redundancy but as reports come in more and more evidence of startling failures emerges of the type which warrant drastic action.
I have collected reports of a total of 52 incidents in which malfunctions of automated flight systems with computers at their core have created situations where there was a serious risk of the loss of an aircraft and all aboard. As my research has not been exhaustive likely ther are many more. Two of these situations did lead to the loss of aircraft. In one case, the crash of a B2, the crew were able to eject but the bomber worth about $250 mil was lost while in the other case – AF 447, the aircraft and all on board were lost.
Why are we continuing to fly them? In the case of the Air force and B2s the failure was diagnosed and corrected but in the case of the AF447 it is clear that in actual fact the risks are regarded as acceptable in the face of the cost of the only rational action which is to stop using these aircraft till we understand what is going on. Or am I just just being alarmist?
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Did he jump or was he pushed? Personally I have been looking for the rolling heads in the Dreamliner program for some time as I have formed the opinion, surely widespread that there is more management than technical problems at Boeing and a scapegoat would be found somewhere. All the usual flatterning things are being said about Scott E Carson who has been in charge of the Boeing commercial plane programs since 2006. It does look as if enough is enough for him either in terms of butting his head against a brick wall or simply pushing a pile of unpleasant material up hill with a pointy stick but what ever is the real reason Carson is leaving early. Read more…

There was another of the three great suspect statements but I forget it.
Boeing Co. announced yesterday that the 787 Dreamliner would make its first test flight by year-end — two years behind its original schedule — and the first aircraft would be delivered by the end of 2010, ending months of speculation.
But a string of delays have already strained Boeing’s credibility with airline customers and the new schedule renews pressure on the company to get its new marquee commercial airliner airborne in short order — even as news of problems with Boeing’s global manufacturing system have leaked out in recent weeks.
“We understand the need to make the best and safest aircraft possible,” said All Nippon Airways Co., which is slated to receive the first Dreamliners. “However, as launch customer and future operator of the 787, the length of this further delay is a source of great dismay.” The Japanese carrier has a total of 55 of the aircraft on order. Read more…

After a bizarre scare in Australia where a B 737 narrowly escaped taking off with a nose wheel missing comes a report of further wheel trouble for the Giant company and another report which will not do the 787 any good.

Boeing was not inclined to immediately respond to requests for clarification and in the light of recent behaviour this presumably means the spin masters have yet to issue their decree.

CHICAGO -A contractor on Boeing Co.’s (BA) delayed 787 aircraft program said new software for the plane’s braking system has yet to be completed amid a disagreement over who should pay for the work.
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Starting next year, Tempe-based US Airways will transform dozens of planes into flying internet hotspots.

According to US Airways’ website, travelers with a Wi-Fi enabled device such as a laptop, smartphone or PDA will have internet access through Aircell GoGo Inflight Internet Wi-Fi.

Cost for the service has not been set yet but current service prices range from $5.95 to $12.95, depending on the length of the flight and type of Wi-Fi enabled device used to access the service.

Passengers will be able to sign up for service even before they board their flight by going to gogo’s website to create an account and sign up for the service.

According to the website, the service will work through a series of cellular towers throughout the U.S. that allow transmission of broadband internet connectivity to Gogo-equipped aircraft.

Three small antennas on the outside of the aircraft receive the signal and send it to the Gogo system aboard the aircraft. The Gogo system then transmits a Wi-Fi signal inside the cabin for passengers’ mobile devices.

US Airways says 50 Airbus A321 aircraft will be equipped with Wi-Fi by early 2010.

From http://www.abc15.com/content/news/southeastvalley/tempe/story/Tempe-based-airline-to-turn-aircraft-into-flying/kZE55Dads0edJSj_Us4WCQ.cspx

Federal regulators propose requiring modifications to engines of Boeing 777s powerd by the RR Trent engine to prevent ice from forming in fuel lines on long flights, a problem blamed for the British Airways crash last year.

The work would have to be completed by January 2011.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed the safety directive after a similar move by European regulators called for redesigning a heat exchanger in the RR Trent engines in which engine oil is cooled and fuel heated.

About 50 such planes operate in the United States.
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American Airlines Inc. is assessing the damage to one of its bigger jets after the aircraft fell on its nose during maintenance work July 15.

American spokesman Tim Wagner said the Boeing 767-300ER airplane was at American’s Alliance base in Fort Worth for a heavy maintenance check.
“The maintenance had been completed,” Wagner said, “and during some of our functional tests before putting the aircraft back into service, the nose gear retracted and put the aircraft on its nose.”

The wide-body jet “has been out of service for repairs since that time,” Wagner said.
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As has been widely reported the Boeing Dreamliner program is in further trouble with the current structural problems turning out to be more difficult of solution than had at first been thought (Or admitted?). It beggars belief that a team of such demonstrated competence could not see this coming so it has to be assumed that some in the company knew full well that they were going to miss the mark and that others dared not let them publicly admit it. When this has happened repeatedly surely the industry as a whole must be starting to doubt the entire public face of the company.
Will head roll? will changes be made or is it case of tough it out and hope as all involved have too much to lose to change directions?
Maybe it is a case of Management to destruction.

In a welcome proactive step Airbus has announced a program to find better ways of recovering data in Aircraft crashes.

A 2nd of July press release has details

Airbus has launched a study for reinforcing flight data recovery, including, but not limited to, extended data transmission for commercial airliners, so that in the event of accidents, critical flight information can still be recovered and released to the investigating authorities.

Tom Enders, President and CEO of Airbus commented: “Gathering information from accidents is vitally important to further improve the safety of flying. Various technical means for reinforcing flight data recovery and data transmission to ground centres are principally available. We will now study different options for viable commercial solutions, including those where our experience with real-time data transmission from our own test aircraft could support the further development of such solutions.”

The study will be conducted by Patrick Gavin, Head of Airbus Engineering, and Charles Champion, Head of Customer Services, and will need to address technological issues as well as data protection and privacy concerns. Airbus will include industrial partners, research institutions, and international airworthiness and investigation authorities in this study.
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Southwest Airlines inspected Nearly 200 Boeing 737 belonging to Southwest airline had to be inspected after a hole in the aft fuselage of one of their aircraft forced an emergency landing.

Federal safety officials at Dallas are investigating how a foot-long hole opened in the top of the jet, forcing the emergency landing in Charleston, W. Va.

The Boeing 737 jet lost pressure in the cabin, but no one was injured on Monday’s Nashville-to-Baltimore flight that carried 126 passengers and five crew members.

The plane was built in 1994, and government records indicated that an inspection in January turned up eight cracks in the frame that required repairs.

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