|

DR. EARL F. WEENER SWORN IN AS NTSB MEMBER

Similar Posts

  • |

    Norwegian Air Shuttle Takes First 737 With Boeing Sky Interior


    SEATTLE, Dec. 10, 2010 — Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Norwegian Air Shuttle, which operates commercially as Norwegian, yesterday celebrated the delivery of the airline’s first Next-Generation 737-800 with the new Boeing Sky Interior. Norwegian has scheduled this airplane’s inaugural flight almost immediately following its delivery in mid-December.

    Norwegian, based in Oslo, is the second-largest airline in Scandinavia and has a route portfolio that spans across Europe into North Africa and the Middle East.
    The 737 Boeing Sky Interior features new, modern-sculpted sidewalls and window reveals, larger stow bins and more headroom around the aisle seats. Other features include a quieter cabin, intuitive placement of switches and call buttons, improved sound quality and different interior lighting schemes.

    To date, a total of 60 airlines and leasing companies have ordered the 737 Boeing Sky Interior for more than 1,400 airplanes.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • |

    7th Boeing C-17 for Royal Air Force Arrives in United Kingdom


    LONDON, Jan. 21, 2011 — Boeing and its Boeing Defence UK subsidiary today announced the arrival of the Royal Air Force’s seventh C-17 Globemaster III airlifter at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England. The aircraft was officially delivered on Nov. 16 from Boeing’s facility in Long Beach, Calif., and underwent modifications at the company’s San Antonio facility before flying to the United Kingdom.

    “The RAF C-17 fleet, along with the rest of the Airbridge, delivers an incredible capability to our deployed forces on the front line,” said Air Officer Commanding 2 Group, Air Vice-Marshal Philip Osborn, Royal Air Force. “I am also extremely proud of the outstanding contribution that all our aircraft and personnel are making toward continued progress in Afghanistan.”

    Assigned to 99 Squadron at RAF Brize Norton, the UK fleet of C-17s provides critical airlift capability for the nation’s Joint Rapid Reaction Force and has supported humanitarian and disaster-relief missions to Pakistan, Haiti and Chile. 99 Squadron’s C-17s are equipped with upgraded software and avionics, as well as additional fuel tanks that extend the aircraft’s nautical mile range to over 4,000 miles. In normal operations, the aircraft carries a crew of three — two pilots and one air-loadmaster.

    “May 2011 will mark the 10th anniversary of the delivery of the Royal Air Force’s first C-17, which continues to perform superbly — anytime and anywhere,” said Boeing UK C-17 Program Manager Liz Pace. “The RAF uses its C-17s more than any other service today, which is why it has surpassed 60,000 flight hours with just six aircraft.”

    The UK Ministry of Defence announced it would acquire its seventh C-17 in December 2009, less than one year before delivery.

    Boeing supports the RAF’s C-17s through the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership, a performance-based logistics program, at RAF Brize Norton, the RAF’s main operating base for strategic air transport and air-to-air refueling. The arrangement provides the RAF with the benefits of complete “virtual fleet” access and an extensive support network. The virtual fleet concept enables C-17 customers, especially those with smaller numbers of aircraft, to benefit from worldwide parts availability and economies of scale when purchasing materials.

    Boeing Defence UK Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company and a business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It currently has employees at 20 locations throughout the UK supporting Ministry of Defence and U.S. military programs.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • |

    Southwest Airlines and Its Stock Clerks End Mediation and Announce Tentative Agreement

    Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Airlines Division, representing the carrier’s Stock Clerks, announced today that the two parties have reached a tentative agreement. The tentative agreement is for a new, five-year contract through August 16, 2013. The current contract became amendable on August 16, 2008.

    Earlier this year, Southwest and the Teamsters agreed to seek assistance from the National Mediation Board through the mediation process as defined by the Railway Labor Act. This current tentative agreement is due to the hard work and dedication of both parties.

    “I want to congratulate the negotiation teams for working together to reach this new tentative agreement, which delivers wage and benefit enhancements in exchange for work rule improvements and contract flexibility,” said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “These are exciting times at Southwest, and our hard working Stock Clerks play an important role in the future success of this great Company.”
    In the upcoming weeks, the IBT membership will be given the full details of the agreement and have the opportunity to vote on ratification. IBT represents more than 170 Southwest Airlines Employees.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • | |

    Boeing, Qatar Airways, AmeriCares Partner for Relief Flight

    New Qatar Airways 777-300ER carries medical supplies to Pakistan
    EVERETT, Wash., Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Boeing (NYSE: BA) again has partnered with Qatar Airways and the non-profit global health and disaster relief organization AmeriCares to deliver a second consignment of relief supplies to areas in Pakistan that are still recovering from the massive floods that ravaged the country in August. The first shipment was delivered in September 2010.

    A consignment of about 35,000 pounds (15.8 metric tones) of medical supplies was loaded into the cargo hold of the new Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) delivered to Qatar Airways. The airline subsequently will ship the relief goods from Doha, Qatar to Pakistan.

    “This is the second time in four months that Boeing has partnered with Qatar Airways and AmeriCares to help the people in Pakistan where the need is still great,” said Liz Warman, director of Global Corporate Citizenship Northwest Region, Boeing. “Providing timely medical care is critical; though the floods have receded, the aftereffects such as sickness and disease continue to affect the people in these disaster zones.”

    Over the years, Boeing and airline partners as well as non-profit partners in the Humanitarian Delivery Flights (HDF) program have collaborated on many humanitarian missions and the Boeing 777-300ER was used on a number of those missions.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • |

    Fifth Boeing 747-8 Enters Flight-test Program


    EVERETT, Wash., Feb. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Boeing (NYSE: BA) successfully conducted the first flight of the fifth 747-8 Freighter Thursday. The airplane, coded as RC523, took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., for a 3-hour, 30-minute flight before returning to Paine Field.

    The flight included a standard 2-hour, 30-minute “B1” flight profile that Boeing conducts on all production airplanes prior to delivery, plus an hour of engineering testing woven into the profile.

    “The airplane performed well,” said Andy Hammer, test program manager for 747-8. “It was a fine start to the test plan for this airplane.”

    This is the fifth 747-8 Freighter being used in the flight-test program. Each airplane is used for a specific set of tests, with this airplane focusing on functionality and reliability testing.

    The airplane will remain based at Paine Field throughout its test plan.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.
  • |

    Seventh update on JAL Boeing 787 battery fire investigation


    WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board today released the seventh update on its investigation into the Jan. 7 fire aboard a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 at Logan International Airport in Boston.

    The auxiliary power unit battery, manufactured by GS Yuasa, was the original battery delivered with the airplane on December 20, 2012. It is comprised of eight individual cells. All eight cells came from the same manufacturing lot in July 2012. The battery was assembled in September 2012 and installed on the aircraft on October 15, 2012. It was first charged on October 19, 2012.

    Examination and testing of an exemplar battery got underway earlier this week at the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center laboratories in West Bethesda, MD. The tests consisted of electrical measurements, mass measurements, and infrared thermal imaging of each cell, with no anomalies noted. The cells are currently undergoing CT scanning to examine their internal condition. In addition, on Thursday, a battery expert from the Department of Energy joined the investigative team to lend his expertise to the ongoing testing and validation work.

    In Seattle, NTSB investigators and Boeing engineers examine the type of lithium ion battery used on the Boeing 787 to start the auxillary power unit and to provide backup power for flight critical systems.
    NTSB investigators were made aware of reports of prior battery replacements on aircraft in the 787 fleet, early in the investigation. As reported Tuesday, Boeing, a party to the investigation, is providing pertinent fleet information which investigators will review to determine if there is any relevance to the JAL investigation.
    An investigative group continued to interpret data from the two digital flight data recorders on the aircraft, and is examining recorded signals to determine if they might yield additional information about the performance of the battery and the operation of the charging system.

    Next week, the NTSB battery testing team will initiate a non-invasive “soft short“ test of all cells of the exemplar battery. This test will reveal the presence of any high resistance, small or “soft” shorts within a cell. Also, an NTSB investigator will travel to France with the battery contactor from the JAL event battery, for examination at the manufacturer. The battery contactor connects a wiring bundle from the airplane to the battery.

    Investigators are continuing their work in Washington and Japan and the team in Seattle continues to observe the FAA-led review of the certification process for the 787 battery system. The flow of information from these observations helps to inform NTSB investigative activity in the US and around the world.

    To include the featured image in your Twitter Card, please tap or click their icon a second time.