Boeing

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    Pakistan: Runway Excursion


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Asuspine

    What: Shaheen Air International Boeing 737-200 en route from Abu Dhabi to Peshawar
    Where: Peshawar
    When: Feb 8th 2010
    Who: 112 passengers
    Why: While landing on a wet runway, the Shaheen Air flight either hydroplaned or experienced a “technical fault.” If the plane had hydroplaned off the end of the runway instead of veering off the side, it could have impacted the traffic like the Congonhas crash. Instead we have a minor muddy runway excursion.

    No on one was injured. An airline spokesman said “It was tremendously heavy rain and the aircraft skidded off the runway” but others say it was not raining that much. The plane may return to service this week.


    View Peshawar International Airport in a larger map

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    Boeing to Continue Providing F/A-18 Engineering Services to Royal Australian Air Force


    WILLIAMTOWN, New South Wales, Feb. 8, 2010 — Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], has been awarded a $1.5 million contract for the provision of engineering support services for the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) fleet of F/A-18A/B Hornet aircraft.

    The 30-month contract, managed by the Tactical Fighter Systems Program Office (TFSPO) at RAAF Base Williamtown, requires Boeing Defence Australia to deliver repair plans for faults uncovered during F/A-18A/B Hornet maintenance.

    “This contract maintains our F/A-18 engineering capability as it increases our overall business on the platform,” said Brad Hume, Boeing Defence Australia F/A-18 program manager.

    Boeing Defence Australia has delivered engineering support services to the TFSPO for the past six years. It also continues to perform Hornet Upgrade Phase 2.3, which involves upgrading the Electronic Warfare Self Protection Suite on 68 aircraft and modifying 76 wing pylons. Phase 2.3 is expected to be completed in 2012.

    “The RAAF’s decision to award this contract to us demonstrates their faith in Boeing’s ability to support the F/A-18 platform,” Hume said. “We will continue working closely with our customer to maintain the Hornet’s air combat capability.”

    Under the new contract, engineering services will now be delivered under Boeing Defence Australia’s Authorised Engineering Organisation (AEO) certificate.

    Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company and a business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, is a leading Australian aerospace enterprise. With a world-class team of nearly 2,000 employees at 13 locations throughout Australia and two international sites, Boeing Defence Australia supports some of the largest and most complex defense projects in Australia.

    A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world’s largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.
    # # #
    Contact:
    Sarah Wills
    Boeing Defence Australia
    +61 7 3306 3132
    sarah.e.wills@boeing.com

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    Boeing 747-8 Freighter Successfully Completes First Flight

    Newest Boeing Freighter Touches Down Safely After 3-Hour, 39-Minute Mission

    EVERETT, Wash., Feb. 8 /– The Boeing (NYSE: BA) 747-8 Freighter successfully took to the sky for the first time today before more than 5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and community leaders. The flight begins a test program for the world’s most efficient freighter.
    With 747 Chief Pilot Mark Feuerstein and Capt. Tom Imrich in the flight deck, the newest member of the 747 family took off at 12:39 p.m. local time from Paine Field in Everett and landed at Paine Field at 4:18 p.m.
    “It was a real privilege to be at the controls of this great airplane on its first flight, representing the thousands of folks who made today possible,” said Feuerstein. “The airplane performed as expected and handled just like a 747-400.”

    Today’s flight was the first of more than 1,600 flight hours in the test program for the newest member of the Boeing freighter family. The airplane followed a route over Western Washington, where it underwent tests for basic handling qualities and engine performance. The airplane reached a cruising altitude of 17,000 feet (5,181 m) and a speed of up to 230 knots, or about 264 miles (426 km) per hour.

    Powered by four General Electric GEnx-2B engines, the 747-8 Freighter will transition its testing program to Moses Lake, Wash., and Palmdale, Calif., where the other two test airplanes will join it in the coming month.
    “This truly is a great day for The Boeing Company and the 747 program,” said Mo Yahyavi, 747 program general manager and vice president, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “It’s the culmination of the hard work and dedication of our employees, suppliers and customers. While there is still much to do, I am excited to begin the flight-test program, which will demonstrate the capabilities of this airplane.”

    The 747-8 Freighter is the new, high-capacity 747 that will give cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter. The airplane is 250 feet, 2 inches (76.3 m) long, which is 18 feet, 4 inches (5.6 m) longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch provides customers with 16 percent more revenue cargo volume compared with its predecessor. That translates to an additional four main-deck pallets and three lower-hold pallets.

    “The 747-8 Freighter continues the leadership of the 747 Freighter families, which carries more than half of the world’s air freight, making it the standard of the air cargo industry,” Yahyavi said.

    Boeing launched the airplane on Nov. 14, 2005, with firm orders for 18 747-8 Freighters: 10 from Cargolux of Luxembourg and eight from Nippon Cargo Airlines of Japan. All told, Boeing has secured 108 orders for the 747-8, of which 76 are orders for the new freighter. Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have ordered the 747-8 Freighter.

    Contact:
    Tim Bader
    747 Communications
    +1 206-859-3633
    tim.s.bader@boeing.com
    Jim Proulx
    Boeing Commercial Airplanes Communications
    +1 206-850-2102
    jim.proulx@boeing.com

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    Thai Airways Engine Fire


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Georgiy Shvetsov

    What: Thai Airways Boeing 747-400 en route from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
    Where: Bangkok
    When: Feb 3 2010
    Who: 330 passengers on board
    Why: After takeoff, the left engine surged. Consequentially, the crew shut down the engine, and returned to Suvarnabhumi Airport to make a safe landing. There were no injuries. The plane had reportedly undergone a maintenance check prior to takeoff.

    A replacement jet was flown in, which took off at 6.08 pm.

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    Atlas Air Jet Part Falls on Miami area Parking Lot


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Gerhard Vysocan

    What: Atlas Air Boeing 747-400 en route from Santiago to Miami,FL
    Where: Miami
    When: Feb 5 2010
    Why: On the final approach to the runway, a part fell from the plane on to the Miami International Mall parking lot.

    The part is described as a flap track fairing. The mechanisms for deploying the wing flaps is housed in flap track fairings.

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    GOL Inspects Flight for Airworthiness


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    Contact photographer Flavio Guerra

    What: GOL Transportes Aereos Boeing 737-700 en route from Bauru to Sao Paulo Brazil
    Where: Bauru
    When: Feb 2 2010
    Who: 82 on board
    Why: Prior to take-off, the engine presented an automated warning sufficient to deter the pilots from taking off. Details about the warning have not been made public although they were adequate for Gol to begin an investigation. While the original plane went into maintenance, a replacement plane was provided within four hours.

    George’s Point of View

    While we of course have no idea what the warning was, nor how important an issue it represented, we commend GOL for taking proactive action and responding to warning systems as they were intended to be. Hopefully maintenance will become as diligent as the crew that actually has to be in the plane aboveground.

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    Angry Riots in Argentine Court over Aviation Decision


    Photo: A LAPA – Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas
    Boeing 737-2T4C/Adv photographed in July 2000, not the ill-fated LV-WRZ
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer James Richard Covington

    Relatives of victims disrupted the Argentine court when a two-year long trial ruled 6 LAPA (Lineas Aereas Privadas Argentinas) officials were not negligent. The operations manager and the 737 airlines chief both received three-year suspended sentences. Neither is currently employed in those positions.

    35 survived the 1999 crash; 65 were killed. On August 31, 1999, the LAPA Boeing 737 crashed at Buenos Aires, Argentina while taking off on a regularly scheduled passenger flight to Cordoba, Argentina. Witness reports indicate the pilot had aborted the takeoff. The airplane departed the airport property, crossed a highway, and came to rest on a golf course. There were 101 persons on board. The flight failed to take-off, broke through a perimeter fence and burst into flames on a golf course.

    The investigation attributed the crash to pilot error and found LAPA and air force deficiencies also contributed. The Argentine Air Force controlled civil and commercial aviation until 2009.

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    Round of DNA Testing Begins in Ethiopia Crash


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Alastair T. Gardiner

    What: Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Beirut to Addis Ababa
    Where: 2 miles west of the coastal village of Na’ameh.
    When: Jan 25 2010
    Who: 7 crew 83 passengers
    Why: Shortly after taking off in stormy weather and heavy lightning, Lebanese ATC lost contact. The plane disappeared from radar 45 minutes after leaving Beirut. Witnesses on the coast saw the plane as it crashed into the sea.

    Other than one British citizen and one Syrian, families of all of the victims have submitted DNA to help identify relatives remains although only a portion of the 90 aboard have been found since the crash on January 25 into the Mediterranean sea minutes after takeoff. The plane’s black box and main sections of the plane have not yet been located but a U.S. Navy ship, the USS Ramage, detected signals from the black box flight recorders at a depth of 4,265 feet

    The government of Lebanon has formally requested U.S. Odyssey Marine Explorations for submarine assistance in retrieval of victims, the black box and assorted wreckage.

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    American Airlines Emergency Landing in Providenciales


    Pictured: An American Airlines Boeing 737-800 en route from Miami
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Orlando G. Rivera Rivera

    What: American Airlines Boeing 737-800 en route from Miami to St. Lucia
    Where: Providenciales airport, Turks and Caicos
    When: February 1, 2010
    Who: 109 passengers
    Why: The crew made an emergency diversion to Providenciales when en route to St. Lucia, they detected a suspicious odor. A 737 is scheduled to pick up the passengers and carry them the rest of the way.

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    JAL Engine Fire Safe Landing


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Andrew Hunt

    What: JAL Japan Airlines Boeing 777-300 en route from Okinawa to Osaka
    Where: Okinawa
    When: Jan 26 2010
    Who: 332 passengers
    Why: After takeoff, the left engine developed issues, reportedly leaving a smoke trail. Within twenty minutes the crew had landed the plane back in Okinawa. No injuries were reported, although there may have been an engine fire witnessed from the ground.

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    LAX Wake Turbulence


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Francisco Muro


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Rudy Chiarello

    updated
    What: American Eagle Embraer ERJ-140 en route from Lindbergh Field San Diego to Los Angeles
    What: LAN Airlines Boeing 767-300 from from Lima Peru to Los Angeles, CA
    Where: LAX
    When: Jan 19th 2010
    Why: At the time of the American Eagle’s arrival to LAX, both jets were flying at the same altitude. The danger was not collision. The danger was wake turbulence. Required separation behind the Boeing is 5 nautical miles.

    George’s Point of View

    Trailing behind an aircraft, wake turbulence is made up of multiple force drafts including wingtip vortices and jetwash. Jetwash is jet engine gas output which is turbulent but of short term but wingtip vortices can remain for up to three minutes.

    Picture, if you will, invisible speed bumps made of wind that could knock your car off the road trailing the car in front of you. If this were a factor with cars, tailgating would be a completely different thing.

    A cockpit voice recorder of the pilots responses will clearly indicate if the plane in the rear of the situation runs into the leading aircraft’s wake. What officials are questioning here are the actions and responses of LAX Air Traffic Control, which placed these two jets close enough to be endangered.

    On January 19, maybe Air Traffic Control error put the Eagle jet less than three miles from the 767, but the pilot managed to stay out of the other jet’s wake. LAX denies this is a case of inexperience and maybe they are correct, because the worst case scenario crash did not happen. Maybe it would have happened if the jet following were flying at lower altitude.

    What matters is that the flight landed safely and whether it was ATC or the pilot, someone did something right because both flights made it to the ground safely.

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    Turkish Boeing Lands Safely on One Engine


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Tommy Desmet

    What: Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 en route from Istanbul to Stuttgart
    Where: Istanbul
    When: Jan 28th 2010
    Who: 42 passengers
    Why: After takeoff, the flight crew found an (undesignated) problem in the left engine. That engine was shut down, and the flight returned to Ataturk Airport for a safe landing. Passengers were rebooked when the flight was cancelled.

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    Another Aviation Emergency from ETHIOPIAN Airlines


    Pictured: An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-86R
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Konstantin Von Wedelstaedt

    What: ETHIOPIAN Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Bamako Mali to Addis Ababa
    Where: Ndjamena Chad
    When: Jan 29, 2010
    Who: 150 passengers
    Why: After circling N’Djamena for an hour and dumping fuel, the plane made an emergency landing in Chad on Thursday. The emergency was attributed to a radar problem. Earlier the same plane had electrical problems on an earlier leg of the flight.

    Why does this sound to me like an accident waiting to happen? Maintenance! Please!! Let us not have more bad news!

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    Thomson Airways Passenger Unruly


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Bostjan Henigaman

    What: Thomson Airways Boeing 737-800 en route from Cardiff to Las Palmas
    Where: en route
    When: Jan 25th 2010
    Who: 186 passengers and 7 crew
    Why: While en route, one of the passengers apparently suffered a panic attack, and attempted to enter the cabin, having to be restrained by crew and passengers.

    The passenger was taken into custody on landing.

    If this does turn out to be the case of a mental disorder (panic attack), one wonders what new steps will be taken to reduce incidents of this type. It seems as if unruly passengers are on the rise. Is it the reporting of the events that has changed or are passengers themselves changing, devolving into having less self-control? It seems like a trend-but what does it mean?

    Or is there a simpler answer? Is it that earlier generations of fliers respected planes more?

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    Flight Update: Ethiopian Death Toll Rising

    By nightfall tonight, 34 bodies have been recovered.

    Investigative crews sort through baby sandals, and airplane parts drifting ashore. People are questioning why the flight was not delayed due to the storm raging at the time of takeoff.

    The USS-Ramage, and US P-3 surveillance aircraft are helping with search and rescue efforts.

    The plane was last serviced on Dec. 25.

    Reports abound that the plane was seen to be on fire on its way down. If reports of an engine fire proved to be correct, it would have been difficult to handle at such a low altitude; but reports of a lighting strike, compounded by poor visibility and high winds compounded by a bird strike are equally as possible.

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    Ethiopian Crash Update

    The wife to the French ambassador to Lebanon is confirmed to have been aboard Ethiopian Flight 409 that took off from Beirut and crashed within minutes in the Mediterranean sea. This BBC news report says 92 were aboard. Other sources claim 90. Reference in this video is made to people being pulled from the sea, but no survivors have been found.

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    Ethiopian Crash Video (2)

    Terrorism has been ruled out (for now.) Of course there is no evidence yet what happened to cause this disaster, but area storms–explosive turbulence inside cumulonimbus clouds– seem to be the most likely culprit. No survivors have been found.

    Stormy weather and lightning during takeoff. No word of any survivors.

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    Ethiopian Airlines Jet Crashes in Na’ameh Lebanon with 90 Passengers


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Alastair T. Gardiner

    What: Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 en route from Beirut to Addis Ababa
    Where: 2 miles west of the coastal village of Na’ameh.
    When: Jan 25 2010
    Who: 7 crew 83 passengers
    Why: Shortly after taking off in stormy weather and heavy lightning, Lebanese ATC lost contact. The plane disappeared from radar 45 minutes after leaving Beirut. Witnesses on the coast saw the plane as it crashed into the sea. So far 9 bodies have been found by members of the Lebanese army .
    Update
    Initial reports of 7 survivors, became 9 bodies, and now the count has reached 21 bodies.

    The site of the crash is 2 miles west of the coastal village of Na’ameh.

    Fifty-four passengers were Lebanese, 22 Ethiopian, two were British and there were also Canadian, Russian, French, Iraqi and Syrian nationals.

    A Cypriot police helicopter has joined the Lebanese army in the search for survivors, and two U.N. helicopters are on the scene.

    Ethiopian Airlines is state owned, and has a standing order of 10 of Boeing’s Next-Generation 737-800s
    —

    The Latest Press Release from Ethiopian

    ET-409 Incident – 25 January, 2010

    Ethiopian flight ET-409 scheduled to operate from Beirut to Addis Ababa on January 25th lost contact with the Lebanese air controllers shortly after take off. The flight departed at 02:35 Lebanese time from Beirut International Airport.

    Flight ET-409 carries 82 passenger plus 8 Ethiopian Crew members. Out of the total passengers 23 are Ethiopian, 51 Lebanese, 1 Turkish, 1 French, 2 British, 1 Russian, 1 Canadian, 1 Syrian, 1 Iraqi nationals.

    A team is already working on gathering all pertinent information. An investigative team has already been dispatched to the scene and we will release further information as further updates are received.

    About Ethiopian

    Ethiopian Airlines, one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, made its maiden flight to Cairo in 1946. With the recent addition of flight services to Mombasa and Monrovia, Ethiopian provides dependable services to 35 cities in Africa and a total of 56 international destinations spanning throughout four continents.

    Ethiopian won the NEPAD Transport Infrastructure Excellence Awards 2009 on November 25, 2009 and “Airline of the year award” from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) on November 24, 2009, bringing the total Awards honored since January 2009 to five.

    In August, 2008, Ethiopian won “the 2008 Corporate Achievement Award” of Aviation & Allied Business for setting the pace towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry.

    Ethiopian is also the first African carrier to win the 2008 Brussels Airport Company Award in recognition of its distinguished long haul operations witnessed through the introduction of new routes, new products, and close cooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities.

    Ethiopian was the winner of the ‘2008 Best Airline in Africa Award’ at the African Travel Award ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, for its excellent network and convenient connections in Africa.

    For more information please contact our emergency call center at:
    +251 11 517 8766, +251 91 150 1248, +251 91 125 5577, +251 91 120 3412 or our toll free number +251 11 662 0062

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    Greek Terrorism Hoax


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Kevin Gutt

    What: Sun Express Boeing 737-800 en route from Germany to Turkey
    Where: Thessaloniki airport
    When: Jan 22, 2010
    Who: 69 (?) aboard (62 passengers and 6 crew) (disagreeing sources)
    Why: After a crew member found a note written on a restroom mirror saying “Bomb. We are going to die today,” and an unknown person called the pilot and told him of a bomb on the aircraft, the crew diverted the plane to Thessaloniki airport.

    The plane was isolated and searched. However no bomb was found. An individual was briefly detained (first in Greece, later in Turkey) for having a pen with ink matching the message on the mirror .

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    Air France Rejects Takeoff In Mexico


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Rob Van Ringelesteijn

    What: Air France Boeing 747-400 en route from Guadalajara to Paris
    Where: Guadalajara
    When: Jan 21st 2010
    Who: crew (freight)
    Why: When the pilot aborted the takeoff due to alerts, the plane’s tires deflated due to overheating from braking. The flight was cancelled. We have no indication what the instrumentation indicated that caused the pilot to abort the takeoff.