Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Hans Olav Nyborg
What: Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737-300 en route from Stockholm Arlanda to Nice France
Where: Hamburg
When: Nov 19th 2009
Who: unavailaboe
Why: When the crew reported smoke in the cockpit, the plane diverted to Hamburg. After a safe landing, a replacement jet was provided, and after a delay of a few hours, the flight resumed without further event.
American Airlines flight AA-52 had to return and make an emergency landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 11th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane took off for Prague, Czech Republic, but had to turn back after the crew received indications of hydraulic issues.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Bjoern Schmitt
What: Lufthansa Airbus A380-800 en route from Tokyo to Frankfurt
Where: Estonia
When: Aug 6th 2010
Why: While en route, the left engine developed oil pressure problems and the crew shut it down. The flight continued to Frankfurt where they made a safe landing.
Hong Kong Airlines flight HX-693 made an emergency landing in Sapporo, Japan, on September 4th.
The plane took off for Hong Kong, China, but had to turn back after it lost cabin pressure.
The plane landed uneventfully. There were two hundred and twenty-three passengers and twelve crew members aboard at the time; all of them remained unharmed.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Andrew Hunt
What: Qantas Airbus A330-300 en route from Singapore to Perth
Where: Singapore
When: Jul 22nd 2009
Why: After takeoff in bad weather, the plane’s left wing was struck by lightning; however the flight continued to Perth without any issues.
UPS flight 5X-555 made a safe landing following a bird strike near Rockford, Illinois, on October 9th.
The Boeing 757-200 plane flying from Minneapolis, Minnesota, was on approach to Rockford when a bird hit it.
The plane continued for a safe landing. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
WASHINGTON, June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced today that they will work together to speed the development and application of environmentally progressive technologies for cleaner and quieter jet aircraft.
As part of the FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program, Boeing and the FAA each will contribute up to $25 million during the next five years to conduct flight demonstrations of emergent airframe and engine technologies that have the potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and community noise.
“By combining our resources and expertise, we believe we can transition promising technologies from development into service more quickly to help reduce the environmental footprint of airplanes,” said Matt Ganz, vice president and general manager of Boeing Research & Technology, which is leading the program at Boeing. “We recognize the importance of protecting our ecosystem and are looking forward to working with the FAA on a variety of innovative solutions to help define the future.”
The technologies being developed under the CLEEN program will be flight tested aboard two demonstration vehicles, a Next-Generation Boeing 737 in 2012, with a second series of test flights aboard a yet-to-be-determined twin-aisle airplane in 2013.
This flight-test program builds on the success of the company’s Quiet Technology Demonstrators, which successfully highlighted a variety of noise reduction technologies during test flights aboard Boeing 777 aircraft from 2001 to 2005.
According to Boeing CLEEN Program Manager Craig Wilsey, the technologies that will be developed and tested during demonstration flights include adaptive wing trailing edges and ceramic matrix composite acoustic engine nozzles.
Adaptive trailing edges pertain to a collection of small controllable devices that are integrated into the aft portion of the wing. Most traditional wings are designed for best performance while at cruise, and have performance compromises during other flight phases. Adaptive trailing edges can help tailor the wing configuration to reduce fuel burn at takeoff, climb and cruise, and to reduce community noise at takeoff and landing.
New-generation engines on commercial airplanes are more efficient, but require materials that are capable of withstanding higher temperatures than previous engines. Ceramic matrix composites offer the potential of better thermal and structural performance, while helping to reduce weight and acoustic footprint.
In addition to Boeing Research & Technology, the company’s advanced central research, technology and innovation organization, Boeing’s CLEEN team is composed of engineers and support staff from Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Boeing Test & Evaluation.
Boeing continues to take aggressive steps to improve the environmental performance of its products including:
Producing the world’s newest commercial airplanes, the 787 Dreamliner and the 747-8, designed to be significantly more fuel-efficient and have lower emissions than earlier generation jetliners.
Pioneering research into sustainable aviation biofuel made from biomass sources that do not compete with food crops or land or water use. Aviation biofuels have lower carbon emissions over their lifecycle and help lessen aviation’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Developing ways to improve the efficiency of the global air traffic control network, which will enable passengers to arrive at their gates sooner and reduce the carbon footprint of commercial air travel.
