All Boeing 787 Dreamliners currently in service are being required to confirm that fuel line connectors have been properly installed. Fuel leaks in Dreamliners were traced to a manufacturing flaw at Boeing plants.
The FAA said “A safety order mandated inspection of fuel line couplings in the engine pylons to verify the couplings are correctly assembled and installed”
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Contact photographer Savvas Petoussis
What: Helios Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Larnaka Airport to Ruzyn? International Airport
Where: Marathon, Greece
When: August 14, 2005
Who: 115 passengers and 6 crew
Why: Before take-off the crew failed to set the pressurisation system to “Auto,” which is contrary to standard Boeing procedures. Minutes after take-off the cabin altitude horn activated as a result of pressurization. It was, however, misidentified by the crew as a take-off configuration warning, On August 14, 2005, a Helios Airline Boeing 737-300, registered in Cyprus as 5B-DBY crashed into rolling terrain north northeast of Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (LGAV), Athens, Greece. The nearest town to the crash site was Gramitikos, Greece. The aircraft had departed Larnaka Airport, Cyprus, two hours and 57 minutes prior to the accident.
The NTSB team joined investigators from the Greek Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board, the Boeing Company, and CFM, the aircraft’s engine manufacturer. The crash was caused by pilot incapacitation due to hypoxia brought about by depressurization, leading to fuel starvation. 121 died in the crash.
Pictured: Couger-owned Sikorsky S-61N Helicopter
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Contact photographer Phil Earle
On March 12, 2009, about 0926 ADT, Atlantic Daylight Time, a Sikorsky S-92A helicopter, Canadian registry C-GZCH, operated by Cougar Helicopters, impacted the waters of the North Atlantic about 28 miles east of Cape Spear near St. John’s, Newfoundland. There were two pilots, Pilot Matthew William Thomas Davis, 34, of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador and First Officer Tim Lanouette, 48, of Comox, British Columbia, both of whomdied in the accident, and 16 passengers on board the helicopter. One passenger, Robert Decker, survived with serious injuries, but the other occupants were fatally injured. The helicopter was en route from St. John’s International Airport (CYYT) to an offshore oil platform in the Hibernia oil field. The pilot made a MAYDAY call due to a mechanical difficulty, and was returning to St. John’s at the time of the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and the sea state had 3 – 5 meter swells. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed.
The NTSB has recommended that any gearbox losing oil pressure should have the capacity to run dry for 30 minutes before failure. In the case of Flight 491, the elapsed time between the warning light and the ditching of the aircraft in the sea was 11 minutes. Two of the three main gearbox mounting studs were broken. When they broke, the helicopter lost oil rapidly and the gears began to overheat.
On March 23, 2009, Sikorsky released a bulletin that most of the world’s S-92TM helicopter fleet already had complied with the company notice to retrofit the aircraft’s gearbox oil bowl with steel mounting studs.
AMBERLEY, Queensland, Dec. 2, 2010 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] will bid a fond farewell to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-111 strike fighters that the company has supported for more than 14 years when the fleet is retired on Dec. 3.
As prime contractor for F-111 through-life support activities since 1996, Boeing Defence Australia has designed, developed and delivered technologies and modifications to improve the operational effectiveness of the F-111 fleet from its facilities at RAAF Base Amberley. These upgrades included aircraft overhauls conducted under the F-111 Weapons System Business Unit (WSBU) contract.
Awarded to Boeing in 2001, the WSBU contract was the largest contract awarded by the Commonwealth of Australia at the time and covered all major upgrades to the fleet’s airframe, avionics and weapons systems, including:
Additional programs and facilities that Boeing has operated in support of the fleet include a fuel tank repair program, a coldproof load test facility, an F-111 ground test team, and a wing recovery program.
"Over the years, hundreds of Boeing employees have played a vital role in maintaining the operational effectiveness of the F-111 fleet and some, like me, have an even longer history with the platform after working on them during our time in the RAAF," said Ian Gabriel, F-111 program manager, Boeing Defence Australia. "On behalf of all Boeing personnel who supported the aircraft, it has been a privilege to have played a part in the rich military history of the F-111."
"Throughout Boeing’s long association with the F-111, we’ve forged strong relationships with the RAAF, our supplier partners and the local Ipswich community," said John Duddy, vice president and managing director, Boeing Defence Australia. "This could not have been achieved without the consistency and commitment of the Boeing personnel who have worked on the platform, and I thank them all. As the F-111 retires and we enter a new generation of Australian air defense through the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, Boeing looks forward to continuing to work with the RAAF to help protect Australia and its people."
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 more than 1,500 employees at 14 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.
Norwegian Air Shuttle DY-4321 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, n July 1st.
The Boeing 737-800, flying from Stockholm, Sweden, to Nice, France, had to divert due to to smoke emitting from its forward galley.
The plane landed safely.
No injuries were reported.
On July 11, 2014, United Airlines flight 201, a Boeing 777-222 was four hours on the ground before the flight, with passengers waiting as some technical problem on the plane was worked out. Departure time of this flight is recorded as 18:16 but it is normally around 14:30. Then when the flight was enroute from Honolulu to Guam, the plane developed fire, haze or smoke in the cockpit. Pilots made an emergency landing at Midway Islands after Radar and Radio Comms were lost but the transponder continued working. Passenger luggage is still stuck on the tiny runway at Henderson Field Airport Midway Atoll.
The incident was unannunciated, which means that it had no alert, and the crew had to sense it (i.e. see/smell) but while underway, a smoke alarm was triggered.
None of the 335 passengers or 13 crew sustained injury.
According to flightaware, United Airlines flew in a replacement B777 which landed 5 1/2 hours later, spent an hour on the ground and brought the passengers back to Honolulu.
Tokyo Governor Ishihara acts as godfather – Airline reinforces its position as
Europe’s number One in Asia
The Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, and Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer Deutsche Lufthansa AG, officially launched an Airbus A380 with the name “Tokyo”. The official ceremony took place at Narita Airport on the 150th anniversary of the signing of the first German-Japanese treaty of friendship on 24 January 1861 (at that time Prussia) and on the 50th anniversary of the first Lufthansa flight to Japan on 24 January 1961. As a result, the latest A380s delivered to Lufthansa with the registration D-AIMD and christened Tokyo, will now serve the airports of Frankfurt and the Japanese metropolis of Tokyo. The Japanese capital has already been the worldwide first Lufthansa-A380 destination since 10 June 2010. Meanwhile, Beijing and Johannesburg have been added as further destinations. As of the end of February, New York will become Lufthansa’s fourth A380 destination.
“Our passengers have been flying on our Tokyo service for more than seven months in our new flagship and the enthusiasm for this aircraft and all the innovations associated with it is still as great as it was on the first day”, said Lufthansa chief Christoph Franz. “I am really delighted that with our A380 in the Japanese market, in particular, we have been able to further build upon our success and I am grateful for the support of our customers, partners as well as the state institutions. It is a great pleasure and honour, together with Governor Shintaro Ishihara and Germany’s Ambassador to Japan, Dr. Volker Stanzel, on this historic day to christen our flagship with the name ‘Tokyo’.
The official ceremony took place at Tokyo-Narita International Airport. The first three Lufthansa A380s were named after Lufthansa’s two German hubs – “Frankfurt” and “Munich” and the A380 destination “Beijing”.
“With this naming we would like to express our thanks to our customers and partners in Japan who have made us the number one European airline in one of the world’s strong growth regions. With this acknowledgement we confirm our engagement in Asia and will also continue to make investments for growth and innovations here in future”, said Christoph Franz.
The “Tokyo” is the only Lufthansa aircraft up to now which was not – as is the usual tradition – baptized with champagne, but rather with Japanese “Sake” wine. In accordance with the Japanese tradition, Governor Isihara and Christoph Franz, together with Ambassador Volker Stanzel, broke open a barrel of Sake with a wooden hammer for the new aircraft, in order to welcome Tokyo’s new flying ambassador. Governor Shintaro Ishihara then “baptized” the aircraft. Christoph Franz said: “From today this aircraft will fly as a further symbol of German – Japanese friendship”.
Japan was the first market worldwide to be served by the new Lufthansa flagship A380 since 10th June 2010 – in the meantime, with daily flight connections. Christoph Franz reported very positive results of the first months of the flight operations: “The A380 is efficient, environmentally-friendly and, with its low noise level, not only pleasant for the passengers, but also contributes to reducing noise pollution at heavily-used airports like Tokyo-Narita and Frankfurt. Quality, economic efficiency and also the environmental performance of the aircraft are trend-setting”.
150 years of German-Japanese friendship
Japan and what was then Prussia signed a friendship and trade agreement in Edo (today’s Tokyo) on 24th January 1861. As a result, official trade relations between Japan and Germany were initiated. Both countries today count among the world’s leading national economies.
Patrons of the “Germany-Japan: 150 years of Friendship” celebrations are the German Federal President Christian Wulff and Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito. The anniversary year was already opened with an official ceremony on 16th October 2010. Further highlights in 2011 are a German-Japanese Rock Festival as well as the Japanese- German Youth Summit in August. The German Embassy is organizing a German Festival in Tokyo in October as a grand finale. Full information about the dates of the events can be found on the Internet on the website: www.dj150.jp.
50 years Lufthansa in Japan
On 24th January 1961 Lufthansa initiated its East Asian scheduled services to Japan (Frankfurt – Tokyo) and thus laid the foundations for an important extension of the intercontinental route network. What at that time was the world’s largest passenger aircraft, a Boeing 707, covered the 15,000 kilometres to the Japanese metropolis of Tokyo in 25 hours with up to seven stops. Since 1969, further flights between Osaka and Frankfurt, since 1991 between Nagoya and Frankfurt and since 2002 between Tokyo and Munich, have been added to Lufthansa’s network to and from Japan. For more than 50 years now, Lufthansa has been consolidating its position as the leading European airline in Japan and, in the forthcoming summer flight schedule 2011, together with SWISS and Austrian Airlines, it will offer 82 flights per week between Japan and the Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna hubs.
The proportion of Japanese passengers on flights to and from Japan is over 70 percent. Furthermore, a comparison of Lufthansa capacity on the routes between Japan and Germany, from an initial 35,000 seats per year to over one million seats in 2011, clearly reflects the dynamic and successful development of air traffic between the two countries over the last 50 years.
The long-standing and very successful cooperation with its Japanese Star Alliance partner All Nippon Airways ANA is extremely important for Lufthansa. Lufthansa offers its customers codeshare flights in the ANA network on three international and 16 national routes. Lufthansa and ANA are steadily improving and extending their cooperation for the benefit of the customers of both airlines.
In its Lufthansa configuration, the Airbus A380 has a total of 526 seats. The totally new First Class with eight luxurious seats on the upper deck stands for individuality, optimal comfort and technical innovation, making travelling even more pleasant. Also on the upper deck is the Lufthansa Business Class with 98 seats. On the main deck 420 seats in the Economy Class offer more comfort than ever with impressive spaciousness. Full information about Lufthansa’s A380 can be found at www.lufthansa.com/A380. Photo material can be found under the following link: presse.lufthansa.com/de/mediathek/bildarchiv.html – Bildarchiv – Aktuelles – Lufthansa A380
