Commercial Aircraft Sales

McDonnell Douglas is currently seeking risk sharing partners in the project with particular emphasis on targeting the Asia/ Pacific region and has indicated it is prepared to sell off nearly half of its commercial transport division to a suitable investor. The development cost of the MD-12 is put at $US4bn.

 22nd Annual Isasis Seminar

The 22nd annual seminar of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASIS) was hosted by Australia in Canberra at the beginning of November.

The theme chosen for the seminar was “Selling the Product – the lessons of investigation”. Over 30 speakers from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia presented papers on air safety ranging from the results of air crash investigations to the problems of having accident prevention measures accepted. One issue that drew much debate, without resolution, was the question of whether the air safety investiga- tory should be separate to the regulatory authority, as is the case in Australia.

The essential division of opinion remains over whether the independence of investigators will lead to an unbridgeable gap developing between the two bodies. Uncertainty also existed within the body of the delegates as just to whom the product should be “sold”. Opinions ranged from whether the market was the public at large, the regulatory bodies, the investigatory bodies themselves, or finally the media.

Perhaps the highlight of what was a very successful seminar were the presentations given by The Safety Board of Canada and the Laboratories, Bureau Enquetes-Accidents, France, on developments in computer animation of flight recorder readouts. A video was shown by the French team of a computer presentation of an actual flight recorder read out from a wide bodied jet which entered a series of stalls following an overshoot from a missed approach at Moscow airport. More on this fascinating development will be contained in an article in the March issue.

 Dangerous Escape:

Sometimes the way to safety is more dangerous than the situation you’re trying to escape from, as 47 injured people recently discovered during evacuation testing of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 airliner.

In order to satisfy FAA requirements, the two tests-using the aircraft’s escape slides – were carried out in a pitch black hangar. Each involved 410 passengers and 11 crew abandoning the MD-11 within the stipulated 90 seconds and the result was 47 people with injuries ranging from bumps and bruises to broken bones and in one case a broken back which has resulted in paralysis from the neck down.

Most of the people involved were volunteers who were paid a token sum for their day’s work. • LONGER RANGE MD-90: McDonnell Douglas is planning a longer range version of its forthcoming MD-90 170 passenger twin jet airliner.

Powered by two IAE V2500 engines, only one MD-90 variant has until now been on offer, the MD-90-30 with 25,000lb thrust engines and a range of 2,300nm (4,260km). The proposed MD-90-50 will be powered by 28,000 thrust engines and will feature increased fuel capacity to up the range to 3,000mm (5,560km) in combination with greater weight. In addition, the structure would be strengthened and different wheels and tyres fitted.

The first MD-90 is scheduled to fly in early 1993 with deliveries beginning in October 1994. The MD-90-50 could follow a year later. McDonnell Douglas currently holds firm orders for 61 MD-90s plus a further 106 options and commitments.

Dornier Stretches Do. 328:

Dornier rolled out its new 30-33 seat advanced regional turboprop, the Do. 328, in late October and at the same time took the opportunity to unveil details of a proposed stretched version offering 48 seats.

If the program is launched in the middle of 1992 the first aircraft could be available in late 1995 or early 1996. The new aircraft will feature a fuselage stretched by 22ft 6in (6. 86m) and will have a wing of increased span. To maintain the short fuselage aircraft’s fast 345kt (640kmh) cruising speed (considered a major selling point by Domier) more powerful engines will be fitted of a type yet to be specified.

The stretched Do. 3288 competitors will be the Saab 2000, the ATR42, the DHC Dash 8-300, the Fokker 50 and any further stretch of the BAe Jetstream (J51) which may be developed.

 Dash 8 Slowdown:

DHC is to reduce production of its Dash 8 regional turboprop from the current 4. 5 per month to two per month by the middle of next year due to a reducing order backlog.

With the production slowdown will come a 30% reduction in the workforce at the company’s Downsview plant. At the beginning of September this year DHC held an order backlog of 30 Dash 8-100s and 55 Dash 8-300s. Only 19 have been sold so far in 1991 compared with 46 in 1990 and 104 in 1989, generally mirroring the decline in overall commuter aircraft activity this past year.