Newsdesk — Commercial Aviation

The aircraft’s manufacturers (Aerospatiale and Alenia) immediately protested the decision and began trials on its own aircraft and that of its rivals, managing to reproduce the phenomenon on all the aircraft. ATR subsequently announced a modification which would double the size of the wing deicing boots on the aircraft and deal with the abnormal icing conditions which seem to have contributed to the accident.

Further testing on an ATR 72 revealed there could be potential problems under icing conditions if the flaps were extended or their position changed. The aircraft which crashed had been holding for 37 minutes in icing conditions with 15 degrees of flap set.

The restrictions on the ATR were eased in mid-January this year but some still apply. The FAA has said that the aircraft can now be flown in known icing conditions providing that flaps are not used in the holding pattern and their setting is not changed in icing conditions, pending certification of the improved deicing boots.

Aerospatiale’s president, Louis Gallois, has criticised the FAA for its “unique” treatment of the aircraft and the fact it took 32 days for the aircraft to be declared safe. Gallois has also demanded that the tests which cleared the ATR 72 for operation “should be applied across the board to other turboprops”.

Embraer Privatised

The privatisation of Brazilian manufacturer Embraer has been completed following a public auction at the Sao Paulo stock exchange in which 55.4% of the company’s voting stock was sold for $US182.5m. The majority of the stock (45.4%) was acquired by a consortium led by the bank Bozano Simonsen, representing local pension funds and leasing and investment banks, including a number of foreign investors. The remaining 9.9% was purchased mainly by private investors. The Brazilian government retains 18.4% of the voting stock and the company’s employees 10%. Another 10% of Embraer’s stock will have been sold to the public by the time these words are read. Embraer’s new owners are required to inject a further $US30m into the company.

P&wc Milestone

Pratt & Whitney Canada achieved a notable milestone late last year when it delivered its 40,000th engine, a PT6D-3D TwinPac version of its hugely successful PT6 turboprop.

The first PT6 was delivered in January 1964 and has since found a wide variety of applications on aircraft such as the DHC Twin Otter, Embraer Bandeirante, various Pilatus models (the first PT6 in Australia was on a Snowy Mountains Authority Porter), Beech King Air, Bell 212/412, Cessna Caravan and many others.

The company has subsequently introduced larger turboprop and small/medium turbofan engines for regional transports and corporate jets including the PW200 series turboprop (Dash 8, ATR 42/72, Fokker 50, Brasilia, ATP/J61) and the JT15D turbofan, the latter possibly best known for powering the smaller models in the Cessna Citation range.

Airbus Pips Boeing In 1994

Figures released early in the new year indicate that for the first time, Airbus has outsold Boeing in a calendar year, receiving 125 new orders against the American manufacturer’s 120.

These unofficial figures are for gross new orders in 1994 and make no allowance for cancellations, which in the case of Airbus accounted for 54 aircraft. This indicates that recovery might be on its way as in 1993 Airbus received only 38 new orders but suffered 69 cancellations. Boeing’s log of new sales is relatively poor, the 120 received in 1994 comparing unfavourably with 1993’s figure of 237.

McDonnell Douglas ran a distant third in both years with 23 sales in 1994 (along with 19 cancellations) and just 15 in 1993. The breakdown for Airbus in 1994 is: nil A300/310s, 45 A319s, 33 A320s, 13 A321s, nil A330s, 30 A340s and four unannounced. Boeing sold 42 737-300/400/500s, 28 737-700/800s, 16 747s, 12 757s, 22 767s and nil 777s while McDonnell Douglas notched up five MD-11, nine MD-80 and nine MD-90 sales.

Big Loss For Asta

Aerospace Technologies of Australia (ASTA) — the sale of which is now being negotiated — has posted a $61m loss for the 1993-94 financial year. Of that, $6.3m is an operating loss (compared with a profit of $8.7m the previous year) and $51.6m has been set aside for provisions for losses on long-term component contracts for manufacturers around the world. ASTA’s earnings on these contracts has dropped considerably. The Government does not think the result will affect ASTA’s privatisation as potential buyers were already aware of the result.

Tupolev Boost

Russia’s Tupolev Tu-204 airliner programme has been given a shot in the arm with a decision by the Russian government to purchase 15 examples for operation by a state-owned leasing company it will form.

The Russian Government is paying just $US14.4m each for the aircraft — the equivalent Boeing 757 costs about $US45m per copy — and the money is being taken from the Federal Investment Programme budget. Another 15 Tu-204s will be purchased in 1996. The initiative was made because Russian airlines are unable to afford new aircraft at commercial prices and can’t be stretched to finance their production.

Longer Range Md-11

McDonnell Douglas is studying a new longer-range variant of its MD-11 trijet as well as modifications which can be applied to existing MD-11s to improve their range.

The MD-11LR project retains the fuselage length of the current aircraft but incorporates more powerful engines, tip extensions to the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces, strengthened wing, fuselage and undercarriage structures (the latter with a fourth centre undercarriage wheel) and a revised wing of 11ft 10in (3.6m) greater span incorporating a new aileron segment and revised trailing edge. The result will be a maximum range of 7900-8000nm (14,600-14,800km) with 300 passengers on board.

The MD-11 has long suffered a range deficiency against the 747-400 and A340 and MDC has progressively introduced a series of improvements designed to reduce drag since the airliner first entered service in 1990. The latest retrofit modifications are rerigged ailerons, a diverter fillet around the base of the centre engine structure and an aft fuselage strake. Redesigned flap hinges will become available on new production aircraft, while all the modifications developed so far have resulted in a range improvement of 8% over the original aircraft. With 298 passengers on board, a fully modified MD-11 will be able to fly 7000nm (12,800km).

One airline which is rumoured to be unhappy with the MD-11’s range — Korean Air — has decided to convert all five of its aircraft to freighters. The work will be performed by MDC and includes removal of the passenger windows, fitting a side cargo door, reinforcing the main deck floor and installing floor rollers for the movement of pallets.

Ilfc Orders Airbus

Aircraft leasing giant International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) has ordered 30 new airliners from Airbus Industrie. The order comprises firm orders for eight A319s, 13 A320s and nine A321s. The company has also placed options on three A319s, four A320s and three A321s. Deliveries of the A320s will start in February 1996, the A319s in June 1997 and the A321s in April 1998. ILFC is Airbus Industrie’s largest customer with 155 aircraft on firm order comprising 14 A319s, 68 A320s, 33 A321s, seven A310s, nine A300s, 12 A330s and others.

Us Faa Tightens Regional Rules

Following recommendations by the US National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA has decided to introduce regulations which will see US regional airlines having to meet the same training, crewing and operating standards as the major carriers.

To be phased in over several years, the new standards include:

• Revising the regulations to require that all scheduled passenger services using aircraft with 20 or more seats be conducted in accordance with Federal Aviation Rule (FAR) 121 (which now applies to 30 seats or more).
• That aircraft with 10-19 seats also be operated under FAR 121 or its “functional equivalent”.
• Mandatory crew resource training management.
• Flight simulation to be made available for training with the introduction of a new aircraft type.
• Establishing an industry/government task force to review qualification standards and training curricula for FAA inspectors.
• Ensuring pilots have adequate time between flights to properly check weather, fuel status and weight and balance.

US regionals have recorded improved safety standards in recent years (0.5 accidents per 100,000 departures in 1993 compared with a rate of 2.2 in 1980) but a spate of accidents in 1994 has prompted the FAA to act.