Air India pilots protest

Protesting delayed payment of salaries and allowances, a section of Air India pilots on Wednesday warned they would not undertake flying duties from April 1 if their dues were not cleared by then. The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), which represents the pilots of pre-merger Air India, has shot off letters to Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and others saying that a large number of its members had complained that financial distress could adversely affect their ability to safely discharge their duties and endanger lives.

Hence, its members "will be unable to operate flights on and after April 1, 2012, unless the management clears all the dues", IPG President Jeetendra Awhad said in the letter sent also to Air India CMD, Civil Aviation Secretary and Director General Civil Aviation.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/wont-fly-from-april-1-if-dues-not-cleared-threaten-air-india-pilots-183667?pfrom=home-otherstories&cp

FAA proposes to raise Airline Pilot qualification standards

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today proposed to substantially raise the qualification requirements for first officers who fly for U.S. passenger and cargo airlines. Consistent with a mandate in the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010, the proposed rule would require first officers – also known as co-pilots – to hold an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, requiring 1,500 hours of pilot flight time. Currently, first officers are required to have only a commercial pilot certificate, which requires 250 hours of flight time. The proposal also would require first officers to have an aircraft type rating, which involves additional training and testing specific to the airplanes they fly.

Other highlights of the proposed rule include:

· A requirement for a pilot to have a minimum of 1,000 flight hours as a pilot in air carrier operations that require an ATP prior to serving as a captain for a U.S. airline.

· Enhanced training requirements for an ATP certificate, including 50 hours of multi-engine flight experience and completion of a new FAA-approved training program.

· An allowance for pilots with fewer than 1,500 hours of flight time, but who have an aviation degree or military pilot experience, to obtain a “restricted privileges” ATP certificate. These pilots could serve only as a first officer, not as a captain. Former military pilots with 750 hours of flight time would be able to apply for an ATP certificate with restricted privileges. Graduates of a four-year baccalaureate aviation degree program would be able to obtain an ATP with 1,000 hours of flight time, only if they also obtained a commercial pilot certificate and instrument rating from a pilot school affiliated with the university or college.

The proposal addresses recommendations from an Aviation Rulemaking Committee, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the FAA’s Call to Action to improve airline safety.

Azhul takes delivery of the first ATR72-600

Brazilian carrier Azul Linhas today took delivery of the first ATR 72-600 regional turboprop aircraft. Fast-growing carrier Azul has placed orders for a total of 30 ATR 72-600s, with options an additional 10 aircraft. Azul was founded in December 2008, and in less than three years has developed an extensive network of 40 destinations throughout Brazil. In addition to its ATR 72s, Azul operates a jet fleet of Embraer 190s and 195s. With the delivery of the aircraft today, Azul Linhas  becomes one of the first operators of the newest generation ATR aircraft. With the introduction of its new fleet of ATR 72-600s, Azul will continue to support its growing national jet network with shorter haul regional routes. With its current fleet of 8 ATR 72s, Azul serves more cities within the economically vibrant state of Sao Paulo from its Campinas base than any other carrier.

Brazil has become in recent years a booming market for ATR, whose aircraft are optimally suited for the expansion of domestic short-haul routes due to their low operating and maintenance costs, up to 45% less than its competitors. The environmental friendliness of the ATRs, which produce up to 50% less CO2 than other regional aircraft, are also among the reasons for their popularity in Brazil. Today there are 50 ATR aircraft operating in Brazil, a figure expected to more than double within the next three years.  David Neeleman, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Azul, declared: “We are delighted to introduce the new ATR -600 series in Brazil and to be among the very first operators of the newest generation turboprops in the world. In addition to offering our passengers the highest standards of comfort, we are committed to making flying more accessible to Brazilian customers in terms of both frequency and cost. This aircraft fits this mission perfectly."

Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, declared: “With the new ATR 72-600s, the Brazilian regional passengers will have the opportunity of experiencing the new ‘Armonia cabin’, which features the most advanced technologies in terms of comfort, including larger overhead bins and thinner seats with more legroom. Brazil is a very dynamic market and we are convinced that the performance of the ATRs, coupled with the high levels of comfort proposed to passengers, will continue providing us expansion opportunities across the country and in the whole Latin America”.

UTair finalizes orders with Boeing

Boeing and UTair Aviation, Russia have signed an order for 40 Boeing Next-Generation 737 airplanes, comprised of seven 737-900ERs and 33 737-800s. The agreement was previously announced at the 2011 Paris Air Show. The order is valued at $3.8 billion at list prices. "UTair is a wonderful business partner with Boeing. We are truly proud of the airline's history and accomplishments in Russian commercial aviation. The Next-Generation 737s with the Boeing Sky Interior will enhance their network and customer appeal for both domestic and international routes," said Marty Bentrott, vice president of Sales for Russia, Central Asia and Middle East, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. All 40 UTair airplanes will be delivered with the new interior that offers unprecedented passenger appeal and comfort with such features as spacious cabin headroom, overhead bins that disappear into the ceiling yet carry more bags and LED lighting that brings any color into the cabin.

Dreamliner becomes a reality

Boeing delivered its first 787 jet on Sunday. It's been a long time coming. The new jet, which was supposed to be flying passengers three years ago, has been delayed by production and design problems. But now it's here, and airlines expect it to offer travelers much more comfort, open up new routes and provide significant fuel savings. The first one goes to Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has been printing the 787 logo and "We Fly 1st" on its business cards for years. Airlines love the jet, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner. They've ordered more than 800, well above levels for previous new jets. "A lot of carriers are betting that this is going to be a winner," says George Hamlin, president of Hamlin Transportation Consulting in Fairfax, Va.

Instead of the usual aluminum skin, most of the 787 is covered in carbon fiber, basically a high-tech plastic that is strong but lightweight. Military planes and portions of other jetliners have used that material for years, but this is the first time so much has been used on an airliner. The new material brings improvements that passengers should notice. Its strength allows windows to be bigger and higher, so passengers don't have to hunch over to see the horizon. Electronic dimming replaces pull-down shades. That should mean you'll no longer be blinded when the guy next to you falls asleep with the shade up. Finally, the cabin is pressurized to the equivalent of 6,000 feet, instead of the usual 8,000 feet. That means air pressure will be closer to what passengers are used to on the ground. And without corrosion-prone aluminum skin, the humidity can be kept higher. Those two changes should reduce dry noses and throats.

All Nippon plans to begin flying the 787 from Tokyo to Okayama-Hiroshima on Nov. 11. The first international route will be Tokyo to Frankfurt starting in January. The first US customer is United Continental Holdings Inc., which will get its first 787s next year and plans to fly them between Houston and Auckland, New Zealand, and Houston and Lagos, Nigeria. Those are good examples of "thin routes" that airlines say the 787 will be good for - routes for which there is regular demand that won't fill a larger plane. The 787's size, fuel efficiency and long range should allow airlines to turn a profit on those routes. The jet will be as much as 20 percent more fuel-efficient than planes it replaces. Its efficiency was a nice perk when Boeing first proposed the 787 in its current form in 2003. Now it's essential for airlines dealing with high fuel costs.

Building an all-new plane like the 787 is a massive undertaking. Delays stacked up. Boeing was hit with an eight-week strike in 2008. It had to reinforce the spot where the 787's wings meet the fuselage. In November, the company had to delay the plane further after an electrical fire forced a landing during a test flight. Boeing expects to deliver a combined 25 to 30 of the 787s and new 747-8 this year. To meet the high demand. Boeing has set an ambitious goal of building 10 per month by the end of 2013. No one has ever made a large plane that fast. Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at the Teal Group, thinks Boeing will miss that goal because the company hasn't smoothed out its production process fully. It's also not clear when the 787 will make money. Boeing already took a $2.5 billion charge in 2009 on the program, and it owes additional money to customers for the late deliveries. Boeing executives have said they will announce when the jet will be profitable after the first one is delivered.

The 787 list price runs between $185 million and $218 million. Discounts on new jets are common, though. Aboulafia says it's not clear how steep the discounts offered by Boeing were to lock in all the orders. Boeing rival Airbus hopes to soon launch its new A350, also made with a significant amount of carbon composites. A successful 787 will put pressure on Airbus to meet its fuel-efficiency goals, and to deliver the plane on time.

Airbus sees Asia as recession buffer

Demand for new planes from China and Asia will provide Airbus with a buffer for growth in the event of a global recession resulting from Europe's debt crisis, the company's chief operating officer said on Thursday.  "So far we have 1,000 net orders (from Europe) at the end of August and the air traffic is still good," Fabrice Bregier said.  "However, we might well expect some adjustments in the future. This is very different from 2008-2009. In this case we see a problem of some European states with excessive debt but the real economy is very good," he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dalian.  The euro area debt crisis has contributed to increasing concerns in financial markets that the world economy could slip into another recession. Bregier said it may be a "challenge" to avoid another recession that would bring about less air.

Demand for new planes from China and Asia will provide Airbus with a buffer for growth in the event of a global recession resulting from Europe's debt crisis, the company's chief operating officer said on Thursday. "So far we have 1,000 net orders (from Europe) at the end of August and the air traffic is still good," Fabrice Bregier said. "However, we might well expect some adjustments in the future. This is very different from 2008-2009. In this case we see a problem of some European states with excessive debt but the real economy is very good," he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dalian.

The euro area debt crisis has contributed to increasing concerns in financial markets that the world economy could slip into another recession.
Bregier said it may be a "challenge" to avoid another recession that would bring about less air traffic and slower growth for airlines. But he said he expected growth in Asia and especially China to provide a suitable growth buffer for Airbus. "If there is a big recession there will be less traffic and so the airlines will not generate the cash to buy new aircraft," Bregier said. "Now we are in the global market, so we don't sell exclusively to Europe or America and in our order book our biggest share comes from Asia, and China plays a big role."
Bregier said Airbus will deliver its first superjumbo to mainland carrier China Southern Airlines in a few weeks and the aircraft will be operational in November.

Boeing said on September 7 that China will need 5,000 commercial aircraft worth USD$600 billion over the next 20 years, a 25 percent increase on the company's previous estimate. Airbus, which currently has a 45 percent market share in China, is due to publish its global forecasts on September 20. Bregier said the firm's market share in China will exceed 50 percent in the next few years.
"We plan to deliver about 90 aircraft in China next year and about 100 this year," he said. In June, China placed an order for 88 Airbus A320 planes putting aside a bubbling trade row with Europe over a proposed emissions scheme as it sought to fuel economic growth. The deal, worth USD$7.5 billion at list price and with deliveries scheduled for 2012-15, was signed by China Aviation Supplies and Industrial Commercial Bank of China.

Although China plans to start competing with Airbus and Boeing by building its own narrow-body passenger jets from the second half of this decade, it has ordered large numbers of Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s to feed traffic growth.
Airbus began assembling planes for the Chinese market at a factory in Tianjin, outside Beijing, in 2009. Bregier said he expects to make inroads into the China market with sales of the A380 superjumbo aircraft. "I think they (other Chinese airlines) will be very interested in A380s when they see the success of China Southern... We expect other top players in China to progressively order A380s," he said. "The trend is clear, China will need bigger aircraft in the future and so we think with the A380, we really have a trump".traffic and slower growth for airlines. But he said he expected growth in Asia and especially China to provide a suitable growth buffer for Airbus. "If there is a big recession there will be less traffic and so the airlines will not generate the cash to buy new aircraft," Bregier said. "Now we are in the global market, so we don't sell exclusively to Europe or America and in our order book our biggest share comes from Asia, and China plays a big role."

Bregier said Airbus will deliver its first superjumbo to mainland carrier China Southern Airlines in a few weeks and the aircraft will be operational in November.  Boeing said on September 7 that China will need 5,000 commercial aircraft worth USD$600 billion over the next 20 years, a 25 percent increase on the company's previous estimate. Airbus, which currently has a 45 percent market share in China, is due to publish its global forecasts on September 20. Bregier said the firm's market share in China will exceed 50 percent in the next few years.  "We plan to deliver about 90 aircraft in China next year and about 100 this year," he said. In June, China placed an order for 88 Airbus A320 planes putting aside a bubbling trade row with Europe over a proposed emissions scheme as it sought to fuel economic growth.

The deal, worth USD$7.5 billion at list price and with deliveries scheduled for 2012-15, was signed by China Aviation Supplies and Industrial Commercial Bank of China. Although China plans to start competing with Airbus and Boeing by building its own narrow-body passenger jets from the second half of this decade, it has ordered large numbers of Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s to feed traffic growth. Airbus began assembling planes for the Chinese market at a factory in Tianjin, outside Beijing, in 2009. Bregier said he expects to make inroads into the China market with sales of the A380 superjumbo aircraft. "I think they (other Chinese airlines) will be very interested in A380s when they see the success of China Southern... We expect other top players in China to progressively order A380s," he said. "The trend is clear, China will need bigger aircraft in the future and so we think with the A380, we really have a trump".

Passenger Jet crashes in Congo

An airliner plowed into dense forest as it tried to land during a rainstorm in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, killing 127 people on board, the Congolese transport ministry said.  There were 51 survivors, a ministry statement said. The chief executive of the airline involved in the crash told Reuters earlier that there had been 110 people on board the plane, of whom 53 had died and 57 survived. But a spokesman for the transport ministry, Gudile Bualya, accused the airline of underestimating the number of passengers.

The accident at the international airport of Kisangani, a commercial center and river port town in the east, is the latest in a string of disasters in the vast central African country which has saddled it with one of the worst air safety records in the world. "The pilot tried to land but apparently they didn't touch the runway," Stavros Papaioannou, chief executive of Hewa Bora airline, told Reuters by telephone. Hewa Bora is on a European Union list of airlines banned due to security concerns, as are all carriers certified in Congo. It is the second fatal accident involving the airline in three years, after its DC-9 airliner plowed into a suburb of the eastern Congolese city of Goma, killing 44, in 2008.

Earlier, government spokesman Lambert Mende said rescue services had pulled 40 survivors from the Boeing 727. Jean-Paul Bongisa, a local reporter for Congolese state television at the scene of the crash, told Reuters the rescue was being hampered by difficulties in reaching the wreckage, some 200 meters (yards) from the runway in dense equatorial forest. Congo is roughly the same size as Western Europe but rail and road links through its jungles are few, so air and river travel are usually the only viable options for long distance journeys. In April, 32 people were killed when a U.N. plane crashed as it tried to land at the airport serving Congo's capital Kinshasa. The operator of the plane was Georgian flag carrier Airzena Georgian Airways. According to Hewa Bora's website, the airline has two Boeing 727s, both configured as passenger planes with 137 economy seats and 12 business class seats. They fly purely within Congo. Once the world's best-selling airliner, the Boeing 727 first flew in 1963 and was designed for short- and medium-haul routes. The last aircraft was delivered in 1984.

More Pilots and Mechanics needed - Boeing

The world’s commercial airlines will need 460,000 new pilots and 650,000 new maintenance technicians by 2030, Boeing predicted Wednesday.
“Clearly, the sheer size of this vital pipeline is staggering,” Sherry Carbary, vice president, Boeing Flight Services, said in a news release. “To meet the demand for capable, well-trained people, Boeing and the aviation industry need to move with the speed of technology to provide the tools, training and work environment that tech-savvy pilots and technicians will expect from us.”
The demand amounts to an average of 23,000 new pilots and 32,500 new technicians per year to account for growth and retirements.
The Asia Pacific region alone will need 182,300 pilots, 72,700 of them in China, and 247,400 technicians, 108,300 in China. Here’s projected demand in other regions:

• North America – 82,800 pilots and 134,800 technicians;
• Europe – 92,500 pilots and 129,600 technicians;
• Africa – 14,300 pilots and 19,200 technicians;
• Middle East – 36,600 pilots and 53,000 technicians;
• Latin America – 41,200 pilots and 52,500 technicians;
• Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States – 9,900 pilots and 13,500 technicians.

Yet another Tupolev crashes in Russia

A passenger jet crashed in heavy fog and burst into flames late Monday on a highway in north-western Russia, just short of a runway whose fog lights had failed, killing 44 people, officials said. Eight people survived the crash. The Tu-134 plane, belonging to the RusAir airline, was en route from Moscow to the city of Petrozavodsk, an Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman, Oksana Semyonova, told The Associated Press. Her ministry said in a website statement that 44 people were killed. Eight survivors, including a 10-year-old boy and a female flight attendant, were hospitalized in critical condition in Petrozavodsk.

Semyonova said the plane went down on its final approach to the airport in Petrozavodsk, making a crash landing one to two kilometres (about a mile) short of the runway, breaking apart and then bursting into flames. It was unclear if the plane had attempted to land on the road, or just happened to fall there, she said. Petrozavodsk is in Karelia province, near the Finnish border, about 400 miles (640 kilometres) northwest of Moscow. Authorities had no immediate explanation for the accident, but the Interfax news agency quoted the airport director Alexei Kuzmitsky as saying there were "unfavourable weather conditions." Compounding the pilot's troubles was the failure of the runway's high-intensity illumination, which is supposed to be deployed at times of low visibility, Alexei Morozov, deputy head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, told the ITAR-Tass news agency.

A RusAir representative who declined to give his name told The Associated Press that the plane was in good working order and that the weather conditions, although tricky, "weren't critical." The Tupolev 134, along with its larger sibling the Tu-154, has been the workhorse of Soviet and Russian civil aviation since the 1960s. The model that crashed was built in 1980, had a 68-person capacity and a range of about 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles). Photographs on the ministry website showed fragments of metal strewn across a road as thick fog hung over woodland in the background. A landing gear jutting out from the ground was the only recognizable plane part. The plane was carrying 52 people, including nine crew members, Semyonova said. Russian news agencies said Russian Premier League soccer referee Vladimir Pettay and a Swedish citizen were among the victims.

The Karelia branch of the Emergencies Ministry said radio contact with the pilot was lost at 11:40 p.m. local time (7:30 p.m. EDT, 1940 GMT). The black box flight data recorders have been recovered, the news agencies said. The accident occurred on the eve of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's planned appearance Tuesday at the Paris Air Show to support dozens of Russian firms seeking sales contracts. Russia and the other former Soviet republics have some of the world's worst air traffic safety records, according to the International Air Transport Association. Experts blame weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality for the poor safety record, leading to emergency landings being reported with alarming regularity. Polish President Lech Kaczynski was among 96 people killed when his Tu-154 crashed in heavy fog while trying to land near the western city of Smolensk in April 2010. In 2006, three crashes - two in Russia and one in Ukraine - killed more than 400 people.

Airbus unveils Concept Plane

 

Airbus has unveiled a futuristic concept for a transparent plane that may be everyday air transport in 2050. With its see-through aircraft cabin, passengers of the future will get a window on the world as they fly through the sky. They will be able to see everything to the sides and in front of them.The concept cabin unveiled at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, would be a bionic structure that 'mimics' the efficiency of the bird bone, claimed the company.It would provide strength where needed, and also allows for an intelligent' cabin wall membrane, which controls air temperature and can become transparent to give passengers open, panoramic views.The company believes that mid-century passengers might be able to enjoy a game of virtual golf or take part in interactive conferences, while the cabin 'identifies and responds' to travellers' needs.In the 'interactive zone' there are virtual pop-up projections taking passengers to whichever social scene they want to be in, from holographic gaming to virtual changing rooms for active shoppers.

The 'smart tech zone' is tailored towards the more functional-orientated passenger with what Airbus describes as 'a chameleon-style offering'. It aims to meet individual needs ranging from a simple to a complete luxury service, but all allowing 'you to continue life as if on the ground'. "Our research shows that passengers of 2050 will expect a seamless travel experience while also caring for the environment," the Daily Mail quoted Airbus engineering executive vice-president Charles Champion as saying. "The concept cabin is designed with that in mind, and shows that the journey can be as much a voyage of discovery as the destination," he added.

Kingfisher Airlines optimistic about growth

India's Kingfisher Airlines is looking to lease both wide-body and narrow-body aircraft to meet an unanticipated surge in demand as the domestic economy recovers more quickly than expected, the company's chairman, Vijay Mallya, said on Monday. Mallya also told reporters on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting in Singapore that the company had revived a plan to sell Global Depository Receipts, taking higher oil prices into calculation. Asked if Kingfisher's current capacity was enough to cater to the projected increase in demand, he said: "Not quite, that is why we are looking for leased capacity.

"Kingfisher at one time had several aircraft that were on order from Airbus for delivery in 2010 and 2011. During the 2008-2009 crisis, I actually postponed the delivery of those aircraft to 2012 and 2013," Mallya said. "So right now we are looking for capacity, but our own new deliveries will start in about 18 months." He said he was looking to lease both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft. "We have been experiencing for the last six months unprecedented load factors, which I have never seen in the last six years," Mallya said. "We are running at mid to high 80 percent on every flight, which is extremely healthy."

According to its website, Kingfisher has 66 aircraft, mostly Airbus jets and ATR turbo-prop variants. It has more than 125 planes on order. Loss-making Kingfisher, India's second-largest airline by market share, has restructured its debt by converting almost INR12 billion rupees (USD$268 million) of loans into equity. Its current debt stands at about INR60 billion rupees. Last month, it reported a net loss of INR10.27 billion rupees in the fiscal year ending March 31, versus a loss of INR16.47 billion rupees the year before. But it had positive EBITDA amounting to INR1.4 billion rupees, the company says. "We reported significantly improved numbers and EBITDA profit for the first time. This is a sign of things to come," Mallya said.

He said the company had also revived a proposal to sell GDRs of USD$250 million - USD$350 million, but gave few details. "We had an excellent roadshow for our GDR in January and early February this year and we presented a compelling business plan." He said the plan assumed crude oil at USD$90 per barrel. "The minute crude oil prices started going up to USD$120 plus per barrel, prospective investors asked us to rework our business plans, which we did."

The flamboyant Mallya, who controls the United Breweries Group, owns a Grand Prix motor racing team and a team in India's cricket league, said Kingfisher's growth should be enhanced as it joins the oneworld airline alliance, which also includes Cathay Pacific, British Airways and Qantas. "The opportunities to leverage this alliance are huge," he said, adding that Kingfisher would become a fully operational member by 2012. "We see this as being a contributor of about 5-6 percent of enhanced revenue to us."

He said Kingfisher was continuing to lobby the government to allow foreign airlines to take stakes in Indian carriers. "Airlines in India must raise capital and the opportunity to raise capital from foreign airlines must not be excluded and that's why we will continue to request the government of India to reconsider its foreign direct investment policy." Kingfisher flies to eight international destinations and to more than 50 towns and cities in India. Its fleet of turboprop aircraft will help it to respond to the pattern of wealth creation in India, Mallya added. "There is a lot of wealth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities that is being created," he said. "It is no longer a situation where wealth in India is restricted to the big metro cities, so it offers a huge amount of opportunity. "Kingfisher is well positioned because it has a large number of ATR aircraft which are ideal to service the emerging demand in tier-2 and tier-3 cities," he said.

Air France A330 crash report

The Air France airliner that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009 was out of control for four minutes, investigators said, in a report raising questions about how crew handled a "stall alarm" blaring out in the cabin. Information gleaned from black boxes, and recovered almost two years after the disaster killed 228 people, confirmed that speed-readings in the Airbus cockpit had gone haywire, believed to be linked to the icing of speed sensors outside the jet. As Air France pilots fought for control, the doomed A330 dropped 38,000 feet, rolling left to right, its engines flat out but its wings unable to grab enough air to keep flying.

The plane crashed on June 1, 2009, en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Black boxes stopped recording at 0214 GMT. France's BEA crash investigation agency said in a detailed chronology of the crash that commands from the controls of the 32-year-old junior pilot on board had pulled the nose up as the aircraft became unstable and generated an audible stall warning. Aviation industry sources told reporters that this action went against the normal procedures which call for the nose to be lowered in response to an alert that the plane was about to stall.

This type of aerodynamic stall is nothing to do with a stall in the engines, both of which kept working as crew requested. "A stall is the moment at which a plane stops flying and starts falling," said David Learmount, operations and safety editor at the British aviation publication Flight International. An aircraft industry safety consultant said the standard guidance in the Airbus pilot manual called in this event for the pilot to lower the nose by pushing the control stick forward.

"The BEA is now going to have to analyze and get to bottom of how crew handled this event," said Paul Hayes, safety director at Ascend Aviation, a UK-based aviation consultancy. "The big question in my mind is why did the pilot flying (the aircraft) appear to continue to pull the nose up," he said. French investigators said the emergency began with the autopilot disengaging itself two and a half hours into the flight and the junior pilot, who had been in control at take-off, picked up manually and saying "I have control".

The autopilot appears to have responded to a loss of reliable airspeed information. This was accompanied moments later by the disembodied voice of a recorded "stall" alert. It is what happened next that is likely to fuel most theories on what preceded the crash, but Air France and its main pilots union insisted faulty speed probes were the root cause. In a passage likely to attract particular scrutiny, the BEA said the pilot "maintained" the nose-up command despite fresh stall warnings 46 seconds into the four-minute emergency.

"The inputs made by the pilot flying were mainly nose-up," the report added. The Airbus jet climbed 3,000 feet to 38,000 feet despite the crew having decided earlier against a climb, and then began a dramatic descent, with the youngest pilot handing control to the second most senior pilot a minute before impact. The captain returned after "several attempts" to call him back to the cockpit but was not at the controls in the final moments, according to information gleaned from black boxes.

By the time the 58-year-old returned, just over a minute into the emergency, the aircraft was in serious trouble: plunging at 10,000 feet a minute with its nose pointing up 15 degrees and at too high an angle to the air to recapture lift. The BEA did not provide extracts of the transcript for the last minute before the jet hit the water with its nose up. It promised a fuller interim report which could say more about the causes of the crash in July.

Alaska Airlines goes green with iPad

As part of an ongoing effort to use technology to enhance flight safety, improve efficiency and protect the environment, Alaska Airlines is issuing iPad tablet computers to its pilots. The 1 1/2-pound iPads replace up to 25 pounds of paper flight manuals that pilots are required to carry when they fly. The iPads are being distributed to all Alaska Airlines pilots, a process that will be complete by mid-June. This follows a successful trial by 100 line and instructor pilots and Air Line Pilots Association representatives, who evaluated the feasibility of using iPads as electronic flight bags this past winter and spring.

Alaska Airlines is the first major domestic airline to use the iPad to replace paper manuals. "We've been exploring the idea of an electronic flight bag for several years, but never found a device we really liked," said Gary Beck, Alaska Airlines' vice president of flight operations. "When the iPad hit the market, we took one look at it and said this is the perfect fit." The iPads contain an app called GoodReader that is loaded with PDF versions of 41 flight, systems and performance manuals, reference cards, and other materials. The electronic manuals include hyperlinks and color graphics, enabling pilots to find information faster and easier. Updating these reference materials can now be accomplished with one tap on the iPad screen instead of the former, labor-intensive process of replacing individual pages with new ones. The iPad is considered a Class 1 electronic device, meaning it is stowed during takeoff and landing under Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

In conjunction with replacing paper manuals, Alaska Airlines is exploring the replacement of paper aeronautical navigation charts with electronic versions on the iPad, eliminating the need for every pilot to carry their own copy. The two initiatives, dubbed "Bye, Bye, Flight Bag," will save about 2.4 million pieces of paper. The cost of the project is expected to be offset by lower paper, printing and distribution expenses and reduced fuel consumption as some weight is removed from the aircraft. Further savings are expected from fewer back and muscle injuries caused by pilots carrying flight bags that can tip the scales at 50 pounds or more fully loaded.

Etihad road show in South East Asia

Etihad Airways Pilot recruitment team will be touring South East Asia throughout June 2011 in search of new First Officers. Etihad is looking for qualified first officers for its fleet of A320, A330,A340 and B777, all based in the Capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi.







The schedule of the road show is as follows.

City	Date	Time	Location
Jakarta	07.06.2011	09:00 - 15:00	City DateTimeLocationJakarta07.06.201109:00 - 15:00
Singapore	09.06.2011 10.06.2011	09:00 - 15:00	Swissôtel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road
Kuala Lumpur	13.06.2011 14.06.2011	09:00 - 15:00	Doubletree by Hilton, Kuala Lumpur, The Intermark, 182 Jalan Tun Razak
Manila	16.06.2011	09:00 - 15:00	Mandarin Oriental Makati Hotel, Makati Avenue, Makati City 1226
Hong Kong	19.06.2011	09:00 - 15:00	Novotel Citygate Hong Kong, 51 Man Tung Road
Ho Chi Min	21.06.2011	09:00 - 15:00	Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers, 88 Dong Khoi Street, District 1
Bangkok	24.06.2011 25.06.2011	09:00 - 15:00	Golden Tulip Hotel, 92 Soi Saengcham. Rama 9 Road

Solar Plane makes its first International flight

A solar energy plane began the world's first international flight powered by the sun on Friday to show the potential for pollution-free air travel.The Solar Impulse took off from an airfield at Payerne in western Switzerland on Friday morning and was due to land at Brussels airport 12 hours later."The objective is to demonstrate what we can do with existing technology in terms of renewable energy and energy savings," project co-founder and pilot Andre Borschberg said by phone midway through his flight.

Borschberg believes such solar-harnessing technology can be replicated to power cars and homes."It is symbolic to be able to go from one place to another using solar energy," he said.The Solar Impulse project began in 2003 with a 10-year budget of EUR€90 million (USD$128.6 million) and has involved engineers from Swiss elevator maker Schindler and research aid from Belgian chemicals group Solvay.

The plane, which requires 12,000 solar cells, embarked on its first flight in April 2010 and completed a 26-hour flight, a record flying time for a solar powered aircraft, three months later.With an average flying speed of 70 km per hour (44 miles per hour), Solar Impulse is not an immediate threat to commercial jets, which can easily cruise at more than 10 times the speed. A flight from Geneva from Brussels can take little more than an hour.

Project leaders acknowledged it had been a major challenge to fit a slow-flying plane into the commercial air traffic system.Friday's flight, which took off at 0640 GMT, is Solar Impulse's fifth. Previous flights did not leave Switzerland.A larger prototype is scheduled to fly around the world in 2013.

FAA approves IPAD's in cockpit

Apple's iPad has won approval from US regulators to display navigational charts for some charter pilots, a step that may see the end of paper maps in the cockpit. With the Federal Aviation Administration endorsing iPads in a test project at Executive Jet Management, a unit of Warren Buffett's NetJets, the way is open for others to seek authorisation for, said Les Dorr, an agency spokesman.

IPad use by professional pilots would support Apple's goal of winning more business buyers. The company's total corporate sales may rise 51 per cent to $11.3 billion (Dh41.50b) in 2011, said Brian Marshall, a Gleacher and Co analyst in San Francisco. Revenue was $76.3 billion last year. "This is mission-critical computing," said Marshall, who has a "buy" rating on Apple. "For them to win this type of approval speaks volumes about the level of sophistication of what can be accomplished with the iPad."

Charts showing data such as airports and radio frequencies for a state or region have been staples of US flying since the 1930s. But so-called electronic flight bags, computers configured for aviation use, began winning FAA approval for use at airlines in the last decade, superseding paper charts. A unit from Milwaukee-based Astronautics Corporation of America weighs 8.2 kilograms, 12 times as much as the iPad.

Apple's tablet wasn't cleared as a navigation device in a professional cockpit until FAA's February 1 approval to Executive Jet. While the decision only covers Executive Jet, commercial carriers now have a citable case for iPad use, according to Jeppesen, the Boeing map and accessory business that designed the application used.

Pilots at Alaska Air Group's Alaska Airlines, which uses only paper charts in its 116 aircraft, are testing iPads for some functions, said Marianne Lindsey, a spokeswoman. AMR's American Airlines and American Eagle rely on paper charts in its 900-plane fleet, said Ed Martelle, a spokesman. Delta Air Lines, the world's second-largest carrier, is still paper driven, according to Gina Laughlin, a spokeswoman. Delta is pursuing approval to test iPads and other tablet devices next quarter, Laughlin added.

"Many air carriers have been using electronic flight bags for years, but they've been carrying the paper with them as well," said Alison Duquette, an FAA spokeswoman. The iPad's touch-screen and illumination display could be an advantage over folded paper in finding information such as an emergency-landing site, said John Cox, a former US Airways pilot who is now chief executive officer of consultant Safety Operating Systems LLC in Washington. "It's easier to sort through the charts that you need."

Indigo's troubled lady pilot arrested for forging her Licence

A woman pilot has been arrested in the capital for allegedly using a forged marksheet of the DGCA test to procure a commercial pilot licence. Parminder Kaur Gulati, a suspended pilot of Indigo, was apprehended by a team of Delhi Police's crime branch yesterday following investigations into a complaint filed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Gulati allegedly produced the forged marksheets of DGCA Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) test to get the commercial pilot licence. With ATPL, one can become a co-pilot; and to get a full-fledged commercial pilot licence one should have ATPL with adequate flying hours.

Sources said Gulati had allegedly produced forged marksheets of the ATPL examination conducted by the DGCA. She holds a valid commercial pilot licence. Last year, during a flight landing in Goa by Gulati, technical errors were noticed and DGCA had constituted an enquiry to look into it. Sources said, during investigations it came to light that Gulati had allegedly forged marksheets of the ATPL examination, following which she was suspended by the airlines.

Russian air traffic controller talks to an UFO

Air traffic controllers in Siberia claim to have been buzzed by a high-speed UFO with a female sounding alien speaking to them in an unintelligible cat-like language.The object had suddenly burst onto flight monitors over the remote Russian diamond capital of Yakutsk, and it was shown flying at a speed of slightly over 6000 mph, and rapidly changing direction.The UFO was logged at a height of 64, 895 feet above sea level and appeared to interfere with aviation frequencies.

A YouTube footage showed an air traffic controller trying to make contact with the UFO, while a radar showed the UFO moving rapidly through the skies surrounded by planes that were travelling at a much slower pace."I kept hearing some female voice, as if a woman was saying mioaw-mioaw all the time," the Daily Mail quoted the air traffic controller as telling the pilot of a passing Aeroflot flight. The air traffic control monitor automatically designated the UFO as "00000" because it did not have a flight number. At one point the UFO is shown moving away from Yakutsk at great speed before turning and heading back towards the city. 

Lady Pilot??! - Passenger denies to take the flight

After the chilling incident last month were a Indigo A320 almost crashed in Goa International airport by its lady Captain, a passenger of the same airliner refuses to take the flight just because his Captain was another lady pilot.

A Mumbai-bound flight was delayed by one-and-a-half hours at the Delhi airport yesterday morning -- first by fog and then by a passenger who did not want to travel on a plane piloted by a woman. Passengers on board had a curious story to tell as to why Indigo flight 6E 179, supposed to depart at 8.10 a.m., could not take off before 9.40 a.m.  "First the flight was held up by a slight fog. Then, just when we were about to fly, the doors were opened again at around 9 as a middle-aged man seated a couple of seats away from me objected to a woman piloting the plane", one of the passenger on board flight 6E 179.

The man apparently turned jittery after the customary flight announcement was made, giving the pilot's name - it was a woman."The man first started grumbling to co-passengers, 'I don't want to die! She can't take care of the house, how will she take care of a plane?' . "He called the airhostesses and objected to the woman pilot. Ground staff were called and they took him out of the plane. This situation did not change for nearly 40 minutes even as other passengers became restless and upset." The man relented only after he was told he would be taken off the plane -- with his check in baggage.

Private Jet makers target India

The growing list of billionaires in India is an enticing prospect for executive jet makers seeking to recover from a slump in demand caused by the global financial crisis. Prominent among exhibitors at the ongoing Aero India 2011 air show in Bangalore were manufacturers such as US-based Gulfstream and Brazil's Embraer -- both hoping to seduce corporate high-flyers with their luxury private planes. The global private jet market had a hard landing in 2008-09, with jet prices plunging by up to 30 percent and actual flying time falling by an estimated 40 percent. But India's fast-growing economy minted 17 new billionaires in 2010, driving the total to a record 69, according to Forbes magazine's list of the world's wealthiest individuals.

The country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, reportedly gifted his wife a $60 million Airbus, complete with entertainment cabins and showers, for her birthday in 2007. Jose Eduardo Costas, vice president of Asia sales for Embraer, said the Brazilian firm had a host of orders lined up. "A private jet is not a Ferrari or a luxury boat. It's a business tool and the market here realises that," he said.
"Five of our aircraft are already with the government and four with private companies, and in the next three years we will be making 30 deliveries of our jets." Gulfstream said there were 17 of its aircraft in India by the end of last year, up from just five in 2001, adding that 12 of them were large-cabin models including the G550, which has a range of 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles).
"We see great long-term potential in the Indian market as infrastructure for business aviation expands and government officials focus more on this segment," said Roger Sperry, Gulfstream's senior vice-president for international sales.
According to figures from aviation data firm JetNet, new business jet deliveries to the wider Asia-Pacific region grew from 7.0 percent of the world market in 2007 to 12 percent in 2009.

JetNet cited India as having the second-largest fleet in the region, with 143 business aircraft of all sorts -- a sign of the country's growing presence in the top-end luxury goods market. Cessna Aircraft Co. set up shop four years ago in Bangalore and industry experts say the Kansas-based manufacturer leads its private jet competitors in India. "India is important to Cessna and the expanding economy should soon support a robust business aircraft fleet and infrastructure," said Cessna's vice president for international sales, Trevor Esling.
He declined to give details of orders the company has on hand or the number of planes delivered, but said: "By 2025 I would expect India to be in the top 10 individual countries for business jet ownership outside the United States."