Dec 23
NinaBlog Articles
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) on Monday placed an order for 10 airplanes from Boeing worth $2.1 billion at list prices.
The new planes will allow the airline to tap additional demand at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, which was recently opened to more flights.
The carrier, Japan’s second-largest, ordered five 777-200ER jets and five more 767-300ER airliners, for a total of 185.2 billion yen (1.95 billion dollars) excluding any discounts the Japanese carrier may have negotiated. The 777s will be delivered between April 2012 and March 2014. The 767s will be delivered between April next year and March 2012.
Japanese airlines’ fleets are dominated by US-made aircraft, to the frustration of European rival Airbus.
ANA, Japan’s second largest carrier, was the launch customer for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, which has been beset by a series of delays.
The airline, which is bracing for a second straight year in the red, is shifting to more fuel-efficient planes as part of its efforts to return to profitability.
Dec 23
NinaBlog Articles
Forty passengers were reported injured after an American Airlines plane crashed and broke in two after landing at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston shortly after 10:00 pm Tuesday.
“The injured passengers have been taken to the Kingston Public Hospital,” Information Minister Daryl Vaz told the Observer. “There are no reports of fatalities.”
Flight AA331, a Boeing 737, had just arrived from Miami in pouring rain with approximately 148 passengers and six crew when the accident occurred.The company would not speculate as to possible causes of the accident and said it would make a fuller statement later on Wednesday.
The Jamaica incident is the second runway mishap for American this month. On December 13, the wing of American MD-82 struck the runway in Charlotte, North Carolina, while landing, causing damage to the plane. No one was hurt.
Dec 22
NinaBlog Articles
A woman in a wedding gown surprised her fiance by greeting him at a Texas airport along with a justice of the peace.
Robyn Moore and William Acosta exchanged vows Monday at Corpus Christi International Airport after he got off a plane arriving from Toledo, Ohio.
Acosta, who was wearing jeans and a sweater, says he was speechless and thrilled by the wedding Moore planned.
Moore says she and Acosta “spent half our relationship in airports.”
The couple got a marriage license last week and planned to tie the knot this month, at a site to be determined.
Moore and Acosta met in 2008 in Dallas, where she lived and he was on a business trip. They plan to live in Toledo.
Source: Foxnews
Dec 18
NinaBlog Articles
Air Force, Army and community officials celebrated the opening of a new cargo plane schoolhouse, here.
The C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft Schoolhouse will be used to train pilots of the C-27J, the new cargo plane used to reduce the need for ground convoys in dangerous areas.
After years of development by the Army, the C-27J Spartan program has shifted to the Air Force, but will be a joint program and both Army and Air Force pilots and loadmasters will attend the school.
The school has already been in operation at Robins Air Force Base since Sept. 9, when the first of two C-27J planes arrived here, but the school will be under development through 2011. Still to be added are an operational flight trainer and a fuselage trainer. A mockup cockpit has already been installed.
“This aircraft will provide the capability to fly in Afghanistan where they do not have the infrastructure to handle our larger aircraft,” said Army Col. Anthony Potts, the project manager for aviation systems. “It will have the capability to get supplies not within 50 miles of our forces but within the last tactical mile.”
He said after the ceremony that that the aircraft will definitely save lives if the program’s potential is fully realized.
Dec 16
Nina
A Mirage fighter jet crashed in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday, but the pilot ejected safely, the Air Force said.
The aircraft was on a routine operational training mission when it went down near a lake on the outskirts of Kalar Kahar, a small town located 135 kilometres south of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.
‘The pilot parachuted to safety and there was no damage on the ground,’ a Pakistan Air Force spokesman said.
A board of inquiry was investigating the cause of the accident.
Dec 16
Nina
Boeing Co.’s new 787 jetliner finally took to the skies Tuesday, more than two years later than the company had planned.
More than 12,000 employees and guests watched as the plane rose into the air at 10:27 a.m. (1:27 p.m. ET) from Paine Field in Everett. It landed more than three hours later and about 40 miles away at Seattle’s Boeing Field after having flown at a speed of 207 mph at 15,000 feet — typical for a maiden flight, the company said.
“Today is truly a proud and historic day for the global team who has worked tirelessly to design and build the 787 Dreamliner — the first all-new jet airplane of the 21st century,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program, in a news release.
The plane is the first of six 787s Boeing will use in the flight test program. It’s expected to last about nine months and will subject the planes to conditions well beyond those found in normal airline service.
Even though 787s won’t start flying passenger routes until at least 2011, Boeing executives said they hope a successful first flight will at least begin to quell doubts over the future of airplane production at the company.
You can watch the video via CNN - http://us.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2009/12/15/natpkg.boeing.flight.cnn
Dec 15
MarianneBlog Articles
The first of the 500 extra British troops sent to Afghanistan steeped off a C-130 Hercules aircraft at Camp Bastion Tuesday.
The soldiers from The 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) based at Dale Barracks in Chester landed at 5:05am.
The troops will undergo a special in-theatre training package before deploying onto the ground alongside the 9000 other regular troops that make up at 11 Light Brigade.
In the coming weeks and months, it is expected the soldiers of 1 Royal Welsh will conduct a variety of roles to include the mentoring of Afghan National Army and Police.
Visit Warplanes.com for more British and Foreign Military Models!
Dec 15
MarianneBlog Articles
The United Kingdom plans to but 22 Boeing Chinook helicopters to build out fleets operating in Afghanistan.
The order for CH-47 Chinooks is part of the government’s “Future Helicopter Strategy.” The new helicopters will start to come off the production line in 2012 and be completed in 2013, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in an e-mailed statement today.
The British government has face criticisms for a lack of helicopter power in Afghanistan, and additions to the fleet will enable more soldiers to move around the Helmand province beyond the reach of roadside bombs.
“Our forces on the front line in Afghanistan repeatedly tell me that Chinook are indispensable on operations,” said Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth. “I am therefore delighted to announce plans to deliver more of these robust, effective and proven battle-winning helicopters.”
The CH-47 helicopters can transport up to 55 troops. The Chinook, designed in the early 1960s has seen operation in Vietnam, the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dec 15
Nina
An Air France double-decker A380 bound for Paris didn’t take off from New York last night because of a fuel-tank issue, the second problem on the route since the airline began flying the world’s largest passenger jet.
The Airbus jumbo jet’s 511 passengers were put up in New York-area hotels after the airline discovered that fuel was not transferring properly between tanks, said Marina Tymen, an Air France spokeswoman. The airline will put the passengers on flights to Paris today, she said. The flight, AF007, was due to leave John F. Kennedy airport at 7:10 p.m.
Air France-KLM Group took delivery of its first A380 on Oct. 30 and the jet’s maiden flight from Paris to New York was on Nov. 20. On Nov. 27, an Air France A380 was forced to return to New York about 90 minutes into its flight because of an unspecified technical issue. After it returned to the U.S., it was cleared for takeoff within two hours and flew to Paris without further incident with all 402 passengers aboard.
That was second time an A380 had to turn back since the model began operations in October 2007. A flight by Singapore Airlines Ltd., the first airline to use the A380, had to return to Paris 2 1/2 hours after taking off for Asia on Sept. 27 after one of its four engines failed. The plane carried a crew of 27 and 444 passengers on board.
Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the Air France fuel-tank problem.
Dec 15
MarianneBlog Articles
Boeing pilot taxied the aerospace giant’s new 787 jetliner down a runway at low and high speeds and simulated a rejected takeoff, lifting the much-anticipated plane’s nose off the ground.
The maneuvers performed Saturday were the last test before the jet’s imminent first flight.
“Our pilots told me the airplane performed beautifully,” said Mike Delaney, vice president and chief project engineer for the 787, in a statement. “We’re going through and analyzing the data to ensure we’re ready for first flight. From evaluations we’ve done so far, everything looks good.”
The Everett Herald reported the 787 reached speeds of 150 miles per hour at Paine Field’s runway during Saturday’s test.
Boeing announced Thursday that its window for a first flight would open Dec. 15 with the actual flight timing dependent on final internal reviews, taxi testing, weather and FAA documentation.
The company has taken a new approach to building airplanes with the 787, relying on suppliers around the world to build huge sections of the plane. But that approach has proved problematic, with ill-fitting parts and other problems hampering production.
Some airlines have been forced to cancel or postpone plans to buy new 787s, partly due to week travel demand amid the global economic downturn. Yet the 787 remains Boeing‘s best-selling new plane to date.
Older Entries
RSS