Month: May 2007

Ilyushin Il-76 Cargo Aircraft destroyed in Fire

Pictures of an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft burning on the ramp at Pointe Noire airport (Republic of the Congo) have emerged on the internet. It is painted in the colors of Russian operator “Dobrolet” but it’s unclear what exact aircraft is involved.
It is suspected that fire started when a 4×4 vehicle was loaded for flight to Brazzaville and developed electrical short circuit.

burn1.jpgburn2.jpgburn3.jpgburn4.jpgburn5.jpg

(Source www.flyafrica.info)

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First Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Paint Shop Done

Airbus has painted the first A380 destined to enter airline service with launch operator Singapore Airlines (SIA) later this year. Aircraft MSN003 emerged from the manufacturer’s Hamburg paint hangar following installation of its passenger cabin in March, and testing of the associated systems last month.

Several passenger windows in the forward lower deck have been blanked off, suggesting that SIA has opted for an innovative first-class cabin design.

SIA says 100 painters worked over four shifts to hand-polish the 3,100m2 of fuselage surface area. The painting process took 21 days.

Click here to view photos and read the full article

More Photos at SIA A380 Gallery

Accident Digest Boeing 737-800 Kenya Airways

Status: Preliminary
Date: 05 MAY 2007
Type: Boeing 737-800
Operator: Kenya Airways
Registration: 5Y-KYA ?
C/n / msn: 35069/2079
First flight: 2006
Crew: Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
Passengers: Fatalities: 105 / Occupants: 105
Total: Fatalities: 114 / Occupants: 114
Airplane damage: Written off
Location: South of Douala (Cameroon)

Phase: En route
Nature: International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport: Douala Airport (DLA/FKKD), Cameroon
Destination airport: Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO/HKNA), Kenya
Flightnumber: KQ507

Kenya Airways flight 507 is a scheduled flight from Abidjan Airport (ABJ), Ivory Coast to Nairobi (NBO) via Douala (DLA), Cameroon. The plane departed Douala at 00:05 and was to arrive in Nairobi at 06:15. Contact with the plane was lost.
The wreckage has not yet been found and the presumed accident location was unclear for some time. Search efforts now focus on the area around Lolodorf where locals reported hearing an explosion. A second site being searched is a mangrove swamp area, where fishermen were reported to have heard a loud bang. This area is 10 minutes away from Douala.
The plane’s identity was rumored to be 5Y-KYA, the first of Kenya Airways’ three brand new Boeing 737-800 planes. This has not been confirmed however.
The weather over two hours after the accident happened (ca 23:20 Z on May 4) was reported as:
FKKD 050200Z 00000KT 9999 TS BKN013 SCT020CB BKN120 24/24 Q1009 NOSIG= [a.o. thunderstorms with 5-7 oktas cloud at 1300ft, 3-4 oktas cloud at 2000ft with thunder clouds and 5-7 oktas cloud at 12000ft, temperature 24C, dewpoint 24C, QNH 1009hPa]

Sources:
Kenya Airways press release
Kenya Airways plane crashes in Cameroon: radio (AP, 5-5-2007)
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AIRCRAFT PROFILE BOEING 737-800
* Last fatal Boeing 737 accident : 07 MAR 2007 Garuda Boeing 737-400, Yogyakarta, Indonesia- 21 fatalities
* Total number of Boeing 737 hull-losses: 134 (123 accidents, 4 hijackings, 7 other occurrences (sabotage, ground fire etc.)), of which 74 losses were fatal
* 13th worst Boeing 737 accident (if all 114 on board have not survived the accident)
* Second Boeing 737-800 accident
——————————————–
OPERATOR PROFILE KENYA AIRWAYS
* started operations: 1977
* web: http://www.kenya-airways.com/
* 4th hull-loss accident
——————————————–
COUNTRY PROFILE CAMEROON (country of accident)
* Last fatal civil hull-loss accident: 03 DEC 1995 Boeing 737-2K9 Cameroon Airlines, Douala / 71 fatalities
* Second worst accident (if all 114 on board have not survived the accident)
* The country is not yet rated in FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA)
——————————————–
COUNTRY PROFILE KENYA (country of opertor)
* Last fatal civil hull-loss accident involving a Kenyan airliner: 18 AUG 2004 Cessna 208 Transworld Safaris, near Goma, DR Congo / 3 fatalities
* Second worst accident (if all 114 on board have not survived the accident)
* The country is not yet rated in FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA)

Report provided by Aviation Safety Network

GFS reveals plans for family of coanda-effect aircraft

UK-based GFS Projects has unveiled initial concepts for man-carrying and unmanned cargo-carrying coanda-effect aircrafts, the latter with disc spans reaching up to 30m (100ft).

The initial man-carrying version would be a scout craft with a crew of one to two. It would be capable of dash speeds of 100-150kt (185-277km/h), but also be able to stop in flight to hover above areas of interest.

Scout configurations include a single-seat arrangement with four thrusters integrated into the lower air vehicle disc airframe and a V-tail, and twin seat craft with single tail.

The cargo version would use a large detachable pod suspended beneath the airframe disc. A lead application could be the deployment of mobile medical facilities, says GFS founder and managing director Geoff Hatton.

An adapted configuration could operate as a medical evacuation system: “It would have to be a 30m craft or of that order,” he says.

The company is to lead its shift from research craft to commercially ready vehicles over the next two years through the development of a 1.2m-disc UAV optimised for the civil market.

An internal combustion engine-powered prototype is in preparation and is set to fly in the second half of this year, says Hatton.

The company has already built and flown one electric-powered demonstrator with dual ducted fan thrusters mounted within the disc.

A second demonstrator with twin suspended ducted fans, each generating 1lb thrust, is currently being rig tested to measure the combined effects of the design modifications in improving flight performance against headwinds.

Full Story At Flightglobal.com …