Glasgow Airport Closed After Terrorist Attack

The United Kingdom raised its terrorism threat level to critical, the highest level possible, Saturday after a vehicle plowed into the terminal building at Scotland’s busiest airport and burst into flames.

Police at the highest levels are assuming the fiery incident in Glasgow was a terrorist attack, CNN has learned.

Authorities assume the incident is linked to the discovery Friday in London of two explosives-filled cars. They could not yet say whether the same people were involved or whether the Glasgow incident was the work of copycats.

Police and witnesses in Glasgow described an SUV-style vehicle in flames being driven at full speed toward the building.

Two people were arrested at the scene, police said.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any injuries, although unconfirmed witness reports described a man on fire at the scene.

Glasgow Airport has been closed and all flights have been suspended. All roads around the airport have been closed.
Operators BAA Scotland warned people not to travel to the airport “until further notice”.
Edinburgh Airport was also closed to vehicles, though flights are operating as normal. Security has been stepped up at Glasgow Central railway station.

BAA Scotland spokesman Donald Morrison said that 35,000 passengers had been expected through Glasgow Airport during the course of Saturday, the first full day of the school summer holidays.

Travellers evacuated from the airport were being looked after at nearby hotels as uncertainty over their flight plans remained.

A number of people are believed to be stuck on airplanes and on the airport strip while others have been told they might not be able to leave the airport complex until at least 2100 BST.

Prestwick Airport was operating as normal. Flights bound for Glasgow Airport had been diverted to Prestwick.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/30/london.alert/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6257194.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6257628.stm
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1273090,00.html

Accident Digest Boeing 737-200 TAAG Angola

Status: Preliminary
Date: 28 JUN 2007
Type: Boeing 737-2M2
Operator: TAAG
Registration: D2-TBP
C/n / msn: 23220/1084

First flight: 28 JAN 1985
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17A
Crew: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 7
Passengers: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 71
Total: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 78
Airplane damage: Written off
Location: M’Banza Congo Airport (SSY), Angola

Phase: Landing
Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport: Luanda-4 de Fevereiro Airport (LAD/FNLU), Angola
Destination airport: M’Banza Congo Airport (SSY/FNBC), Angola

taag280607.jpgThe TAAG Boeing 737 departed Luanda on a domestic flight to M’Banza Congo Airport (SSY) and Negage Airport (GXG). Initial press reports indicated that the airplane crashed on landing. It either touched down short of the runway or went off the runway while attempting to land at M’Banza Congo.
The airport has a single asphalt runway (16/34) which is 1800 m long.

Sources:
Zaire: TAAG Airliner Crushes, Kills Six People (ANGOP)
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AIRCRAFT PROFILE BOEING 737
* Last fatal Boeing 737-200 accident : 29 OCT 2006 ADC Airlines 5N-BFK, near Abuja, Nigeria- 97 fatalities
* Last Boeing 737-200 write-off: 13 JAN 2007 Gading Sari Aviation Services, PK-RPX, Kuching, Malaysia – 0 fatalities
* Last fatal Boeing 737 (all series) accident : 05 MAY 2007 Kenya Airways B737-800 5Y-KYA, near Douala, Cameroon- 114 fatalities
* Total number of Boeing 737-200 hull-losses: 103 (92 accidents, 11 other occurrences (sabotage, hijacking etc.) ), of which 54 losses were fatal
* Total number of Boeing 737 (all series) hull-losses: 135 (124 accidents, 11 other occurrences (sabotage, hijacking etc.) ), of which 75 losses were fatal
* 42nd worst B737-200 accident
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OPERATOR PROFILE TAAG ANGOLA AIRLINES
Angolan national airline, originally formed in 1938 as DTA by the Portuguese Colonial Government. In 1974 the airline was renamed TAAG РLinhas A̩reas de Angola. On the day of the accident, just before the accident happened, it was announced that the EU would banning TAAG from flying within the EU over safety concerns, effective July 4
* Fleet: Boeing 737-200 (4), 737-700 (4), 747-300 (2) and 777-200 (2)
* DTA and later TAAG suffered 16 losses: 11 accidents (5 fatal) and 5 criminal occurrences (3 fatal), totalling 207 fatalities
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AIRPORT PROFILE M’BANZA CONGO AIRPORT
* ICAO/IATA designators: FNBC/ SSY
* Latitude: 06° 16′ 11.63″ S / 014° 14′ 49.29″ E
* Elevation: 1860 ft/ 567 m
* Runway: 16/34 (5905 x 98 feet , asphalt, no ILS)
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COUNTRY PROFILE ANGOLA
* Last fatal civil hull-loss accident: 17 MAR 2001 SAL Express Beech 1900, near Quilemba – 16 fatalities
* 32nd worst aircraft accident in Angola
* The country is not yet rated in FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA)
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Accident Digest created by Aviation Safety Network
News Source: http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=541591

First Boeing 787 Completed

Final assembly of the first Boeing 787 is done! A few hours ago the first “Dreamliner” left the assembly line.

Credits to Charles Conklin “SEAchaz” from a.net for taking these great photos!

First Boeing 787 Dreamliner done
First Boeing 787 Dreamliner done
First Boeing 787 Dreamliner finished
First Boeing 787 Dreamliner finished

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized, wide body, twin engined jet airliner by Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes unit and scheduled to enter service in May 2008. It will carry between 210 and 330 passengers depending on variant and seating configuration. Boeing has stated that it will be more fuel-efficient than comparable earlier Boeing airliners. It is also be the first major airliner to use composite material for most of its construction.

Additional pictures can be found in this older article:
http://blog.flightstory.net/102/boeing-begins-787-dreamliner-final-assembly/

Video – Helicopter crash in Russia

The AS-355 helicopter belonging to Balt Avia crashed around 6:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) Saturday about 75 kilometers (45 miles) west of St. Petersburg, Russia, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland.

A crew member and two passengers were injured and rescuers were searching for the lost pilot. One passenger was unharmed.

The officials said the cause of the crash was being investigated.

Airbus ends Paris Air Show with 425 firm orders

paris07-a380.jpg

Airbus ends the 47th Paris Air Show with new momentum for its leading product range, the A380, the A350 XWB, the A330/A340 Family, as well as the A320 Family. During the Show the manufacturer received a total of 425 firm orders from 19 customers. In addition, Airbus received commitments for a total of 303 additional aircraft.

Market demand for the A380 was further consolidated, with 13 additional orders and commitments from existing customers who further confirmed their interest in Airbus’ all new “gentle green giant” by increasing their orders and commitments for this new product. Qatar increased its order book for the A380 by three firm orders. Emirates and Air France both committed to acquiring eight and two more A380s, respectively. This brings the total orders and commitments for the A380 to 173. Delivery to first operator Singapore Airlines will take place in October this year.

Orders received at the Show have also strongly validated Airbus’ new A350 XWB programme, which received a total of 141 firm orders from five customers during the week. The customers include Qatar, Aeroflot, Singapore Airlines and lessors Alafco and CIT. In addition the new A350 received commitments for 52 aircraft from four additional customers (US Airways, Kingfisher, Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah). This brings the total orders and commitments received so far for the all new A350 XWB, which was launched in December last year, to 232 aircraft, including 154 firm orders and 78 commitments.

The A330/A340 Family continued to sell at record levels, receiving a total of 132 orders and commitments, of which 83 are firm and 49 are commitments. The A330-200 Freighter won as many as 46 firm orders from five different customers around the world. Altogether the family gained four new customers, which is also another indication of the success of this Family in the market place.

Finally, the demand for Airbus’ Single aisle product Family was again confirmed, with the addition of 390 orders and commitments (198 firm orders and 192 commitments). Airbus increased its A320 Family customer base, also welcoming four new customers as well as two new ACJ customers.

“This Airshow has confirmed that Airbus is very much back on the market, continuing to satisfy customers with the right products. Especially the A380 and A350 XWB have been the highlight of the show, receiving tremendous customer endorsement. They will lead the way in the future in terms of aircraft technology, passenger comfort and environment friendliness. Also, the A330/A340 Family continues to be very much in demand, as is our single-aisle Family,” said Airbus President and CEO Louis Gallois. ”This should give us further incentive to pursue our efforts to turn the company around in order to be able to deliver on our promises”.

Paris Air Show – Day 5 – Orders

Airbus

  • Riyadh based National Air Services (NAS) signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to buy 20 Airbus A320 Family aircraft for the company’s budget airline arm, NASair.
  • Singapore Airlines has signed a contract for the purchase of 20 A350-900 XWBs to meet its requirements on medium to long-range routes across the Asia-Pacific region from 2013 onwards. This order, which firms up the Letter of Intent placed in July 2006, represents another major commitment to the expansion of the airline’s Airbus fleet, which is already destined to include 19 A380s and 19 A330s.

Boeing
No orders announced today

Engines
No engine choices announced today