Loyal blog reader “prop-er” sent in this crazy video, showing a very risky landing of a Boeing 737 at Toncontin International Airport (TGU/MHTG), Honduras. I won’t spoil this breathtaking video, you just have to see for yourself! Just for your information: The runway is only 2163m (7096ft) short.
Year: 2009
Kingfisher ATR-72 skidded of runway
Yesterday a Kingfischer Airlines ATR-72-212A (VT-KAC) skidded off the runway on landing at Mumbai-Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM), India. Flight IT4124 was bound from Bhavnagar to Mumbai. Nobody of the 46 people on board was injured. The plane was substantialy damaged. The accident was caused by low visibility.
Video
THX to “Prop-er”!
Guggenheim Receives First 777 for Lease to Korean Air
Boeing today announced that the plane maker recently delivered one of the first 777 to Guggenheim Aviation Partners. The Boeing 777-300ER will be operated under lease by Guggenheim customer Korean Air.
The 777-300ER is Guggenheim’s first leasing arrangement with Korean, as well as the first new Boeing passenger airplane delivery to Guggenheim. The delivery is the 25th 777 for Korean.
Guggenheim is scheduled to take delivery of additional five 777s.
Guggenheim Aviation Partners is a leading participant in commercial aircraft leasing with offices in Seattle, London and Singapore.
Source: Boeing
Photo: Boeing
Video – Beechcraft Bonanza Close Call with Terrain
I just found this video on YouTube.
According to the YouTube user, a Beechcraft Bonanza took of June 10th, 2009 to videotape a friend flying an Aero L-39 Albatros. Due to bad weather with low visibility, the Bonanza came very close to terrain. How close it really was, you can see on the damage of the plane in the end of the video.
Video – First Air France A380 Arrives at Paris
Yesterday the first Airbus A380 was handed over to Air France. The French carrier is the first European airline to fly the “whale jet” on scheduled services. The aircraft – MSN0033 / F-HPJA – is the twentieth A380 delivered by Airbus. 10 A380s are already flying with Singapore, five with Emirates and four with Qantas.
Video of the arrival at Paris CDG
First A380 Delivery to Air France
Tomorrow Friday 30 October 2009, the first Airbus A380 will be delivered to Air France (MSN0033 / F-HPJA). Air France will be the first European airline receiving an A380. The ceremony will be held at Airbus’ delivery centre Hamburg (Germany).
The delivery ceremony will be streamed live on http://www.a380delivery.com/airfrance
Live video streaming is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. French time (10:00 a.m. GMT).
Photo: Air France
Photo – First A330-200 Freighter
The first Airbus A330-200 Freighter is seen here in preparation for ground tests in advance of its maiden flight scheduled for November 2009.
The most notable visual difference to the passenger version is a bulge on the bottom of the fuselage right above the nose gear. To overcome the cool looking standard A330’s nose-down body angle on the ground, unfortunately the A330F makes use of a revised nose landing gear layout. 🙁 The same leg will be used, however it will be attached lower in the fuselage, requiring a distinctive blister fairing on the nose to accommodate the retracted nose-gear.
The A330-200F received its industrial go-ahead in January 2007. The first A330-200F has been rolled out in Toulouse on October 20, 2009.
The A330-200F is a mid-size, long-haul all-cargo aircraft capable of carrying 64 tonnes over 4,000 NM / 7,400 km, or 69 tonnes up to 3,200 NM / 5,930 km. It introduces a new versatile main-deck cargo loading system that will be able to accommodate both pallets and containers. Several different arrangements will be possible on the main deck, taking up to 23 Side-by-Side (SBS) pallets, aimed at the high volume, high value commodities or Single Row (SR) loading of 16 pallets (96 in X 96 in X 125 in SR pallets) and/or nine AMA containers aimed at the general cargo higher density markets.
Power is provided by two Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines.
As of 1 January 2009, Airbus had 65 firm orders from nine customers: Aircastle (7), BOC Aviation (5), Etihad Airways (3), Flyington Freighters (12), Guggenheim Aviation Partners (2), Intrepid Aviation Group (20), MatlinPatterson (6), MNG Airlines (2), and OH, Avion LLC (8). Additionally ACT Airlines has signed an MOU for 2. The first delivery will be to Flyington Freighters in Spring 2010.
Photo: Airbus
Pilots Forget to Land – Northwest Plane Overshoots Destination
It sounds like a bad joke: Northwest Airlines flight 188 from San Diego (KSAN) to Minneapolis (KMSP) overshot its intended destination by 150 miles on Wednesday evening.
What happened in that cockpit? The pilots say they “lost situational awareness†while arguing about airline policy. The immediate suspicion is that they fell asleep.
Contact with the Airbus A320 was lost at about 6:45 p.m. local time, the aircraft overflew Minneapolis and crossed the state line into Wisconsin before the crew responded to ATC and turned back. A review of the cockpit voice recorder is underway and will probably reveal the real cause of this small detour.
Video – Short interview with pilot
Flight 188 at Flightaware:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/NWA188/history/20091021/2135Z/KSAN/KMSP
Related Link:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-22/the-new-cockpit-threat/?cid=hp:mainpromo1
A330 MRTT First Time Boom Refueling of F-16
The EADS A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) – currently in production for four allied nations – marked another major performance milestone with the first in-flight refueling performed from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) A330 MRTT utilizing its integrated Aerial Refueling Boom System (ARBS).
The contacts and subsequent fuel transfers were made with two F-16 receiver aircraft and validated the advanced ARBS handling qualities, precision, and stability on the A330 MRTT, as well as the capabilities of its 3-D vision system. The flight lasted four hours and 30 minutes, with more than 3,300 pounds of fuel transferred during 13 contacts.
EADS’ fly-by-wire ARBS is one of the key technological discriminators for the A330 MRTT and Northrop Grumman’s KC-45 offering to the U.S. Air Force, providing the only digital, all-electric fly-by-wire refueling system available today.
The ARBS has already made more than 250 wet and dry contacts with a wide range of receiver aircraft, in a full range of operating conditions and throughout the flight envelope, while the boom was deployed on an EADS test-bed aircraft.
The RAAF’s A330 MRTT is similar in configuration to Northrop Grumman’s KC-45 Tanker offered for the U.S. Air Force to recapitalize its aging aerial refueling fleet. Both aircraft are equipped with the EADS ARBS, plus a pair of all-digital Cobham 905E refueling pods under the wings. This mix of boom and pod refueling technologies ensures the A330 MRTT and KC-45 can transfer fuel to all types of receiver aircraft during a single mission without reconfiguration. The KC-45 also offers a centerline hose-and-drogue fuselage refueling unit.
The boom’s maximum nominal fuel flow rate is 1,200 U.S. gallons per minute, while the pods can deliver up to 420 gallons of fuel per minute. Aerial refueling operations are controlled from a state-of-the-art Remote Aerial Refueling Operator console in the cockpit behind the pilots, incorporating the enhanced vision system with laser infrared lighting and high-definition digital stereoscopic viewing.
EADS North America is a principal teammate on Northrop Grumman’s KC-45 Tanker program, and is responsible for delivering the aircraft platform, which will be produced at a new aerospace center of excellence to be built in Mobile, Ala.
Airbus Military, an EADS company, is responsible for the design and production of the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport for international customers, which today includes Australia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Orders from those countries total 28 aircraft. The A330 MRTT has won all of the international competitions for new-generation aerial tankers since 2004.
The RAAF will receive its first of five A330 MRTTs in 2010, two of which have completed conversion and currently are in flight test. Upon delivery to the RAAF, they will be designated the KC-30A.
Source: EADS
Photos: EADS
Norwegian Air Shuttle Orders Additional Next-Generation 737s
Boeing and low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle today confirmed an order for additional six Next-Generation 737-800s. With this order, Norwegian has a total of 48 Next-Generation 737 airplanes on order from Boeing as well as 22 airplanes from leasing companies.
The new 737s will feature advanced-technology Blended Winglets, an environmental innovation that reduces drag, resulting in less fuel consumption and a decrease in carbon emissions of 3.5 to 4 percent.
The Oslo-based carrier is one of the first airlines in Europe that will incorporate the spacious new 737 Boeing Sky Interior starting at the end of 2010. Inspired by years of design research on the 787 Dreamliner, airlines with this new interior will feature the soft, blue-sky-like lighting overhead, contemporary sculpted sidewalls and window reveals designed to draw passengers’ eyes to the airplanes’ windows, enhancing the passengers’ overall flying experience.
Norwegian’s aircrafts are equipped with state-of-the-art Recaro seats which offer increased legroom without compromising capacity. Norwegian has opted for a 186-seat configuration in its aircraft contrary to a full capacity 189-seat configuration.
Source: Boeing
Photo: Boeing