737 stuck in Mumbai

Now that’s a quite funny story. The fuselage of an ex Air Sahara Boeing 737 being transported on a trailor to Delhi, is stuck on a lane in Mumbai, because the driver of the trailor was given a wrong direction, came to a dead end and apparently cannot be turned around on this narrow lane with garages and small shops.

“It was such a shock to find it there when I came to open my shop in the morning,” said Parminder Kaur, whose Laxmi Medicals now stands in the generous shadow cast by the tail of the Boeing.

The plane is not only lost but orphaned. Local residents said that the three men with the trailer fled the scene when angry shopkeepers heckled them. “It has nowhere to go from here as the whole thing is 75 feet long and cannot be turned around or brought back to the highway in reverse,” said Gurvinder Singh, who runs an auto workshop on the road.

But as always in Mumbai, there is opportunity even in adversity. Keenly aware of the predicament of the Delhi buyer of the fuselage, scrap dealers from nearby Govandi have already started recceing the site to size up the cargo and sniff out a possible deal.

Obstruction though it clearly is, the Boeing has certainly spiced up the daily routine of local residents. It’s a curiosity for schoolchildren who stare at it and ask hopefully if they will be allowed a joy ride.

This particular plane has been something of a problem child. Last year it was stuck on a Mumbai runway, blocking air traffic for five days. This time it has held up road traffic for three days. The rest of the plane has already been broken into 1,700 pieces and sold to a US-based company for an undisclosed sum.

Full story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

If you have any photos of this incident, please post a comment with the link or e-mail me!

Photos:


Sukhoi Superjet 100 Regional Jet Fueselage – First Pictures

The first Superjet 100 aircraft has been ferried from Komsomolsk to Moscow for the static trials. It has been ferried to Central Aerodynamic Institute (TsAGI) by AN-124 “Rouslan” aircraft.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a regional jet family in the 60 to 95-seat category. The Superjet 100 will be produced by Russian aerospace firm Sukhoi’s civil division.
The Superjet 100 was formerly referred to as the Russian Regional Jet (Самолёт Российский Региональный Сухого), or “Sukhoi RRJ.” The name was changed on 17 July 2006.

Major subcontractors include Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Ilyushin, Yakovlev, and PowerJet. Boeing provides consulting in such areas as project management, market planning, certification and customer support. SNECMA is providing some level of funding for the project. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. is negotiating a participatory role. Deliveries are to begin in 2008.

Production was to occur in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia, but Sukhoi is considering moving production to a city in the European portion of Russia, due to pressure from airlines and Sukhoi’s partners.

The aircraft will be equipped with two PowerJet SaM146 turbofans.

The Superjet 100 is intended to compete against the Antonov An-148, Embraer E-Jets and the Bombardier CSeries programs.

At the moment Superjet 100 is placed to the TsAGI platform where the hardwares are joining for the following static trials.

See all pictures at: Picture Gallery

UPDATE: Roll-Out coverage at: First Sukhoi Superjet 100 rolls out – Photos & Video

Delta – New branding officially unveiled

Delta Air Lines today unveiled its updated corporate brand – a striking three-dimensional, red “Widget” icon flying across a blue background – that reflects the company’s successful transformation into a highly differentiated, customer-focused airline.

Like posted before besides a new logo and coporate branding, a new livery is unveiled.

A380 showcase in India, Japan, Taiwan and Australia

Airbus is to showcase its A380 in Tokyo, Sydney and Taipei following its forthcoming visit to the Indian cities of Delhi and Mumbai.

Between 7 and 10 May the A380 will make its Indian debut, visiting a string of carriers including current prospects Jet Airways and Air India. Carcaillet indicates that this is more than a tentative visit. Kingfisher Airlines is Airbus’ only Indian A380 customer, with five A380-800s on firm order.

Carcaillet says that the aircraft will return from India and, following a planned appearance in Paris, will fly to Tokyo in June. From Japan it will fly on to Sydney, returning via Taipei to visit China Airlines.

Airbus chief operating officer for customers John Leahy says: “Over the next 9-12 months several trips around the world are planned to showcase the A380 to difference airlines.”

Source: Flightglobal

Thomson Fly 757 Birdstrike Captured

A spotter captured the moment when two herons were sucked into a Thomson Fly Boeing 757-200 moments after lift-off from Manchester airport at 9.15 on Sunday morning.

The engine, a Rolls-Royce RB211-535E4, was shut down and the pilot made a successful emergency landing on one engine.

The aircraft, with 221 passengers on board, was heading for Arrecife, Lanzarote, when the birds hit the right hand engine, causing a flameout and repeated puffs of black smoke. The pilot declared an emergency and dumped excess fuel before landing at 1030.
Source: Flightglobal

High Quality Video:

Lower Quality Videos:

Blind Pilot Flies From London to Sydney

Flying a tiny Microlight aircraft across the world through snow and over ocean would test the courage and skills of anyone. However, Miles Hilton-Barber, a blind British adventurer, today has completed an epic 21 700 km flight from London to Sydney in what friends called “a motorbike in the sky”.

“It’s the fulfillment of an amazing dream. I’ve been wanting to do this flight for about four years,” he said.

“I’ve wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid. Now I’m totally blind and I’ve had the privilege of flying more than halfway around the world.”

Hilton-Barber said after a victory pass over Sydney’s sparkling harbour and Opera House in perfect morning weather. “The big thing is not me flying to Australia but thousands of blind children around the world are going to see again through this flight,” told Miles Hilton-Baker to journalists at Sydney’s Bankstown airport. Barber also has a special message to Japan.

Mr Hilton-Barber, who went blind 25 years ago, is hoping the trip will raise $2.5 million for the charity Seeing is Believing, which works for the prevention of blindness in developing countries.

He flew with a sighted co-pilot and uses revolutionary speech output from navigation instruments to steer a course for his customised hang glider-like plane.

He told a Japanese journalist how much he would lost his way without the technology of Japan. “To Japan, hey wonderful, thank you Japan and most of the equipment in my house comes from Japan so I would be lost without your digital technology, top marks for Japan and I love Honda motor cars,” said a cheerful Barber.

The 58-year-old from Derby is the first blind pilot to fly a motorized hanglider more than halfway round the world, crossing 21 countries on a 55-day journey which began at Biggin Hill airfield, near London, on March 7. The father of three passed over Europe, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, following the route taken by the classic 1919 London to Sydney Air Race. – Reuters

New Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 Preview

On following links you will find impressive pictures of newly constructed Changi Terminal 3. The “forest in an airport” – idea reminds me a little bit of KLIA 😉 I wonder how long the plants will survive since, unlike KLIA, they are not put into a special greenhouse-like area, but planted directly inside the terminal building.


At first view the roof reminds of 80s architecture, at second view it’s a really stunning idea to simulate sun light floating through forrest trees.

See all photos:
http://www.sqtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1246
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=70216

Airline pilots spot giant UFO

This is obviously no joke. “The Sun” and “The Register” are reporting, two airline pilots at the controls of separate flights have reported seeing a huge mystery cigar-shaped object “up to a mile wide” hovering off the coast of Alderney (UK).

Captain Ray Bowyer, 50, of local airline Aurigny, spotted a “bright-yellow light” 10 miles west of Alderney at about 3pm during a flight from Southampton while his aircraft was 30 miles from the island at 4,000ft.

He recounted: “It was a very sharp, thin yellow object with a green area. It was 2,000ft up and stationary. I thought it was about 10 miles away, although I later realised it was approximately 40 miles from us. At first, I thought it was the size of a Boeing 737.

“But it must have been much bigger because of how far away it was. It could have been as much as a mile wide.”

Continuing his approach to Guernsey, Bowyer spied a “second identical object further to the west”. He said: “It was exactly the same but looked smaller because it was further away. It was closer to Guernsey. I can’t explain it. At first, I thought it might have been a reflection from a vinery in Guernsey, but that would have disappeared quickly. This was clearly visual for about nine minutes.

“As I got closer to it, it became clear to me that it was tangible. I was in two minds about going towards it to have a closer look but decided against it because of the size of it. I had to think of the safety of the passengers first. I’m certainly not saying that it was something of another world. All I’m saying is that I have never seen anything like it before in all my years of flying.”

Bowyer described his sightings to ATC. Paul Kelly, 31, the duty air traffic controller at the time, said “nothing had appeared on his radar”, but that he’d received a “similar report” from a Blue Islands pilot en route to Jersey at the same time. Kelly explained that as the pilot went past Sark he “described an object behind him to his left”.

He continued: “The description was very similar to Captain Bowyer’s and they described it as being in exactly the same place. But they were looking at it from opposite sides.”

The Blue Islands pilot explained the UFO was 1,550 feet lower than his aircraft, which was at 3,500ft, so “both pilots placed it at the same altitude”, Kelly added.

Regarding the radar blank, Kelly noted: “If the object was stationary, our equipment would not have picked it up because the radar would have screened it out.”

Maybe it was just a giant cloud? 😕

Sources:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/27/mystery_object/
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2007190499,00.html#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=TheSun:News