Boeing CEO offers 'full support' for China aviation crash probe

WASHINGTON - Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told employees on Monday that the planemaker has offered the full support of its technical experts in the investigation of the crash of a China Eastern Airlines 737-800 airplane.

Calhoun said in an email to employees he was limited by what Boeing could say about the investigation being led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. 

"Trust that we will be doing everything we can to support our customer and the accident investigation during this difficult time, guided by our commitment to safety, transparency, and integrity at every step," Calhoun said.

-reuters

Rolls-Royce cuts 9,000 jobs as airlines turn off engines

Rolls-Royce, the British maker of plane engines, said Wednesday it will cut at least 9,000 jobs and slash costs elsewhere, as the coronavirus hammers the aviation sector.

"This is not a crisis of our making. But it is the crisis that we face and we must deal with it," chief executive Warren East said in a statement announcing that Rolls would cut nearly one-fifth of its global workforce.

"Our airline customers and airframe partners are having to adapt and so must we."

Unions said they expected most of the cuts to occur in the UK, while analysts said the knock-on effect for supply chains meant many more people working across the aerospace industry were set to lose their jobs.

- 17% of staff -

Rolls said it expected "the loss of at least 9,000 roles" from a global workforce of 52,000 and would also cut "expenditure across plant and property, capital and other indirect cost areas".

The measures is expected to hand the company annual savings of more than £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion, 1.4 billion euros).

The restructuring will cost Rolls about £800 million.

Rolls said the restructuring would predominantly affect its civil aerospace business.

"Our defence business, based in the UK and US, has been robust during the pandemic, with an unchanged outlook, and does not need to reduce headcount," it added.

Rolls has already spent the past two years cutting thousands of management roles following weak demand for its power systems used by the marine industry.

"The restructuring announced... (in) June 2018 will transition into this wider proposed reorganisation," Rolls said Wednesday.

"Focused predominantly on reducing the complexity of our support and management functions, the programme has substantially delivered on its objectives."

- 'Terrible prospect' -

The new cull comes as global air travel remains virtually non-existent, even though governments have begun to ease their lockdowns.

With planes grounded worldwide, airlines are slashing thousands of jobs and Rolls has followed suit.

"Being told that there is no longer a job for you is a terrible prospect," East added on Wednesday.

"But we must take difficult decisions to see our business through these unprecedented times."

Steve Turner, a senior official at British union Unite, accused Rolls of "shameful opportunism".

"The news that Rolls Royce is preparing to throw thousands of skilled, loyal, world-class workers, their families and communities under the bus during the worst public health crisis since 1918 is shameful opportunism," he said in a statement.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of UK aerospace trade body ADS, meanwhile said that Britain's government needed to take "urgent action" to "minimise the impact on jobs and manufacturing capability in the long-term".

Following its announcement, Rolls-Royce saw its share price slide by 2.5 percent to 261 pence in morning deals.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.1 percent overall.

"In a positive economy job layoffs will often send shares higher since it lowers wage costs," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group.

"In such a hard economy for air travel to which Rolls Royce is closely tied, the job losses just spell out the difficulties."

Agence France-Presse

Downing of Ukraine jet 'unforgivable mistake' — Iran president

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Saturday said it unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian airliner that crashed this week killing 176 people, calling it an "unforgivable mistake".

The Ukraine International Airlines plane came down on Wednesday shortly after Iran launched missiles at bases hosting American forces in Iraq in response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran's top generals, in a US drone strike.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tweeted.

"Armed Forces' internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people," he added.

"Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake."


Earlier, Iran's official IRNA news agency had published a statement from the military saying the Boeing 737 was mistaken for a "hostile plane" at a time when enemy threats were at the highest level.

The admission came a day after Iran's civil aviation chief denied claims that the plane had been shot down, as international pressure mounted on Tehran to conduct a credible investigation after several Western governments blamed a missile strike.

The disaster came as tensions soared in the region after the Soleimani killing, and fears grew of an all-out war between the United States and Iran.


Washington has said the Soleimani strike was carried out to prevent "imminent", large-scale attacks on US embassies. Iran had vowed "severe revenge" for Soleimani before launching missiles at the bases in Iraq.

"Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster," Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted.

"Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations."

Iran has invited the United States, Ukraine, Canada and others to join the crash investigation.

The majority of passengers on UIA Flight PS752 which had just taken off from Tehran were Iranian-Canadian dual nationals but also included Ukrainians, Afghans, Britons and Swedes.

It was Iran's worst civil aviation disaster since the US military shot down an Iran Air plane over the Gulf by mistake in July 1988, killing all 290 people on board.

Video footage of the UIA 737, which the New York Times said it had verified, emerged and appeared to show the moment the airliner was hit.

A fast-moving object is seen rising at an angle into the sky before a bright flash appears, which dims and then continues moving forward. Several seconds later, an explosion is heard and the sky lights up.

Many airlines from around the world cancelled flights to and Iran in the wake of the crash, or rerouted flights away from Iranian airspace.

Nations around the world have called for restraint and de-escalation, and fears of a full-blown conflict have subsided after US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran appeared to be standing down after targeting the US bases in Iraq.

source: philstar.com

Longest non-stop flight to take off from New York to Sydney

SYDNEY, Australia — A plane and its passengers are set to test the mental and physical limits of long-haul aviation when Qantas operates the first direct flight by a commercial airline from New York to Sydney this weekend.

In the first of three "ultra long-haul" test flights planned by Australia's national flag carrier this year, researchers will monitor the effects on passengers of the 19-hour non-stop journey.

Up to 40 passengers and crew—most of them Qantas employees—will be on board the Boeing 787-9 when it departs New York on Friday. The plane is scheduled to arrive Down Under Sunday morning.


Passenger numbers have been restricted to minimize the weight on board and give the plane sufficient fuel range to travel approximately 16,000 kilometers (about 9,500 miles) without re-fuelling, heading west over the Pacific.

No other airline has ever achieved the feat, which Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has called the "final frontier in aviation."

Scientists from two Australian universities will be on board to monitor passengers' sleep patterns, melatonin levels, and food consumption.

Pilots will also wear a device that tracks their brain waves and alertness.

With a 15-hour time difference between New York and Sydney, the impact of jetlag will be closely watched.

"We know from the basic science of circadian rhythms that a bigger time difference between departure and arrival locations, and travelling east rather than west, tends to mean people feel more jetlag," University of Sydney professor Stephen Simpson told AFP.

"But people seem to be wildly different when it comes to the experience of jetlag—and we need more research on what contributes to jetlag and travel fatigue, so we can try and reduce the impact of long-haul flights."

Qantas last year introduced the first direct service from the western Australian city of Perth to London, with the 17-hour journey one of the longest passenger flights in the world.

As well as the New York-Sydney route, Qantas will test a service from London to Sydney in the coming months.

The airline is considering launching commercial services on the marathon routes—if the economics stack up.

A decision will be made on the validity of the flights at the end of the year. Joyce has said it is "ultimately a business decision."

Pilots concerned 

Another hurdle could come from within the organization.

Qantas pilots have raised concerns about the impact of ultra long-range flying on safety standards.

The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which represents Qantas pilots, said the exploratory flights "will produce a limited set of data that will not adequately replicate real-world flying conditions."

AIPA safety director Shane Loney has called for a "scientific long-term study" into the impacts on crew.

"Pilots are concerned about being able to get enough quality rest during ultra long-range flights to maintain peak performance and we believe significant caution should be exercised in the initial operations to make sure there are no unintended consequences," he said.

A Qantas spokesperson said the test flights are "just one part of the work we are doing to assess how to the operate these flights safely".

Both Airbus and Boeing have pitched aircraft for the Qantas ultra long-haul routes. Joyce has said it is not a "foregone conclusion" which company will be chosen.

source: philstar.com

Airliners collide at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, passengers safe

TORONTO – Dozens of passengers were evacuated from an aircraft at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Friday, after a plane under tow struck an arriving jet that was waiting to park, sparking a small fire, the airport authority said.

Fire and emergency services responded to the collision between the two planes from Sunwing Airlines and Westjet Airlines, which happened at 6:19 p.m. (2319 GMT), the Greater Toronto Airport Authority said in a statement.

Calgary-based Westjet said it had unconfirmed reports of “minor injuries” in the incident, but that all 168 passengers and six crew members on board its plane were safe and accounted for.

The jet, a Boeing 737-800, had just arrived in Toronto from the resort of Cancun, Mexico, and was waiting to proceed to the gate at the time of the collision, Westjet said

Sunwing, part of the privately held Sunwing Travel Group, said there were no passengers or crew onboard its plane at the time of the collision, and that the aircraft was being towed by ground handler Swissport International Ltd.

A spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board, Canada’s transportation regulator, said that a team was headed to the airport to investigate.

source: interaksyon.com

Flying the Breit skies

Aviation is about freedom, aviation is a lifestyle,” says Alexander Melchers, director of C. Melchers Singapore, at the viewing of Breitling’s Baselworld 2015 collection at the newly refurbished Breitling concept store in Greenbelt. Melchers’ company based in Singapore is the exclusive distributor of Breitling in Southeast Asia.

It’s how Europeans and Americans regard flying. In Asia, we mostly equate aviation with airports, connecting flights, miles, baggage allowance, inflight service, etc., but In Switzerland (where the brand heavily associated with aviation comes from) flying one’s own plane can be compared to, well, riding a Harley-Davidson, imagining Steppenwolf guitars chugging in the background, and easy-riding into the sunset.

“It’s about letting your hair down and putting on a leather jacket — whether you enjoy watching it or actually taking part in it,” shares Melchers. It’s the underlying message behind the Breitling name: freedom.

“And it’s liberating. The sky’s the limit. Notice that the blue in a Breitling watch is nicer than the others? It’s because of our pilots who get close to the sky.”


“Breitling’s DNA centers on aviation,” explains Lucerne managing director Emerson Yao.

In the early ‘30s, Breitling built on its reputation for precision and sturdiness, enriching its range with a “specialty” that would earn it worldwide fame: onboard chronographs intended for aircraft cockpits. These instruments — indispensable to secure piloting — enjoyed great success with the various armed forces, including the Royal Air Force (RAF), which used them to equip its famous World War II propeller-driven fighter planes.


During the ‘50s and ‘60s, Breitling played a key role in the boom of commercial aviation, as its onboard chronographs became standard equipment, first on the propeller-driven planes and later on the jet aircraft of many airplane manufacturers and airline companies. The brand thus quite naturally earned the status of “official supplier to world aviation.”

Yao says, “Today, the brand maintains its in-house set of jet planes.” The Breitling Jet Team — which competes in airshows such as the Reno Air Races and the Red Bull Air Race under the Breitling colors — put on an aerial show two years ago at Clark Air Base. Heck, brand ambassador John Travolta flies his own plane.



And that alliance with aviation is reflected in the luxury watch brand’s concept store in Greenbelt. The 31 square-meter store is decorated with aviation-themed Pop Art paintings by American artist Kevin T. Kelly to highlight Breitling’s aeronautical heritage, its technical vocation as a specialist in chronographs, and the brand’s instruments for professionals.

On view at the store is a comprehensive collection of Breitling timepieces, from the classic Navitimer and Chronomat collections to the Breitling for Bentley professional range. There are around 130 Breitling timepieces in numerous versions: from the classic to the more forward-thinking models — which may or may not be futuristic.

The Lucerne man has noticed how the latest models of watch brands such as Breitling are going the minimalist route. He says, “They’re characterized by simple lines, more classic. We hear terms such as ‘homage’ or ‘going back to one’s heritage,’ so I suppose that’s the next phase for the watch industry. Everybody going back to its historical pieces.”

Breitling sales director Peter Wong, who has been in the watch industry for 35 years, agrees. “At the end of the day, our platform is being a chronograph watch specialist.” The pillars of the brand, he adds, are about Breitling being the inventor of the modern chronograph and its authentic association with aviation.

Wong concludes, “We also have this obsession with quality. In every watch that we manufacture, every new model we come up, there are those tiny little details that we always look into.”

Precision, freedom… these are ideas you can fly with.

source: philstar.com

TransAsia Airways plane crashes in typhoon-hit Taiwan, killing 47

TAIPEI - A domestic TransAsia Airways plane crashed on landing on an island off the west coast of typhoon-hit Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 47 people, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said.

The plane, a 70-seat turboprop ATR 72, crashed near the runway with 54 passengers and four crew on board, it said.

"It’s chaotic on the scene," CAA director Jean Shen told Reuters.

Eleven injured people had been taken to hospital, the government said.

Authorities said TransAsia Airways flight GE222 crashed near Magong airport on one of the outlying Penghu islands, also known as the Pescadores, after having requested a second attempt to land.

Television images showed firefighters working at site of the mangled wreckage and soldiers on the scene.

There were conflicting reports of the death toll from officials and local media.

"Fifty-one people are feared dead and seven people injured," the Civil Aeronautics Administration's Shen Chi initially told reporters.

The island's local fire chief put the death toll at 45 while media reports said 47 were killed.

"The control tower lost contact with the aircraft soon after they requested a go-around (second attempt to land)," Shen told reporters.

It was flying from Kaohsiung and had been delayed due to bad weather, according to Shen.

Typhoon Matmo slammed into Taiwan on Wednesday with heavy rains and strong winds, shutting financial markets and schools, and leaving at least nine people injured.

TransAsia Airways is a Taiwan-based airline with a fleet of around 23 Airbus and ATR aircraft, flying chiefly on domestic routes, but with some flights to Japan, Thailand and Cambodia among its Asian destinations.

Apart from Wednesday's event, Taiwan's aviation safety council says TransAsia has had a total of 8 incidents since 2002, including 6 involving the ATR 72.

source: interaksyon.com

Angry kin of Chinese passengers on MH370 march on Malaysian embassy

BEIJING -- Scores of angry relatives of the Chinese passengers aboard Flight MH370 set out on a protest march to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing Tuesday to demand more answers about the crashed plane's fate.

Around 200 family members, some in tears, linked arms and shouted slogans including "The Malaysian government are murderers" and "We want our relatives back."

The embassy is about four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Lido Hotel, where meetings have been taking place throughout the drama.


A new chapter opened late on Monday when Malaysia said the plane had crashed in the Indian Ocean.

Chinese authorities normally keep a very tight rein on any protests in Beijing.

Scores of black-clad uniformed police officers were blocking traffic at the diplomatic mission, their walkie-talkies abuzz.

A relative who refused to give his name, but who has been one of the unofficial leaders of the Flight MH370 group, told AFP that the police "would have known" about the demonstration.

"We are still discussing with the police what we are going to do," he told AFP. "Maybe they are preparing for us to arrive."

Earlier, the relatives boarded large shuttle buses bringing them from various hotels to the Lido, intending to take them to the diplomatic mission, but dozens of police surrounded the vehicles and prevented them from driving off, leading them to march instead.

"We are going to protest at the Malaysian embassy," one man told AFP as he joined some 200 other relatives to board the buses at the hotel where they had gathered throughout the 17-day ordeal.

One family member was holding a loudspeaker and urging journalists to head to the embassy, while others stood in a group, somber and motionless, many holding pre-prepared printed placards and wearing "Pray for MH370" T-shirts.

"We want our families," read one placard. Others read "Son: mother and father's heart is broken, hurry home" and "Husband, hurry home. What am I and our son going to do?"

The protest did not appear to be spontaneous, as at least a dozen police cars were waiting nearby at the Lido.

The officers were standing in a row behind a sign reading: "Traffic restrictions, vehicles take a circular route." A policeman refused to say why the traffic restrictions had been imposed when asked by an AFP reporter.

The move to protest outside the embassy came hours after relatives reacted with grief and anguish as Malaysia confirmed their worst fears about the flight.

In dramatic scenes at the Lido Hotel, stretcher-bearing paramedics were drafted in to tend to family members devastated by the news, with at least two people carried out.

China has demanded that Kuala Lumpur hand over the satellite data that led it to conclude that the Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight crashed at sea and that none of the 239 people aboard survived.

Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese.

source: interaksyon.com

Flying car spreads its wings in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA - Mankind's primordial dream of flight is taking off with a new twist as a Slovak prototype of a flying car spreads its wings.

Inspired by the dreamy books about flying by French authors Jules Verne and Antoine de Saint Exupery, Slovak designer and engineer Stefan Klein has been honing his flying machine since the early 1990s.

"I got the idea to start working on a vehicle of the future at university, but honestly, who hasn't dreamt of flying while being stuck in the traffic?" Klein told AFP.

"Flying's in my blood -- my grandfather and my father flew ultra-light aircrafts and I got my pilot's license before I was old enough to drive a car," said Klein, who has designed cars for BMW, Volkswagen, and Audi and now teaches at the Bratislava-based Academy of Fine Arts and Design.

His elegant blue-and-white vehicle for two is six meters (20 feet) long so it fits neatly in a parking space or a garage and tanks up at any filling station. But once it reaches an airport it can unfold its wings within seconds becoming a plane.

Dubbed "the world's prettiest and best-designed airborne automobile so far" by US aviation magazine Flying and Inhabitat.com design, an innovation website, the Aeromobil also has the distinction of originating in Slovakia, the world's largest per-capita car producer.

"So far there have been about twenty attempts to manufacture a flying car around the globe," the president of the Slovak Ultra Light Aviation Federation, Milan Ciba, told AFP.

"Among them, Aeromobil appears very viable," he said.

'Make their lives easier'

Other models include the US-based Terrafugia's "Transition" flying car expected to be launched on the market within a year, while the helicopter-type Dutch PAL-V gyrocopter could go on sale in this year.

Klein's dream took to the skies in September when he piloted the Aeromobil during its first wobbly test flight.

Once airborne, the it can reach a top speed of 200km/h (124 mph) and travel as far as 700 km (430 miles), consuming 15 liters (4 gallons) of petrol per hour.

"A combination of a car and a plane will always lose against the competition when we start comparing energy consumption," Jan Lesinsky from the Slovak University of Technology told AFP.

But would-be users could glide by long lines and security checks at airports, saving time on medium-distance journeys.

Klein and his team are currently working on the next generation of Aeromobil that will go into production in a few months and hopefully receive Slovak Ultra Light Aircraft Certification (SFUL).

"Would-be users would have to follow the legislation already in place for ultra light aircraft," SFUL president Federation Milan Ciba told AFP.

"Pilot/drivers will need to have both a driver's and pilot's licence with at least 25 flying hours," he added.

An enthusiastic pilot himself, Klein remains down to earth when looking to the future.

"I don't expect Aeromobil to go into mass production, it will always be an alternative means of transport," Klein said.

"It can, however, be very interesting for countries with vast areas lacking infrastructure like Russia, China, or Australia," he added.

Flying cars will most likely take off among pilots licensed for ultra-light aircraft, says Ciba.

"It would make their lives so much easier -- they would be able to park their car/aircraft at home, drive to the airport, take off, land and drive to their destination without switching vehicles," he muses.

source: interaksyon.com