The U.S. and the EU plan to meet in Brussels March 22 for what they hope will be the last round of open-skies talks

NASA-funded study says it could aid use of advanced short-runway airliners, large commercial tiltrotors

10 MAR 2010
The crew of a Ryanair flight to Altenburg, Germany was forced to divert to Berlin because there was no air traffic controller present at the airport, according to a report by the German “Ostthüringer Zeitung” newspaper. On Sunday March 7, 2010 Ryanair flight FR 8926 departed London-Stansted Airport (STN/EGSS) airport on a flight to Altenburg Nobitz Airport (AOC/EDAC). The flight, carrying about 180 passengers, was scheduled to arrive at 09:45 but the crew were not able to contact the Altenburg controller. The crew decided to divert to Berlin-Schönefeld Airport (SXF/EDDB). The absence of an air traffic controller in the tower was due to an error in staff scheduling, according to a spokesman of “The Tower Company”, the Air Navigation Service Provider at Altenburg. The flight was carried out by Boeing 737-8AS, registered EI-DAN. (Ostthüringer Zeitung)

10 MAR 2010
The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism reprimanded Skymark Airlines for replacing a captain who refused to take off over safety concerns, The Mainichi Daily News reported. In a press release, the Ministry reported that the captain of Skymark Airlines flight BC017 asked the company’s headquarters on February 5, 2010 to replace the chief cabin attendant who he judged unable to deal with a possible emergency during the flight. The chief cabin attendant reportedly suffered from a cold. The flight was due to depart Tokyo-Haneda Airport (HND/RJTT) on a domestic flight to Fukuoka Airport (FUK/RJFF). Company officials ordered the captain to accomplish the flight without changing the chief cabin attendant, but he refused to do so. Skymark then ordered another captain on standby to take over the flight and fired the original captain the same day. Skymark was given a written reprimand by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on March 9, 2010. Flight BC017 was carried out by a Boeing 737-86N, registered JA737K. (The Mainichi Daily News, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism )

10 MAR 2010
Two Ukrainian crew members were not allowed to carry out a flight from Simferopol to Kiev because their blood-alcohol concentration was above legal limits. The Ukraine Ministry of Transport and Communications reported in a news release that the level of alcohol in the flight engineer’s blood was 0.75 pro mil and that of flight attendant 0.57 pro mil, with the maximum legal amount being 0.2 pro mil. The crew were supposed to operate a Dnieproavia/Donbassaero Yakovlev 42 on March 9, 2010, on flight UDN398 from Simferopol Airport (SIP/UKFF) to Kiev-Borispol Airport (KBP/UKBB). In a statement, Donbassaero claimed it was unreasonable to subject this crew to an alcohol test at 11:00 because of the time between the test and the intended departure time. Under mandatory rest requirements, the flight could take place no earlier than midday, according to Donbassaero. (Ukraine Ministry of Transport and Communications)

Boeing flew its second 787 to California, the first time the aircraft has left Washington state

FAA revised its forecast to reflect slower demand recovery than previously expected

One issue being looked at is whether to use the reengining opportunity to introduce other changes

Delta is joining JetBlue in asking the U.S. DOT to waive the three-hour tarmac delay rule at New York Kennedy

U.S. Army Major Gen. Robert A. Harding (ret.), is an intelligence specialist with more than 30 years experience

Las Vegas-based carrier's fleet currently consists of MD-80s it paid for in cash

06 MAR 2010
Russian commercial pilots flying for Iranian airlines have to leave the country within two months, according Fars News Agency. "Upon an order from President [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad], the Road and Transport Ministry has set a two-month deadline, after which all Russian pilots must leave the country," the Iranian Minister of Roads and Transportation Hamid Behbahani said. The order was issued by the Iranian President after the accident involving an Ilyushin Il-62 in July 2009. The airplane, flown by a Russian captain, suffered a runway excursion accident after landing at high speed at Mashhad Airport. Sixteen were killed in the accident. (FARS)

Strategy could terminate the carrier's scheduled operations, revive as wet-lease operator for Caribbean Airlines

Rule will allow passengers to leave aircraft after three-hour ground delay; JetBlue cites temporary runway closure

Europeans trying to devise more uniform standard on sharing passenger name record data

05 MAR 2010
On December 25, 2009 a passenger on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 attempted to detonate a small explosive device as the Airbus A330 was descending towards Detroit. The man was subdued and arrested after a safe landing. What damage would have been caused had the bomb exploded? A BBC Two documentary (“How safe are our Skies? Detroit Flight 253“) wanted to answer that question. A controlled experiment was carried out using the same amount of the explosive pentaerythritol (or PETN) allegedly carried by the passenger. All conditions were replicated using a decommissioned Boeing 747 at Kemble, Gloucestershire, England. A video shows the explosion did not rupture the skin of the airplane. Two experts concluded that the quantity of explosive used was nowhere near enough needed to rupture the skin of a passenger plane. The airplane used in the test was probably a 26-year old Boeing 747-267B(SF) registered N2868R. The airplane had been parked at Kemble as of August 2009 after 25 years of service for Cathay Pacific Airlines as VR-HIH and B-HIH. (BBC)

United says federal grants for small community air service could be used to subsidize low-fare competition

Aircraft completed a two-hour flight in a test-flight campaign expected to last 75 hours

04 MAR 2010
The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) released the final report 5X003-0/08 of their investigation into a serious incident involving an Airbus A320 at Hamburg Airport in March 2008. The left wing of the A320 had made contact with the ground during an attempted cross-wind landing. Because of the weather associated with hurricane Emma, on 1 March 2008 Lufthansa Airbus A320 registered D-AIQP left Munich Airport (MUC) on a scheduled flight to Hamburg (HAM) at 12:31 about two hours behind schedule, with a crew of five and 132 passengers. Given the ATIS weather report including wind of 280°/23 kt with gusts of up to 37 kt, during the cruise phase of the flight the crew decided on an approach to Runway 23, the runway then also in use by other traffic. During the approach to land, the aerodrome controller gave several updates on the wind. Immediately prior to touchdown, the wind was reported as 300°/33 kt, gusting up to 47 kt. At the time of the decrab-procedure there was no significant gust. The initial descent was flown by autopilot and the co-pilot assumed manual control from 940 ft above ground. After the aircraft left main landing gear had touched down, the aircraft lifted off again and immediately adopted a left wing down attitude, whereupon the left wingtip touched the ground. The crew initiated a go-around procedure. The aircraft continued to climb under radar guidance to the downwind leg of runway 33, where it landed at 1352 hrs. No aircraft occupants were injured. The aircraft left wingtip suffered damage from contact with the runway. This serious landing incident took place in the presence of a significant crosswind and immediate causes are as follows: * The sudden left wing down attitude was not expected by the crew during the landing and resulted in contact between the wingtip and the ground. * During the final approach to land the tower reported the wind as gusting up to 47 knots, and the aircraft continued the approach. In view of the maximum crosswind demonstrated for landing, a go-around would have been reasonable. The following systematic causes led to this serious incident: * The terminology maximum crosswind demonstrated for landing was not defined in the Operating Manual (OM/A) and in the Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM), Vol. 3, and the description given was misleading. * The recommended crosswind landing technique was not clearly described in the aircraft standard documentation. * The limited effect of lateral control was unknown. (BFU)

Air France-KLM is planning to leave summer capacity unchanged, with an overall ASK reduction of 0.3%