The first flight of the fourth GlobalEye is an important milestone in Saab’s Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) program and highlights that Saab can rapidly and reliably deliver GlobalEye.
The Saab (OTC: SAABF) aircraft took to the skies from Saab’s airfield in Linköping, Sweden on April 03, 2023 and performed several tests related to the aircraft’s capabilities.
GlobalEye is the most modern multi-domain Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) solution with an array of active and passive sensors that provide long-range detection and identification of objects in air, at sea and over land.
By providing real-time information to units in air forces, armies and navies, GlobalEye enables enhanced situational awareness of the surrounding areas and early detection of threats. It can also be used for non-military tasks such as leading and coordinating rescue missions during natural disasters or larger accidents at sea or on land.
Last week, an Icelandair (Iceland: ICEAIR.IC) Boeing 767 (TF-ISN), landed at Troll airfield (QAT) at the Troll research station operated by the Norwegian Polar Institute in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. The flight was operated by Loftleiðir (Icelandair’s charter-flight subsidiary) to offload provisions for the research station’s staff who will remain at Troll this winter, and to pick up scientists returning to Norway after their summer service. Some of the scientists had been at Troll for 16 months and were happy to be heading home.
The flight
The journey involved a lot of planning due to the unique conditions, and involved 6 pilots, 13 crew and 1 flight engineer.
From Keflavík airport in Iceland, the plane flew nonstop to Cape Town, South Africa, where it paused for a rest and refueling stop. Some of the team stayed in Cape Town and the remainder flew 4,332km south to Troll in 5 hours and 43 minutes.
After a 2-hour layover at Troll, the aircraft returned with the Norwegian passengers to Cape Town, picked up the fresh crew, and continued on to Oslo, then home to Iceland.
According to flight commander August Hakansson, landing conditions at Troll were far better than forecast. And the worst weather of the entire trip was upon the return to Keflavík!
The flight route was so unusual that it attracted worldwide attention from aviation fans and media, including over 30,000 followers on Flightradar. And although it might seem crazy, this isn’t Icelandair’s first time in the Deep South – back in 2015, Icelandair became the first commercial airline to land a plane on a blue-ice runway in Antarctica.
FRANKFURT, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s Chief Executive Herbert Diess on Monday sought to quell speculation that the world’s largest carmaker, which is on a mass production push for electric cars, has plans to develop deeper ties with start-up rival Tesla.
Diess met with Tesla’s Chief Executive Elon Musk in Braunschweig, Germany, last week, and during his visit VW let Musk drive its new ID.3 electric car.
“Just to be clear: We just drove the ID.3 and had a chat – there is no deal/cooperation in the making,” Diess said in a post on Linkedin which included a video of the two executives driving the vehicle on an airfield.
“Thanks for the visit, Elon! Hope you like the video. It was great driving the ID.3 with you! You were just quite critical with the available torque at higher speed. I told you: “Yes, we are on the runway – but no need for take off – its not a sports car.”
(Reuters) – Teams combing the wreckage of a Hawaii sightseeing helicopter that crashed on Kauai island found no sign of survivors on Friday and recovered six sets of human remains before suspending the search due to bad weather, police and fire officials said.
The grim announcement came in a news conference almost 24 hours after the aircraft, first reported missing on Thursday evening, went down in a remote area of rugged terrain near the end of a tour flight over the island’s famed Na Pali Coast.
The crash was at least the ninth, and by far the deadliest, involving sightseeing helicopters in Hawaii over the past five years, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) records.
The confirmed manifest of the ill-fated aircraft, flown by Kauai-based tour operator Safari Helicopters, consisted of six passengers, two of them children, and one pilot, Kauai County fire battalion chief Solomon Kanoho told reporters.
The identities of the dead were being kept confidential until next of kin could be notified, authorities said.
“We are heartbroken by this tragedy and we continue to ask the public to consider the sensitive nature of this devastating situation,” Mayor Derek Kawakami said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of all victims during this extremely difficult time.”
The Kauai fire department called off its search-and-recovery efforts late Friday afternoon due to fog and poor visibility but planned to resume the operation at daybreak on Saturday, Kanoho said.
Although the remains of just six of the seven people who were aboard the ill-fated aircraft have been recovered, Kanoho added: “There are no indications of survivors.”
TOURISTS FROM TWO FAMILIES
Kanoho previously said the passengers on board the helicopter had been in two groups – a party of two from one family and a party of four from another.
Kanoho declined to describe details of the wreckage out of respect for the victims’ loved ones.
While the cause of the crash has yet to be determined, Kanoho said the area where the helicopter went down had experienced “some very bad weather” beforehand, adding that the chopper had crashed within its prescribed flight route.
The NTSB, which said it was sending a three-member team to investigate the crash, reported in May that there had been eight accidents involving Hawaii tour helicopters over the past five years, with four deaths and 18 injuries.
The agency made that report after a tour helicopter went down in a residential neighborhood on the island of Oahu in April, killing three people.
The latest crash was in Koke’e State Park in an area called Nu’alolo, a steep-sided valley north of Waimea Canyon State Park, according to a statement posted by the Kauai police department on Facebook.
Waimea Canyon is a tourist destination known as the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” and police said the helicopter was last heard from at about 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, when the pilot radioed that the aircraft was just departing that area.
A search was launched a short time later, after Safari alerted authorities that the helicopter was 30 minutes overdue on its flight back to the airfield in Lihue on the island’s southeast end, officials said.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter vessel and helicopter search crew were immediately dispatched. The search was expanded at daybreak on Friday to include air, sea and ground teams from the Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, police, fire department and other agencies.
The missing aircraft was equipped with an electronic locator beacon, but no signals were received after it disappeared, the Coast Guard said.
According to its website, Safari offers aerial sightseeing excursions to Kauai’s major attractions over the Na Pali Coast and Waimea Canyon. The Na Pali Coast, known for jagged green cliffs laced with towering waterfalls, is one of the most visited attractions on Kauai, the fourth-largest island in the Hawaiian chain.
Reporting by Maria Caspani and Peter Szekely in New York and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Leslie Adler
Airline renews fleet with turboprop featuring cutting-edge avionics for performance in challenging conditions
Toulouse, 22 October, 2019 – Bhutanese national flag-carrier Drukair today took delivery of its brand new ATR 42-600 aircraft. The latest-generation turboprop aircraft, which will be used on the airline’s domestic and international routes, was chosen for its outstanding operational performance in challenging conditions. The airline’s ATR serves small airports in the Himalayan Mountains and links Bhutan with Kathmandu, Kolkata and Dhaka. Through the introduction of the -600 series’ latest generation Standard 3 avionics suite, Drukair will benefit from RNP AR 0.3/0.3 which further enhances airfield accessibility and operational performance. Drukair’s ATR is equipped with the ClearVision™ system, which will provide pilots with outstanding vision and situational awareness. The aircraft will feature a very comfortable 40-seat cabin with generous pitch and stowage.
Tandi Wangchuk, Chief Executive Officer of Drukair said: “We have been flying an ATR aircraft since 2011, its versatility and operational reliability have made it the ideal aircraft. When evaluating how to improve on this performance, it makes sense to upgrade to the latest-generation and we look forward to introducing these evolutions to our passengers. Particularly the modern Armonia cabin which will provide even more comfort to everyone on board.”
ATR Chief Executive Officer, Stefano Bortoli said: “There are few things more satisfying than seeing a loyal customer renew and upgrade its ATR fleet. This delivery once more shows the impact of our policy of continuous development which ensures that when we introduce new products and innovations, they offer real quality and value to our family of operators. Delivering regional connectivity in the challenging operational conditions of Bhutan and its neighbouring countries takes a special aircraft and the ATR 42‑600 is the perfect fit.”
ATR’s market estimates forecast that 1,200 30-50 seat aircraft will soon need to be replaced as older and inefficient aircraft come to the end of their lives. The ATR 42-600 is the ideal and modern solution to cater for this need and ensure that essential connectivity is maintained for local communities all over the world.
Saab today completed a successful first flight with the first Brazilian Gripen E fighter aircraft, 39-6001. At 2.41 pm CET on August 26, the Gripen E aircraft took off on its maiden flight flown by Saab test pilot Richard Ljungberg. The aircraft operated from Saab´s airfield in Linköping, Sweden.
The duration of the flight was 65 minutes and included test points to verify basic handling and flying qualities at different altitudes and speeds. The main purpose was to verify that the aircraft behavior was according to expectations.
“This milestone is a testament to the great partnership between Sweden and Brazil. Less than five years since the contract was signed, the first Brazil Gripen has conducted her first flight,” says Håkan Buskhe, President and CEO of Saab.
This aircraft is the first Brazilian production aircraft and will be used in the joint test program as a test aircraft. The main differences compared to the previous test aircraft are that 39-6001 has a totally new cockpit layout, with a large Wide Area Display (WAD), two small Head Down Displays (sHDD) and a new Head Up Display (HUD). Another major difference is an updated flight control system with updated control laws for Gripen E. It also includes modifications both in hardware and software.
“For me as a pilot it has been a great honour to fly the first Brazilian Gripen E aircraft as I know how much this means for the Brazilian Air Force and everyone at Saab and our Brazilian partners. The flight was smooth and the aircraft behaved just as we have seen in the rigs and simulators. This was also the first time we flew with the Wide Area Display in the cockpit, and I am happy to say that my expectations were confirmed,” says Saab test pilot Richard Ljungberg.
39-6001 will now join the test programme for further envelope expansion as well as testing of tactical system and sensors.
39-6001 will be designated F-39 in the Brazilian Air Force and will have the tail number 4100.
(Reuters) – Eleven passengers and crew were killed on Friday evening when their plane crashed near an airfield in Hawaii, authorities said, during what broadcasters said was a skydiving trip.
The twin-engine King Air plane, with eleven people onboard, went down soon after takeoff from Dillingham Airfield and there were no survivors, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) said.
The fire service said the aircraft was engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived. “We are still gathering information as to the intent of the flight and what they were doing,” Honolulu Fire Department Chief Manuel Neves told a news conference.
The news report said the plane was on a skydiving excursion and the Federal Aviation Administration would investigate the crash.
The HDOT said Federal inspectors are continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.
Dillingham is a joint-use airfield operated by the HDOT under a 25-year lease from the U.S. army, according to its website.
Two Apple Creek men died Monday morning when the plane they were flying crashed in front of a house shortly after taking off from a nearby private airfield.
Officials from the Ohio State Highway Patrol believe one of the cargo plane’s two engines failed, which may have caused the crash.
