Two ATRs to be part of the permanent exhibition as early as 2020
A spectacular operation took place from the 26 – 30 August, centred around Aeroscopia: five aircraft were delivered in convoy to the aeronautical museum, where they will be on public display as of next year. Those five aircraft included the third ATR to come off our assembly lines, an ATR 42, and our penultimate prototype, an ATR 72, offered to the museum run by Toulouse Métropole.
Dozens of people, officers from the gendarmerie and police officers, employees of Blagnac city council and Manatour – the firm that operates Aeroscopia – plus staff from Airbus and ATR, worked as a team for five days to carry out this mission successfully: a unique task on an unprecedented scale. All roads around the museum had to be closed for an entire working week, but even more overwhelmingly, one of the five aircraft was an A380, requiring a military-style preparation of the route and the utmost precision on the big day.
The operation was a resounding success. Put the date in your diaries: in 2020, the entire ATR family will be among the treasure trove of aeronautical masterpieces on display at Aeroscopia!
WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (Reuters) – An American Airlines mechanic was on Thursday charged with purposely damaging an aircraft in July amid a dispute between the airline and its mechanics union involving stalled contract negotiations.
Pilots of a flight from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas on July 17 aborted take-off plans after receiving an error message involving the flight computer, which reports speed, pitch and other data, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court of Southern Florida.
It said after returning to the gate for maintenance, a mechanic discovered a loosely connected pitot tube that measures airspeed and connects directly to the flight computer.
A later review of video surveillance footage before the flight captured “what appears to be the sabotage of the aircraft” by a man walking with a limp, the complaint said.
When suspect Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani was interviewed, he told law enforcement he was upset at the stalled contract between the union and American, which he said had affected him financially, according to the complaint. It said Alani claimed to have tampered with the aircraft to cause a delay or have the flight canceled in anticipation of obtaining overtime work.
Unions have complained that American is trying to outsource more maintenance jobs, a move American has indicated is necessary to cover increased wages.
A U.S. federal court last month issued a permanent injunction against American’s mechanics union, which the airline had accused of illegal slowdowns it said had devastated its operations during the peak summer travel season.
A spokesman for American said the airline had an “unwavering commitment” to safety and security and had placed passengers on the July 17 flight subject to the criminal complaint on another plane to get to their destination.
“At the time of the incident, the aircraft was taken out of service, maintenance was performed and after an inspection to ensure it was safe the aircraft was returned to service,” the spokesman said. “American immediately notified federal law enforcement who took over the investigation with our full cooperation.”
The Miami Herald reported that Alani is set to make an initial court appearance on Friday. Court records did not indicate if Alani had an attorney.
The U.S. federal court order last month prohibits employees from “calling, permitting, instigating, authorizing, encouraging, participating in, approving, or continuing any form of disruption to or interference with American’s airline operations,” including a refusal to accept overtime or complete any maintenance repairs in the normal course of work.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Writing by Jamie Freed; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
