Article by Belén Morant, Media: Airbus Helicopters; Jonny Carroll; DTX Media
Tim Ochsner, Chief Pilot of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), explains the key to the success of the SAREX (search and rescue exercise)
When it comes to offering an adequate, effective and rapid response to natural disasters there’s no room for improvisation, particularly when a number of different agencies are involved. Tim Ochsner, Chief Pilot of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), explains the key to the success of the SAREX (search and rescue exercise) conducted by more than 20 different agencies since 2015, which has now established itself as the benchmark for rescue training in the US.
How did the need arise to organise rescue training on such a large scale as SAREX?
In 2011, the state of Texas had huge problems with wildfires, and the following years we had two major floods. All the agencies equipped with aerial capability for these kinds of situations were involved: the Army with their Lakotas, our local EMS agencies, the Austin Police Department with their H125 and San Antonio Police Department with an H125 as well…
We all quickly formed a team and worked together out of necessity due to the flooding. We didn’t have time to set much up – we just did it.
After those events, we thought we needed to come up with a better plan for training, establish a communication plan and standard operating procedures. We had to establish a cooperation framework that was independent to the parties we tend to work with, because at the end of the day these things can change. That’s how the SAREX exercise came about.
The logo of IndiGo Airlines is pictured on passenger aircraft on the tarmac in Colomiers near Toulouse
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s air safety watchdog said IndiGo must do more to fix its aircraft fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines, linked to in-flight shutdowns, as it fears the budget airline may not meet its Jan. 31 deadline to replace them.
Deliveries of new planes taken by IndiGo must be used to replace the aircraft that are fitted with the problem Pratt engines, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Monday. Those planes should then be grounded until their engines are replaced with new ones, after which they can fly again.
Indigo is the biggest customer of Airbus A320neo jets.
The regulator’s move effectively prevents India’s top airline from expanding its network until it has replaced all the Pratt & Whitney engines.
United Technologies’ Pratt & Whitney engines have consistently caused issues since they entered into service in 2016, forcing IndiGo to ground its planes several times.
In a recent review meeting with the airline, the DGCA felt that the steps taken by IndiGo so far to replace all the engines “do not instil enough confidence with regard to the timely completion of the said task”.
“If left unaddressed, we may find ourselves in a situation, in which, we remain saddled with large number of aircraft with unmodified engines … and we are left with the only option i.e. to ground them,” the regulator said in the statement.
On Nov. 1 the regulator had ordered the airline to replace all P&W engines on its fleet of almost 100 twin-engined Airbus A320neo family aircraft with new power units by Jan. 31, 2020.
If the replacement is not complete, all planes that still have unmodified engines will be grounded and could cause “large scale disruptions” in operations. The latest directive is aimed at preventing such a situation, the DGCA said.
IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, said the current schedule remains intact, and it is working with P&W and Airbus to meet the DGCA guidelines.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah, editing by Louise Heavens)
PARIS/ZURICH (Reuters) – U.S. engine maker Pratt & Whitney faces new checks on engines for small jetliners after an engine failure forced a Geneva-bound Swiss jet to divert to Paris and prompted a brief grounding of the rest of the airline’s Airbus A220 fleet.
French air crash investigators classified the problem that disrupted the Swiss flight shortly after departure from London Heathrow on Tuesday as a “serious incident” and said it would be investigated by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
It was the third engine incident involving the same airline and model of jet in as many months and resulted in a small amount of debris being scattered as the aircraft landed at Paris Charles de Gaulle, an airport source told Reuters.
It came just hours after France’s BEA agency launched an unusual appeal for 150 volunteers to scour an uninhabited wood in eastern France for a titanium engine part dating from the first blowout in July, which affected a Geneva-London flight.
A second incident in September caused a Swiss A220 to divert to Geneva, but on that occasion the engine’s housing contained fragments torn loose from the engine, the BEA said.
Swiss, owned by Germany’s Lufthansa <DLAKY>, said after Tuesday’s incident it had initially grounded its fleet of Airbus <EADSY> A220 jets for a “comprehensive inspection” of their engines.
Late on Tuesday, it said the first aircraft had already returned to service but that the inspections had forced it to cancel 100 flights, affecting 10,000 passengers.
Operations are expected to return to normal from Thursday.
ADDITIONAL CHECKS
Tuesday’s incident highlighted scrutiny of the performance of new-generation Geared Turbofan engines developed by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp <UTX>.
A spokesman for the engine maker said it was recommending additional checks for versions of the engine that power the Airbus A220 – an engine known as the PW1500G – and a rival Brazilian jet, the Embraer 190/195-E2.
A similar engine for the larger A320neo family, Airbus’ most-sold aircraft, was not affected.
“Pratt & Whitney and our airframe OEMs (manufacturers), working in coordination with the regulatory authorities, have recommended additional inspections of the low-pressure compressor for PW1500G and PW1900G engines to keep the fleet operational,” a spokesman said.
“The engines continue to meet all criteria for continued airworthiness. We are working closely with our customers to minimise disruption to their operations.”
Prompted by the earlier incidents in July and September, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections on the same engine part in A220s and some Embraer jets in September.
On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines <DAL> said its A220 jets were flying as normal.
Air Baltic, which also flies the A220, said it was closely following Pratt’s latest recommendations but that it used a different version of the PW1500G engine from Swiss.
A total of 90 of the 110-130-seat A220 aircraft have been delivered, initially by Canada’s Bombardier <BDRBF> which designed the carbon-fibre jet, and later by Airbus, which bought the loss-making programme last year.
Airbus said it was working with Pratt & Whitneyand would co-operate with any investigation.
In Brazil, Embraer <ERJ> had no immediate comment.
The company uses Pratt’s PW1900G engine in larger versions of its upgraded 80-120-seat E2 jets.
It has delivered six E190-E2 planes split between Norwegian carrier Wideroe and lessor Aercap <AER>, and one E195-E2, which is not yet in commercial service but has been delivered to Brazilian airline Azul SA <AZUL>.
Azul said its operations were not affected.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, John Revill in Zurich, Michael Shields in Vienna, Marcelo Rochabrun in Sao Paulo, Allison Lampert in Montreal, Laurence Frost in Paris; Editing by Jane Merriman and Matthew Lewis)
(Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Tuesday its deliveries fell about 37% to 239 planes in the first half of 2019, hurt by the grounding of its best-selling 737 MAX jets, putting it on track to lose the world’s biggest planemaker title after eight years.
Boeing’s deliveries lagged those of European rival Airbus SE, which handed over as many as 389 planes in the same period, up 28% from a year earlier, according to sources.
A new problem identified with the grounded MAX jets last month has delayed the aircraft’s entry into service until at least the end of September, disrupting schedules for airline operators and possibly adding to costs for Boeing.
The American planemaker’s net orders for the first six months was in the negative, with a total of minus 119 net orders. Boeing had minus 125 net orders as of the end of May.
Deliveries of the MAX aircraft were stopped in March, a few days after an Ethiopian Airlines crash killed all 157 people on board. Since then, Boeing has not reported any new order for the MAX planes.
Last month, British Airways-owner IAG signed a letter of intent to order 200 MAXs.
Boeing shares were down 0.5% at $349.4 in morning trade.
(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Anil D’Silva)
Six passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries on November 9th, when a Fly Jamaica Boeing 757 made an emergency landing at the Georgetown, Guyana international airport. The aircraft reported technical problems with the plane’s hydraulic system as it climbed through 19,000 feet on its way from Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Georgetown, Guyana to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The airplane was carrying 120 passengers and eight crew, and requested permission to return to Guyana shortly after take-off, Guyana officials stated. The plane reportedly overshot the runway upon landing at approximately 2:53 a.m. local time. The runway had recently been extended, an airport official stated.
The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority has launched an investigation, with the assistance of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Officials from Boeing are also looking into the incident. The aircrafts right under carriage collapsed after the aircraft ran off the runway, causing severe damage to the airframe.
You can view a summary of the incident at the Youtube video link below!
