Air France jet 'seconds from disaster' after autopilot fails in drama with chilling echoes of Brazil crash

An Air France jet was just seconds from nose-diving to disaster after the autopilot failed during 'extreme turbulence' over the South Atlantic Ocean. The high-altitude alert in July chillingly echoed the cockpit chaos that preceded the fatal crash of an Air France Rio-Paris flight two years earlier, in which all 228 passengers died. In the latest drama, the autopilot shut down as the plane hit a storm at 35,000 feet while flying from Venezuelan capital Caracas to Paris. Read more:… (www.dailymail.co.uk) さらに...

Lasers causing havoc for pilots in record numbers

There's a laser light show taking place in the skies over America. It's cheap. It's easy. But most of all, authorities say, it's dangerous. That's because those laser beams are being aimed at planes and helicopters in record numbers. In fact, so far this year lasers have been aimed at aircraft an average of nine times a night, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It has grown to be such a problem that in June, the FAA imposed a civil penalty of $11,000 for… (www.orlandosentinel.com) さらに...

Cessna Announces New Citation M2

WICHITA, Kansas -- Cessna has unveiled it's latest business jet to soon hit the market. Cessna president and CEO Scott Earnest gives a sales pitch to customers getting the first look at the company's newest jet. It’s called the Citation M2, a mix between the Mustang and the Citation CJ aircraft. Company officials say customers have been waiting on such a plane. "We've taken a lot of customer feedback and incorporated that into a new version of our Mustang and basically had… (www.ksn.com) さらに...

Bid on eBay for seats on first Boeing 787 commercial flights

Want to secure a spot on the first commercial flights of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner? All you have to do is outbid everyone else in this eBay charity auction. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the first 787 to launch customer All Nippon Airways on Monday. The first commercial flight is scheduled to be a charter run from Tokyo Narita airport to Hong Kong on Oct. 26, returning to Narita the following day. The auction package includes two business-class tickets on both flights and accommodation at… (blog.seattlepi.com) さらに...

Boeing starts building 35 737s a month‎

Boeing Tuesday started final assembly of its mainstay 737 aircraft at a new rate of 35 a month, up from 31.5, the company announced. The new rate started with loading of chords and webs into a new automated spar assembly tool, which then joined the parts to make a spar — the main support structure for the wings of the single-aisle jet. “The start of spar assembly today demonstrates the progress the 737 team has made,” Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager of the 737 program, said in a… (blog.seattlepi.com) さらに...

Know Your Rights: Photographers

Photography at the airport Photography has also served as an important check on government power in the airline security context. The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) acknowledges that photography is permitted in and around airline security checkpoints as long as you're not interfering with the screening process. The agency does ask that its security monitors not be photographed, though it is not clear whether they have any legal basis for such a restriction when the monitors are… (www.aclu.org) さらに...

Iconic Pan Am may fly again in TV drama

(CNN) -- You can't fly it anymore or see its famous logo at the airport, but the airline that came to symbolize the glamour of the heady early days of air travel is a hot commodity once again. Pan American Airways -- known to travelers around the world simply as Pan Am -- may be heading to the small screen as the setting for a nighttime drama about flight attendants working for the iconic carrier in the 1960s, when flying was the domain of the rich and famous. The characters are fictional,… (www.cnn.com) さらに...

Japan ATC worker posts Obama flight plan - faces punishment

TOKYO—A news report says an air traffic controller at Tokyo's Haneda Airport is facing possible punishment after posting confidential information on his blog, including the flight plan for President Barack Obama's visit to Japan last year. Kyodo News agency says the controller also posted the flight plan for an unmanned American reconnaissance plane that was sent to gather data from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. All the images have since been deleted. It says the… (www.boston.com) さらに...

Gulfstream G650, G280 make headway

Gulfstream Aerospace announced that its newest, biggest offering—the large-cabin G650—continues to make progress toward its anticipated 2012 certification. Four airplanes are now in the final phases of flight test, and the airplane’s predicted range performance ( 5,000 nautical miles at normal cruise power; 7,000 nm at long-range cruise power) has been confirmed. In addition, an electrically-powered backup flight control system has been successfully demonstrated. This system provides a third… (www.aopa.org) さらに...

Vrigin boss Richard Branson picks up keys to $209m spaceport

NEARLY a year after British billionaire Richard Branson was in southern New Mexico for the dedication of the runway at Spaceport America, he's back to get the keys to the newly completed terminal and hangar facility so his Virgin Galactic can begin its commercial space tourism venture. Branson and Gov. Susana Martinez were among the officials gathered today to dedicate the world's first built-from-scratch launch station for sending people and payloads into space. Clad with custom metal… (www.theaustralian.com.au) さらに...