Aircraft News - North America

AirGuide Business, May 5, 2008

Boeing

Boeing last Friday said it moved the 787 static test airframe from its Everett final assembly facility to its nearby structural test rig. Some assembly remains and will be completed concurrently with test set-up, the manufacturer said. Assembly on the third 787 will begin this week. Apr 29, 2008

Boeing

FAA issues directive for Boeing 737 operators The FAA has issued an airworthiness directive requesting that 737 operators perform repetitive inspections, lubrications and repairs to the horizontal stabilizer trim actuators on the planes. The FAA said the steps are necessary to prevent possible loss-of-control accidents. Apr 30, 2008

Cessna, McCall Municipal Airport

A Cessna 172 aircraft struck another craft as it was landing at an Idaho airport, killing three people and injuring three, including a 2-year-old pulled from the burning wreckage by the other survivors, officials said Saturday. The Cessna with two people aboard was landing at the McCall Municipal Airport on Friday night when it struck another plane of the same type with four people aboard, said Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. Both aircraft exploded, he said. Killed were Bill Keating, 52, the pilot of the aircraft that was struck, and two grandsons, ages 1 and 6, McCall police and fire officials said in a statement. Another grandson, 2, was flown to the University of Utah Burn Center in critical condition, the statement said. The pilot of the landing aircraft, Justin Mooney, 30, and passenger Mark Fuller, 27, pulled the 2-year-old from the burning plane, the statement said. They were treated and released from McCall Memorial Hospital, a nursing supervisor said Saturday. Mooney and Fuller had taken off from Felts Field at Spokane, Wash., Gregor said. The McCall airport, which has no air traffic control tower, remained closed Saturday while federal authorities investigated. May 2, 2008

Continental Express

Continental Express flight to Baltimore, queue up at Newark, N.J., for the 8:10 a.m., and you may be startled to find what many people consider a throwback to the 1970s: a plane driven by propellers, not jet engines. Get ready for more of them. The soaring cost of fuel is rapidly reshaping the landscape for regional flights at many airlines, leading to interest in a new generation of turboprop planes. Most of the props are being deployed on trips of less than 500 miles. Beyond that, the economic advantages of a small jet kick in. For example, turboprops are now used heavily on routes such as Newark to Toronto; Seattle to Portland, Ore.; and San Jose, Calif., to Boise, Idaho. The two main beneficiaries of this trend are Montreal's Bombardier and the French-Italian aerospace joint venture ATR. Alaska Air Group's (ALK) regional subsidiary, Horizon Air, announced on Apr. 24 that it would convert its entire fleet to Bombardier's 76-seat Q400 prop within two years. "Through its combination of passenger comfort, speed, and efficiency, the Q400 is the best aircraft for the majority of our markets," Horizon Air President and Chief Executive Jeff Pinneo said in a prepared statement. Apr 30, 2008