A380 superjumbo flies again

A380 flies again
cAssociated Press

After being grounded for three weeks, the A380 flew again. A Qantas A380 took to the skies on Saturday, November 27, after a midair engine explosion forced the airline to ground its A380s for safety checks. In fact, Qantas replaced 16 of the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines in its four A380s. Two other airlines,  Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa, also conducted safety checks on their A380s which have Trent 900 engines.  

The blowout incident of November 4 was the most serious one involving the A380. Investigation showed that oil leaked out and caught fire, heated the surrounding area which caused parts to disintegrate. The explosion caused flying metal parts to cut the hydraulic and engine control lines in the wing. This in turn caused the loss of control of a second engine, loss of some braking power and fuel leaks. Fortunately, the pilots managed to land the plane safely back to Singapore. Modifications are now being performed by Qantas on the engines of its A380s while two A380s are now back in service.

Meanwhile, Qantas suspended A380 service from its longest-haul flights, from Australia direct to Los Angeles. In these flights, the A380 load more fuel than on other flights. The airline is testing whether extra thrust for takeoff is creating too much stress for the engines. But the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines are certified for takeoff at those higher thrust settings. However, Qantas is conducting its own tests.

Here's the report from Yahoo! News by the Associated Press.

Who's Who in Philippine Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineering?

Here is a post I would like to see being participated by all Filipino graduates, not only of Aeronautical Engineering but also of Aerospace Engineering, who have worked their way up the ladder, filling important positions in the firms, agencies or companies they are working with. I place no strict criteria here for one to be able to be included in the list, except as stated above. I don't restrict the list to registered Aeronautical Engineers only, for I know there are graduates of Aerospace Engineering out there who are doing great; likewise, I would like to include those graduates of Aeronautical Engineering who are unregistered, as long as they meet the minimum criteria.

I welcome any suggestions you would send in, to improve the list. The entry would be the name of the person and his personal background, educational attainment, employment history, trainings and seminars attended, and achievement in the field of Philippine Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineering, if there's any, or any contribution which makes this whole world worth living for.

So let us start. And the first on the list will be...hmmm, the one who suggests this.

B787 Dreamliner, almost there

B787 Dreamliner: you're almost there
fWikipedia

How I wished the Dreamliner to be delivered before the end of this year. But the news is that its initial delivery to All Nippon Airways (ANA) has been pushed back to February 2011. The plane is already three years behind schedule.

The reason is that ZA002, one of six B787 test aircraft, caught an electrical fire on board, filling the aft cabin with smoke, during approach to Laredo, Texas Tuesday, November 9, in its 6-hour test flight. As a result, the aircraft lost primary electrical power but backup systems performed as expected, including the deployment of ram air turbine (RAT).

Upon initial inspection, Boeing found out that a power control panel in the aft electronics bay has to be replaced. During the time of the incident, the technical team was monitoring the nitrogen generation system (NGS) but they do not suspect it as the cause of the fire.

Updates from Boeing stated that it was the P100 electrical panel that led to a fire involving an insulation blanket. Fortunately, the fire self-extinguished once the fault in the panel had cleared. The P100 panel is the power distribution center of power coming from the left engine. In case of failure, backup systems will activate.

The Dreamliner was launched in April 2004 and test flight began in December 2009. It has suffered delays due to various problems, such as the international production of parts by suppliers and the aircraft stabilizers. However, the fire incident is the most serious since flight testing began.

Boeing claims that the Dreamliner would be able to make a 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption as compared to similar airplanes, like the B767. This is one of the main selling points of the aircraft, together with composite essentially making 50% of the aircraft by weight and 80% by volume. Todate, it has 847 orders by 56 customers valued at 147 billion dollars. The aircraft had become the fastest-selling wide-body airliner in history.

The aircraft is powered either by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 and General Electric GEnx engines. Click this link for the latest update in Wikipedia.

The Making of the Defiant 300

Aeroscope Dec 2003

Here's another article I wrote, published in the Aeroscope Magazine in December 2003. It's about a little bit of history of the Defiant 300, how it was made and who the different companies and agencies that contributed to the making of the aircraft.

Henan Airlines crash update

Henan Airlines is based in Henan Province, China and its former name is Kunpeng Airlines, renamed just earlier this year. It flies smaller regional jets to places in north and northeast China. The plane involved in the crash of August 16 was an Embraer-made E-190 jet. It burst into flames as it hit the ground, killing 43 people, near Lindu airport on the outskirts of Yichun, a city in Heilongjiang Province.

Statements from the survivors revealed that there was severe turbulence as the plane made its approach. Several strong jolts struck the plane, causing luggage to fall down from overhead bins. When the plane stopped, as stated by a survivor, they were unable to open the emergency exits but he was able to ran away from the burning crash through a hole in the wall of a cabin near the first row of seats.

Conviasa Airlines crash

Here's another airplane crash, this time in Venezuela involving an ATR-42-300 turboprop. The plane was operated by Conviasa Airlines, carrying 47 passengers during the time of the crash, which occurred on Monday, September 13. Fortunately, 36 survived as the plane hit the ground in Puerto Ordaz, on the Orinoco River, in Bolivar state. The flight originated from the Venezuelan Caribbean resort island of Margarita.

The pilot was able to radio air traffic control stating that they were having technical difficulties and early reports stated that the pilot seemed to have lost control of the plane before it hit the ground where it broke into two and caught fire.

ATR-42-300s are manufactured by the consortium of EADS and Alenia, based in Toulouse, France. The company employs around 850 people and is considered a leader in the 50-75 seater turboprop market. Conviasa Airlines is a state-owned company which flies to several destinations, like Tehran, Damascus, Buenos Aires and to places in the Caribbean.

Aires Airlines crash update

Here's an update on the crash of Aires Flight 4C-8250 B737-700 aircraft during landing at the Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport (ADZ), San Andres Island, Colombia. The plane crashed about 80 meters short of the 2300-meter runway at 01:50 AM local time of Monday morning, August 16. During the time of the crash, there were thunderstorms in the area. Reports said that there were multiple lightning strikes in the area, in fact, there were 11 lightning strikes within 10 kilometers from the runway during a 5-minute period.

The plane skidded on its belly and the fuselage broke into three sections with pieces of the landing gear and an engine breaking away from the plane.

Reports also said that the left wing fuel tank split open but there was no fire. This is the reason why the crew and the passengers except one escaped alive. Now it was reported that the lone fatality who died of a heart attack as initially stated, in fact, was killed by blows sustained during the crash, as revealed by an autopsy performed on the 72-year old woman. There was also another passenger, an 11-year old girl, who suffered a very severe brain injury and was in critical condition.

The B737-700 airplane has a registry no. HK-4682 and is one of the 4 B737-700s leased by Aires from AWAS. Aires Airlines is Colombia's 2nd largest airline after Avianca, which also operates a fleet of Bombardier Dash 8 Q200s and Q400s.

Henan Airlines crash

Hardly has the dust settled down on the crash of Aires Airlines B737-700 on San Andres Island on August 16 when another aircraft accident occurred on August 24 Tuesday in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province in China. The aircraft is an E-190 jet operated by Henan Airlines, and on the time of the accident, carried 91 people aboard. Initial reports stated that more than 40 people were rescued from the crash which occurred at 10:10 PM. The plane departed from Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang. The news reported the aircraft was on fire after the crash and a thick fog blanketed the airport. The cause of the accident is now being investigated.

Aires Airlines crash

Nothing on TV captures my attention more forcefully than the news about an airplane crash. And so it was on August 16, Monday when I heard the Aires airplane crash, the aircraft splitting into three sections upon landing on the runway. The news described it as a miraculous incident, saying only one person died, an elderly woman, who died not because of direct injury due to the crash but because of a heart attack. Of the 130 persons on board, 120 were injured, but fortunately alive. The plane took off from Bogota and landed on the San Andres Island Resort in Colombia.

I wanted to know the immediate cause of the crash and the news mentioned that the plane was struck by a lightning, but the pilot was able to expertly land the plane though it split into three. How the lightning affected the flight would be a matter of conjecture at this moment. There are many airplane incidents of lightning strikes and it would be informative if we are to review its history. Stay tuned for updates.

Remembering the Defiant 300 aircraft



Remembering the name



Aeroscope March 1989

 I have posted here the article I wrote for Aeroscope Magazine in March 1989, one year after the Defiant 300 aircraft prototype successfully flew in February 1988, that was 22 years ago. Capt. Panfilo V. Villaruel Jr., was the pilot; he's also the project director who later became the chief of the former Air Transportation Office (ATO) then went on to head the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation (PADC). He was involved in the NAIA Tower incident and was killed during the takeover. As far as his contribution to developing the local aircraft design and construction, Captain Villaruel's legacy remains as one of the most outstanding feats in the field of Philippine aeronautical engineering.

I was one of a group of young Filipino aeronautical engineers who were imbued with the idealistic notion that we could help develop the local aircraft manufacturing industry in the country by building an aircraft prototype of our own design. Well, we did build it and the Captain did fly it but we're still nowhere on the road to establishing the local aircraft manufacturing base. Here's the saga of the Defiant 300 aircraft.

Welcome Aboard

This is Flight 101. Welcome aboard to the wonderful world of flight.