Lockheed Martin, the Joint Program Office and the US Air Force successfully connected the F-35, F-22, F-16 and E3 Sentry in a highly contested simulated environment during a Distributed Mission Training final acceptance test at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
The defense S&T community plays an essential role in supporting military commanders’ development and maintenance of capability and readiness. Within this community there are individuals who have demonstrated and continue to demonstrate outstanding and significant technical and social leadership. This Award recognizes their contribution to the defense S&T community.
Editor’s Note: Last week, Portuguese investigators GPIAAF (Gabinete de Prevençäo e Investigaçäo de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviärios) released the final report of the harrowing Air Astana ERJ190LR flight KC1388 accident of 11 November 2018. The plane was on a post-maintenance flight, carrying three Air Astana pilots and three technicians from the operator.
Shortly after takeoff from Alverca do Ribatejo airbase, Portugal, the regional jet became uncontrollable. The pilots not only issued a distress signal, fighter aircraft were scrambled to escort them to the sea, where the Air Astana crew anticipated ditching their plane.
This exclusive narrative is from a detailed conversation CAT Europe Editor Chris Long had with the Air Astana flight crew, presenting their in-the-cockpit perspective.
The first that Captain Vyacheslav Aushev learnt of the task was whilst he was in another aircraft, having arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he was instructed to call crew control during checkout. He was then advised that he was planned to collect an Embraer 190 from the military airport at Alverca, near Lisbon, and return it via a refuelling stop at Minsk, Belarus, to the home base at Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan’s capital. This with no fare-paying passengers, but with three maintenance engineers returning to base. The aircraft was due out of a “C” maintenance check but, because of repeated delays totalling 11 days, the original aircraft captain was no longer able to take the flight, hence the short notice.
Learn how high-fidelity simulators and common software architecture can help the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps better train for quick draws in combat.
After being grounded for 15 months, Boeing 737 MAX re-certification flights may begin as early as today. Robert W. Moorman explores the turbulent history of the airplane, and Rick Adams outlines the steps to a revised training program.
This past year has been a trying one for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The revenue-draining after-effects of back-to-back fatal accidents involving the company’s latest and last 737, the MAX, and the costly fixes to the aircraft’s software system remain a major concern for the iconic plane maker.
The timeline for the aircraft’s return to commercial airline service keeps slipping, although MAX production resumed in May 2020 at its Renton, Washington plant. Boeing stopped MAX production in January and all aircraft production in late March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Latest reports speculate that the MAX will remain grounded until August 2020, at least.
Equally troubling for Boeing is the lack of confidence in the MAX by some airlines and passengers. Hundreds of orders have been deferred or cancelled.
There is plenty of speculation about when airlines around the world will begin to ramp up operations again. No one yet knows when or how the resumption will play out. A major factor will be opening of borders by different nations; some countries in Europe have indicated they may not re-open until September or October, even to traffic from other EU countries. In general, though, domestic markets, especially in China and the US, are expected to gather momentum initially. International travel may come later. Passenger willingness to fly is also an unknown, and will hinge on not only ticket prices but perceived cleanliness of airports and aircraft.
When airlines begin to restart their engines, there will be several challenges, including training.
The majority of airlines’ fleets are parked in what is considered “short-term storage,” many filling up airport gates, taxiways and even runways, with the expectation of returning to service within 3-6 months. It can take as long as a week to get an aircraft “preserved,” removing fluids, installing protective casings, etc., followed by routine maintenance each month: fluid checks, idling engines to charge batteries, checking flight controls, inspecting anti-icing systems, towing with a tractor so tyres don’t get flat spots, making sure birds or insects haven’t built nests in vents.
Cabin crew re-training will also be affected. This is mostly done in house by the airline, but the numbers are large (perhaps 6-8 times as many, compared with pilots). They will need refresher and likely some additional training to cope with the “new normal” sanitary procedures.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many questions about aviation training: How do furloughed pilots maintain recency? How do flight schools continue their training when pilots are isolating at home? How will training organizations handle a surge of necessary type conversions if airlines overhaul their fleets in favor of more fuel-efficient aircraft?
Despite the current pandemic-driven airline slump, there is recognition by many in the industry of the need to plan for an eventual build up in numbers of pilots. Chris Long comments.