Return of MAX
The European first in the return of the type to operation belongs to the Belgian TUI. OO-MAX took of on February 17th from its home airport Brussels in the direction of Malaga under the designation TB1011.
The GCAA, like EASA, lifted the existing ban on the B737 MAX. It happened during this week. However, operators must present a plan for the safe return of the type to service. The lifting of the ban will affect flydubai, which has 11 MAX 8 and 3 MAX 9 in its fleet. flydubai announced that they begun preparations for return of MAX to operation.
Cooperation between Etihad and Gulf Air
During the week, the two airlines signed a Strategic Commercial Cooperation Agreement (SCCA), which follows on from the Memorandum of Understanding of 2018 and covers the deepening of partnerships between Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. The contract includes the so-called codeshare, which will allow both airlines to increase the flight combination by 30 destinations.
“Reduction” of the Lufthansa fleet
The Lufthansa Group is negotiating with Airbus and Boeing to supply smaller aircraft to their fleet in exchange for orders for larger airliners. Although the size and extent of the exchange have not been specified, newly delivered aircraft should be a more economical replacement for the grounded B747 and A380.
The Stop for Dashes
Due to the absence of new orders, the manufacturer De Havilland Canada decided to suspend the production of their Dash 8-400 type after the end of the production of already ordered pieces. The change will affect approximately 500 employees under the program. However, the manufacturer plans to invest in customer service and the support team, develop improvements and modifications to the type, as well as make changes to the cabin.
Flight tests in FedEx
FedEx, in collaboration with Sikorsky, has launched a series of test flights on a specially modified ATR 42-300 using autonomous technology that is testing the capabilities of single-pilot operation on helicopters and aircraft. FedEX’s ATR 42 is by far the largest platform on which the technology is tested.
Anniversary for fly-by-wire
On February 15, 2005, the first fly-by-wire business was unveiled. The primacy belongs to the Falcon and its type 7X.
Astronauts are wanted
The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a competition for the position of astronaut. This has happened 11 years since the agency announced ambitious plans for missions to the moon and possibly to Mars. 26 successful candidates must undergo a six-stage selection procedure, which should be completed in October next year.
Finnair recycles
The Finnish airline has decided to recycle one of their aircraft – the A319 registration OH-LVB – on domestic soil. This will be the first transport aircraft to be recycled in Finland as part of the airline’s sustainability program. In particular, the aircraft performed almost 55,000 hours on almost 33,000 flights during its 21-year “career”.
Boeing 747 Longtail Aviation incident
Shortly after takeoff from Maastricht / Aachen Airport (MST / EHBK) on Saturday, engine number 1 on Longtail Aviation’s Boeing 747-421 (BCF) was damaged. During the climb to the flight level, at an altitude of approximately 1,400 feet, fragments of the blades damaged the engine and dropped in the nearby village of Meerssen. The crew requested the flight level FL100, where the fuel was dumped. The plane diverted to Liege Airport, where it landed safely after about an hour.
Boeing 777 United Airlines incident
Yesterday evening of European time, about 4 minutes after takeoff from Denver International Airport (DEN / KDEN), the No. 2 engine on United Airlines’ Boeing 777-200 was damaged. Parts of the right engine crashed into a residential area of Broomfield. The plane returned safely to Denver, where it landed safely after a 24-minute flight. There were no injuries on board or on the ground.
Great photo taken by my good friend @HS_Colorado of United flight #UA328 returning to DEN! The Boeing 777 aircraft suffered an uncontained failure of engine no. 2 over Broomfield, CO earlier this afternoon! pic.twitter.com/EpwOCDZf21
— Ryan Mudd (@RyanMuddGolf) February 20, 2021
We captured last week
There was no shortage of operations at Slovak airports this week either. VQ-BHX Aeroflot visited Bratislava and the AN-12BK of Rubystar appeared in Piešťany.