Page 6 - AAA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2013 Online Magazine

NEWS

INduSTRy NEwS ANd uPdATES

New directive on A330s Crisis management
The US FAA has issued a new for cracks and/or failure of fasteners, needed
airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus including rivets, loose fasteners or Over 100 aviation crisis management
A330-200 freighters, all A330-200 and ruptures in the structures. The AD also and emergency response professionals
A330-300 series passenger aircraft, applies to the rear cargo door in some gathered in Bangkok, Thailand in
and A340-200 and A340-300 series. The models. The FAA notes that the cracks September to talk disaster. At the 5
th
directive was put into place following and loose rivets could cause reduced AAPA Emergency Response Conference,
discovery and inspection of cracks in structural integrity of the forward or aft Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director-
frame components next to the forward cargo door on un-inspected aircraft if no General, noted that aircraft accidents
cargo door on certain aircraft. The AD corrective action is taken for weakened are rare events, but airlines also must
requires detailed inspections for the structures. The AD comes into force at put in place contingency plans for other
structure and frames, especially looking the start of October. potential crises or events that may
significantly affect airline operations.
“There is a human and social dimension
to managing crises that affect the
travelling public. AAPA is committed
to playing a critical role in promoting
the highest standards in emergency
response preparedness amongst
airlines in the region,” he said. Given the
recent spate of landing accidents (San
Francisco, La Guardia, Alabama) the
meeting would seem timely.
As Dr Sorajak Kasemsuvan,
President of Thai Airways International
MAS cuts fuel consumption noted, “In emergency situations,
airlines cannot resolve emergencies
Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) aims to says Captain Izham Ismail, Director of alone, and rely on professional support
reduce fuel costs on 40 aircraft, including Operations for MAS. “This new service and expertise provided by local and
their brand-new A380 fleet, using a new delivers savings straight away. We have international organisations in emergency
smart wind and weather data prediction already trialled Wind Uplink with great response efforts. This conference is an
system from SITA’s FMS Wind Uplink success in reducing our fuel costs,” he important opportunity to further improve
service. This uplink system constantly says. “We are experiencing real business aviation crisis management skills and
updates Flight Management System benefits following introduction of this emergency response preparedness
(FMS) calculations, so aircraft flight plans service at Malaysia Airlines.” MAS’s within the region.” Although three million
can be tuned for maximum fuel efficiency. flagship A380 already uses up to 20% less passengers, representing 34% of global
During trials, Wind Uplink delivered fuel per seat than its nearest competitor, air passenger traffic, travel safely in Asia
savings of up to 600 kilograms of fuel on and other initiatives like using a single according to one estimate, questions are
a single flight sector, and allowed more engine to ground taxi where possible can still being asked about pilot training and
accurate prediction of flight timings too, save hundreds of litres of fuel annually. preparedness of ground rescue crews.

6 ASIAN AIRLINES & AIRPORTS SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2013 WWW.ASIANAIRLINES-AIRPORTS.COM