Page 6 - AAA SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2013 Online Magazine
P. 6

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
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