Odds and Ends: Revisiting a 757 crash; Boeing-WTO appeal due this week

Boeing 757 Crash: In 1996 a Birgenair Boeing 757 crashed into the sea, following discrepancies with the pitot tubes speed indications. This story revisits the circumstances.

Boeing WTO appeal: The appeal of the WTO panel findings that Boeing received illegal subsidies is due Wednesday. The EU filed a technical appeal to start the clock while the US Trade Representative filed a substantive appeal. Both sides will claim victory, in yet another round of what we consider to be a meaningless load of [stuff]. Our disdain for the WTO is well known to readers of this column.

Rolls-Royce: Flight Global has an interesting piece on Rolls-Royce’s product strategy.

90-Seat Turbo-Props: Flight Global also has an article on the engine development for the prospective 90-seat turbo-props.

COMAC C919: China’s aerospace authority, CAAC, has taken a hands-off approach to the design of the COMAC C919–a development that isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the project.

Southwest Airlines: A blog item from Terry Maxon of the Dallas Morning News lists Southwest operations at hub cities–and what’s interesting is that Chicago Midway Airport is one of WN”s least efficient city from an asset utilization standpoint. Look at the number of gates-to-flights in the charts.

3 Comments on “Odds and Ends: Revisiting a 757 crash; Boeing-WTO appeal due this week

  1. From the first FG:RR link:

    “The manufacturer is building about one Trent 1000 per week, which will increase to 1.5 at the end of 2012. The rate will further rise to two per week during 2013.

    1..1.5/w : That would summ up to ~66 engines or 33 shipsets
    1.5..2/w: summs to 92 engines and 46 shipsets

  2. RR seems to have a good steady schedule for ramping up the production of the Trent-1000B. What will they do with the Trent-1000A engines that are getting replaced? Upgraded to the Package B or even C?

    I hope they do not have the same developement problem of a Trent-XWB test engine blowing up on the test stand like they had with a test Trent-1000A engine a few years ago.

    The 1996 crash of the B-757 just off the coast of the DR was tragic, but it was also avoidable. In hindsite it is obvious the Captain should have aborted the take-off. The airspeed discripency, IIRC, was noticed well below V1.

    But problems with bugs getting into pitiot tubes has been happening since airplanes began being equipped with pitiot tubes.

    While I was stationed at (now closed) Plattsburgh AFB, NY, we were taking off on a heavy weight mission in a KC-135Q. As we approached S1 (the USAF version of V1 at the time), the co-pilots airspeed indicator stopped advancing in airspeed, we aborted, and got hot brakes. The KC-135A/Q did not have thrust reversers, and only 4 rotor brakes. But other than the tires deflating, there was no damage to the tanker.

  3. “The technologies under study would be applicable to a 90-100,000lb-thrust engine, with a fan diameter of about 130in (330cm), which Nuttall says is “getting towards the limits of transportability for trucks”. Contemporary Trents have a bypass ratio of about 10 but this could be increased to 15, says Nuttall. Pressure ratios could climb to 60:1 versus 50:1 today.”

    777X engine or Ecoliner engine?

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