Page 5 - Aviation News (February 2020)

First Flight for Electric Beaver

Canadian airline Harbour Air Seaplanes of Air’s leadership role in redefining safety and
Vancouver, British Columbia, conducted innovation in the aviation and seaplane
the maiden flight of the world’s first all- industry. Canada has long held an iconic
electric commercial aircraft on December role in the history of aviation, and to be part
10. Dubbed the ePlane, the aircraft is a de of this incredible world-first milestone is
Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, C-FJOS, something we can all be really proud of.”
modified with a 750hp (560kW) magni500 The airline announced a partnership with The all-electric Beaver ePlane takes off
propulsion system. electric motor company magniX at the Paris from the Fraser River, British Columbia, on
The flight took place on the Fraser Air Show in June. The two companies will December 10, Harbour Air
River at Harbour Air Seaplanes terminal now begin the certification and approval America’s largest seaplane airline, with a
in Richmond, and was piloted by the process for the propulsion system and the fleet of 15 Beavers and 22 DHC-3 Otters.
company’s CEO and founder, Greg retrofitting of aircraft. Once the certification With scheduled flights averaging around
McDougall, who said: “Today, we made is complete, the rest of the fleet will be fitted 30 minutes, the carrier’s route network is
history. I am incredibly proud of Harbour with the magni500. Harbour Air is North particularly suited to electric propulsion.

Ukrainian 737 Shot Down by Iranian SAM

A few hours after the Iranian missile “We have intelligence from multiple Initially, Iran had claimed that it was
strike on US bases in Iraq on January 8, sources, including our allies and our own impossible that a missile struck the 737.
a Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing intelligence. The evidence indicates that However, on January 11, a statement from
737-800, UR-PSR, operating as Flight the plane was shot down by an Iranian the military was broadcast on state-run TV
PS752 to Kiev, crashed shortly after surface-to-air missile. This may well have and took responsibility for the accident,
take-off from Tehran Imam Khomeini been unintentional.” stating: “The military was at its highest
International Airport, Iran. The disaster The UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic level of readiness” and that “In such a
killed all 176 people on board, 63 of which Raab, speaking on a visit to Canada, said condition, because of human error and in
were Canadian citizens. On January 9, that British nationals should not travel an unintentional way, the flight was hit.”
several western governments alleged the to Iran “given the body of information It is believed the missile was a Russian-
crash was likely caused by a missile strike. that UIA Flight 752 was shot down by an made 9K331 Tor-M1 missile, fired from a
At a press briefing in Ottawa, Canadian Iranian surface-to-air missile, and the base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: heightened tensions.” Corps (IRGC) near the flightpath of the 737.

Boeing Suspends MAX Production, Recommends Sim Training

Boeing confirmed on December 16 that it it knows “the process of approving was not necessary, marketing the new
would temporarily suspend production of the 737 MAX’s return to service, and variant to airlines on the basis that it could
the 737 MAX from January 1 and prioritise of determining appropriate training be flown by 737NG pilots with minimal
the delivery of stored aircraft. Anticipating a requirements, must be extraordinarily additional training. Currently there are
much faster return to service, the Seattle- thorough and robust, to ensure that our only 34 737 MAX simulators worldwide.
based manufacturer had continued to build regulators, customers and the flying In November, Canadian company CAE
new airliners at a rate of 42 per month. public have confidence in the 737 MAX started building MAX simulators without
Almost 400 examples are now stored at updates.” On January 7, the company orders, anticipating that Boeing would
several sites. recommended that pilots undergo recommend their use or that the FAA
Acknowledging the challenges that simulator training before converting to the would mandate it before the type could
still lie ahead, the company stated that MAX, something that it had previously said return to flight.

A350 for Sunrise Walsh to Step

Down from IAG

Willie Walsh, chief executive of
International Airlines Group (IAG), the
parent company of British Airways,
Iberia, Aer Lingus, LEVEL and Vueling,
announced on January 9 that he will
step down on March 26 and retire
on June 30. Luis Gallego, currently
Iberia chief executive, will succeed
Walsh as IAG CEO. Dublin-born
Walsh oversaw the merger of BA and
Iberia in 2011 and has led the airline
group since then. Luis Gallego’s
Qantas has selected the Airbus A350-1000 over the Boeing 777X as the preferred aircraft if the successor at Iberia will be announced
airline’s Project Sunrise proceeds. A decision on new ultra long-haul routes is expected in March. in due course.
Airbus

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