Airbus delivers 18th HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft to U.S. Coast Guard

Defense and Space, Inc. has delivered the 18th HC-144A Ocean Sentry maritime patrol aircraft to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Ocean Sentry is based on the Airbus CN235 tactical airlifter with more than 235 currently in operation by 29 countries.

The latest HC-144A will join a fleet of Ocean Sentries operating from Coast Guard Air Stations in Cape Cod, Mass.; Mobile, Ala.; Miami and most recently Corpus Christi, Texas. This month Air Station Corpus Christi turned over the maritime patrol mission to the HC-144 after the retirement of the last HU-25 Guardian aircraft.

“Airbus Defense and Space is dedicated to supporting the U.S. Coast Guard’s HC-144A fleet and will provide technical engineering services and spare parts for decades to come,” said Mike Cosentino president of Airbus Defense and Space, Inc. “The ease of maintenance and low operating costs have allowed the Coast Guard to achieve exceptional operational effectiveness and reliability with the HC-144A.”

The Coast Guard competitively selected and acquired the HC-144A. The aircraft is effective and efficient in a broad range of demanding maritime patrol missions, including search and rescue, homeland security and disaster response.

The Department of Homeland Security recognized the Coast Guard’s HC-144A program as its 2013 DHS Project of the Year. Airbus Defense and Space has worked to deliver to the Coast Guard this capability consistently on or ahead of schedule and on cost. The HC-144A achieved initial operational capability with the Coast Guard in 2008.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Ocean Sentry fleet recently completed its first 50,000 hours of flight. The demonstrated maintainability of the HC-144A aircraft allows the Coast Guard to fly more hours per airframe in a year with the Ocean Sentry than any other aircraft in its fleet.

Source and image: Airbus

Lockheed Martin’s DRTS enables to conduct realistic training

Lockheed Martin has enabled the U.S. Army to conduct more realistic live fire training and accelerate learning with the delivery of the Digital Air Ground Integration Range (DAGIR). DAGIR is the first range in U.S. Army history to integrate air and ground assets across a digitally powered range, providing higher-fidelity performance data so that soldiers receive more comprehensive feedback during training.

Delivered to the U.S. Army Program Executive Office Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), DAGIR allows ground maneuver units and attack aviation to coordinate, synchronize and engage targets in the same battle space for maximum weapons training effectiveness. During the government acceptance test, Lockheed Martin demonstrated range capabilities including a Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise.

Provided under the Digital Range Training System (DRTS) program, DAGIR now becomes the largest and most dynamic U.S. Army training range, located at Fort Bliss, Texas.

“The Digital Air Ground Integration Range offers more realistic training, helping soldiers, crews and platoons build confidence as they prepare for missions they’ll face in today’s operational environment,” said Jim Weitzel, vice president of Training Solutions for Lockheed Martin’s Mission System and Training business. “As the leader inmilitary training and simulation, Lockheed Martin integrated a variety of innovative technologies to make DAGIR the most advanced digital U.S. Army range in existence today.”

Lockheed Martin’s DRTS ranges are low-risk, mature and flexible systems. From crew-level to platoons, soldiers are immersed in realistic live fire training exercises with threat, neutral and friendly simulations. Earlier this year, the company inserted new technologies into DRTS enabling after-action reviews with almost movie-like visuals, ensuring vehicle crew evaluators have top-caliber visual, audio and virtual feedback to help crews learn from their training experience.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

Source and image: Lokcheed Martin

$7.5 Million Solid Gold Lamborghini: In Dubai

When you have, quite literally, everything--or at least the capacity to buy everything--what do you want? Solid gold models of $400,000 cars, apparently.
That's our take-away from this $7.5 million solid gold Lamborghini Aventador model, anyway.
When you have, quite literally, everything--or at least the capacity to buy everything--what do you want? Solid gold models of $400,000 cars, apparently.

US airlines, 1,1% on-time arrival decrease in 3Q, 2014

The nation’s largest airlines posted an on-time arrival rate of 77.7 percent in August, down from the 78.8 percent on-time rate in August 2013, but up from the 75.6 percent mark in July 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report released today.

In addition, the reporting carriers canceled 1.2 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in August, up from the 1.0 percent cancellation rate posted in August 2013, but down from the 1.6 percent rate in July 2014.

The consumer report also includes data on tarmac delays, chronically delayed flights, and the causes of flight delays filed with the Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by the reporting carriers. In addition, the consumer report contains information on mishandled baggage reports filed by consumers with the carriers and consumer service, disability, and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. The consumer report also includes reports of incidents involving the loss, death, or injury of pets traveling by air, as required to be filed by U.S. carriers.

Tarmac Delays

In August, airlines reported one tarmac delay of more than three hours on a domestic flight and no tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights. The reported tarmac delay is under investigation by the Department.

Chronically Delayed Flights

At the end of August, there were nine flights that were chronically delayed – more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time – for three consecutive months. There were an additional 16 regularly scheduled flights that were chronically delayed for two consecutive months. There were no chronically delayed flights for four consecutive months or more. A list of flights that were chronically delayed for a single month is available from BTS.

Causes of Flight Delays

In August, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 6.14 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 6.16 percent in July; 7.97 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 9.01 percent in July; 6.01 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 6.59 percent in July; 0.68 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.70 percent in July; and 0.03 percent for security reasons, equal to 0.03 percent in July.

Weather is a factor in both the extreme-weather category and the aviation-system category. This includes delays due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration in consultation with the carriers involved. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed to late-arriving aircraft, although airlines do not report specific causes in that category.

Data collected by BTS also shows the percentage of late flights delayed by weather, including those reported in either the category of extreme weather or included in National Aviation System delays. In August, 35.73 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, up from 33.68 percent in July and 33.83 percent in August 2013.

Source and image: U.S. DoT

MH17 Ukraine сrash victim found with oxygen mask

According to Lenta.ru, body of a passenger, found at the place of Boeing wreckage in Ukraine, was found with the oxygen mask on, reports Frans Timmermans, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Netherlands.

Having this in mind, explains the Minister, the passenger must have had enough time to put the mask on his face. “Therefore, the version may not be denied” – says the Frans Timmermans in his interview with de Volkskrant.

Previously experts have stated that all the passengers had lost their conscious and died due to depressurization of the aircraft.

According to one of the versions, the aircraft was hit by a missile. Authorities from Netherlands are responsible for the investigation of the catastrophe causalities, while the black boxes are being analysed in the United Kingdom.

Source and image: Lenta.ru

Ebola Zombies Are Real: 2 Ebola Victims ‘Rise from the Dead

Panic is spreading across an African community after reports that two Ebola victims have risen from the dead. No, this is not a movie script or a new book from Stephen King. The victims, both females in their 40s and 60s, died recently of the deadly virus in separate communities in Nimba County, Liberia.

According to reports in a local newspaper, the two women have reportedly been resurrected and have been seen walking among the living. Needless to say this has created a great deal of panic and fear among locals.

Dorris Quoi of Hope Village Community and a second victim identified as Ma Kebeh, both died about the same time. Ma Kebeh had been indoors for two nights without food or medication before her death. No additional information was available on Dorris Quoi.

While details are sketchy, The New Dawn Hospital in Nimba County said, both victims, were pronounced dead by medical personnel, and were about to be taken for burial when they rose from the dead. Since the Ebola outbreak in Nimba County, this is the first incident of dead victims resurrecting, the paper said.

Nimba County has recently reported news of other unusual Ebola cases. In what may be a related case a native doctor from the county, who claimed that he could cure infected victims, himself died from the virus last week. There is no information as to his resurrection or lack thereof.

The Ebola outbreak has already killed at least 3,800 people in five West African countries this year while an estimated 13,800 people have been infected with the virus, which has no known cure. America’s respected Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has predicted there could be up to 1.4 million cases of deadly Ebola by the end of January. This underscores the reason for all victims of the virus to be either cremated or buried in special escape proof coffins.

Ethiopean receives its 10th B787 Dreamliner