Germanwings pilot was out of the cockpit before crash

Germanwings pilot was out of the cockpit before crash

French investigators probing said they had a breakthrough with the recovery of an audio file from the Airbus jet’s black box. According to the evidence from a cockpit voice recorder, one pilot left the cockpit before the plane started to descent.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door, and there is no answer. And then he hits the door stronger, and no answer. There is never an answer.” -  the investigator said, reports Lenta.ru with the reference to NYT.

Investigator added that it is still unclear why the second pilot did not respond. During the descent there was not any communication from the cockpit to air traffic controllers or any other signal of an emergency.

Among the theories that have been put forward by air safety analysts not involved in the investigation is the possibility that a pilot could have been incapacitated by a sudden event such as a fire or a drop in cabin pressure, leaving the pilots unconcious.

Meanwhile, the second black box is also retreived, but many questions remain unanswered about the fate of the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, which left 150 people dead when it slammed into the southern French Alps on Tuesday morning.

Airbus Helicopters and BHIC signs JV agreement for Simulation Center in Malaysia

Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Berhad (BHIC) signed an agreement today to acquire a 30 percent share in the Airbus Helicopters Simulation Center in Malaysia. This joint venture agreement was signed by BHIC Chairman YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin and Philippe Monteux, Airbus Helicopters Senior Vice President for South East Asia & Pacific region, in the presence of Malaysian Defence Minister Y.B. Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

The simulation facility – operated by Airbus Helicopters Malaysia since January 2013, and located at the Malaysia International Aerospace Center – houses a full-flight simulator for the H225 and H225M helicopter types, which are 11-ton-category civilian and military twin-engine aircraft in the Super Puma family. The training site was set up as part of Airbus Helicopters’ contract to provide 12 H225M rotorcraft (formerly known as the EC725) to the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

In addition to Royal Malaysian Air Force pilots, the simulation center also offers training to H225/H225M pilots and crews from customers in the military, paramilitary and civil sectors throughout the Asia/Pacific region, and has received trainees from such countries as Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Oman, Japan and Thailand during the past two years.

The Airbus Helicopters Simulation Center successfully trained some 200 pilots and logged 1,940 hours with the full-flight simulator during its first year of operation. This activity increased by over 40 percent in 2014 to deliver 2,782 simulator hours, training approximately 300 pilots.

Embraer, 92 commercial and 116 executive aircraft delivered in 2014

Embraer, 92 commercial and 116 executive aircraft delivered in 2014

In the fourth quarter of 2014 (4Q14), Embraer delivered 30 commercial and 52 executive (38 light and 14 large) jets and ended the year with total deliveries of 92 commercial and 116 executive (92 light and 24 large) aircraft, thus meeting the Company’s total deliveries Guidance for 2014.

Revenues in 4Q14 reached US$ 2,045.5 million and in 2014 were US$ 6,288.8 million, also meeting the Company’s 2014 Revenue Guidance range of US$ 6.0 to US$ 6.5 billion.Embraer finished 2014 with a total cash balance of US$ 2,423.6 million and a net debt position of US$ 84.5 million.

4Q14 Net income attributable to Embraer Shareholders and Earnings per ADS totaled US$ 91.4 million and US$ 0.4983, respectively, and fiscal year 2014 Net income attributable to Embraer Shareholders and Earnings per ADS totaled US$ 334.7 million and US$ 1.8247, respectively.

For 2015, Company Guidance is for expected Net Revenues of US$ 6.1 to US$ 6.6 billion, driven by expected deliveries of 95 to 100 jets in the Commercial Aviation segment and 35 to 40 large jets and 80 to 90 light jets in the Executive Jets segment, with Defense & Security revenues of US$ 1.1 to US$ 1.25 billion for the year.

The Company’s backlog ended 2014 at a value of US$ 20.9 billion, representing 15% growth from the US$ 18.2 billion reported at the end of 2013.

Air Madagascar orders ATR 72-600 fleet for $77m

Air Madagascar orders ATR 72-600 fleet for $77m

Today ATR and Air Madagascar, Madagascar's national airline, announced the signing of a contract for the purchase of three ATR 72-600s for a total of approximately 77 million dollars. The first aircraft will be delivered as from 2017. At the same time, the airline has recently signed an agreement with the Irish leasing company Elix Aviation Capital to add two new ATR 72-600s, the first having been delivered today and the second being delivered next month.

The arrival of all these five ATRs of the latest generation will enable Air Madagascar to renew its fleet of ATRs, which currently consists of one ATR 42-500 and two ATR 72-500s, significantly increasing seat capacity on the main domestic routes, while offering passengers the highest levels of comfort.

Air Madagascar is a long-time customer of ATR. It introduced its first ATR, an ATR 42-300, in 1996 and has operated the ATR -500 series since 2005.

Henry Rabary-Njaka, Chairman of the Board of Air Madagascar, was "very pleased to be among the first African operators to fly the new ATR -600 series. These aircraft have become a veritable benchmark for regional airlinesaround the world. The performance of the ATR 72-600s notably on short and unprepared runways, along with their strong reliability, make these aircraft a real asset in the expansion of our regional transportation network. In addition, their low operating costs will allow us to offer the most attractive airfares. The new ATR -600 series are also at the forefront of technology in terms of comfort, and we are pleased to offer these new standards in modernity to our passengers." He added: “In the long term, we will increase our fleet of latest generation ATRs up to seven aircraft”.

FL Technics to provide Base Maintenance support to Turkmenistan Airlines

FL Technics to provide Base Maintenance support to Turkmenistan Airlines

FL Technics, a global provider of integrated aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services, is pleased to announce the signing of a Base Maintenance agreement with Turkmenistan Airlines. Under the agreement, FL Technics will provide C-Check support for the carrier’s fiveBoeing 737 NG aircraft.

The first Boeing 737-800 operated by the national airlines of Turkmenistan has already reached FL Technics premises in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to the contract, FL Technics engineers will provide a comprehensive set of maintenance works covered by the C-Check program. The scope of works will include, but not limited to functional and operational systems checks, repair, overhaul and exchange of internal components, inspection and repair of structure and composite elements, NDT, seat repairs, defect rectification, etc. In addition to the already delivered aircraft, FL Technics will serve four other Boeing 737s operated by Turkmenistan Airlines which are to reach Lithuania later this year.

“Having won the public tender held by Turmkenistan Airlines in 2014, we are extremely glad to welcome the carrier's first aircraft in our hangars under the contract to service its fleet,” shares Zilvinas Lapinskas, the CEO of FL Technics. "We see this cooperation as yet another proof of exceptional quality of our MRO solutions as well as the trust carriers from different world regions place in our services. We endeavour to both meet and exceed our customer’s expectations, and hope to expand our cooperation in the future.”

Turkmenistan Airlines is the flag carrier of Turkmenistan. Based at Ashgabat International Airport, the carrier flies to over 20 domestic and international destinations across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. At the moment, Turkmenistan Airlines operates an all-Boeing commercial passenger fleet as well as several Challenger-605 and Hawker-125/1000 business jets. The company also operates a fleet of helicopters and transport airplanes.

Flymojo to purchase up to 40 Bombardier CSeries airliners worth $1.5 billion

Flymojo to purchase up to 40 Bombardier CSeries airliners worth $1.5 billion

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft and Fly Mojo Sdn Bhd announced today that the parties have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the sale and purchase of 20 CS100 aircraft with options for an additional 20 CS100 aircraft.

The announcement was made in parallel with the Government of Malaysia’s announcement at LIMA on a new airline, flymojo, which will be based out of Johor Bahru, Johor and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Upon execution of a firm purchase agreement, flymojo is expected to become the first customer and operator of the CS100 aircraft in the region.

Based on the list price of the CS100 aircraft, a firm order would be valued at approximately $1.47 billion US, and could increase to $2.94 billion US, should flymojo exercise all its options.

At the LOI signing ceremony, flymojo was represented by Managing Director, Janardhanan Gopala Krishnan and Bombardier Commercial Aircraft by Regional Vice President, Sales, Asia-Pacific, Frank Baistrocchi.

In attendance were the Right Honorable Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak, the Honorable Minister of Transport, Liow Tiong Lai, the Honorable Deputy Minister of Transport, Aziz Kaprawi, Canada’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Her Excellency Judith St. George, flymojo Chairman, Alies Anor Abdul and Vice President, Sales, China and Asia-Pacific, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, Andy Solem.

“The announcement of a new airline in Malaysia is an exciting way to kick off LIMA. With flymojo’s primary hub at Senai International Airport, Johor and secondary hub in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the airline’s ultra-modern fleet of CS100 aircraft will play a key role in improving connectivity between the Peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak, as well as other parts of the region,” said Deputy Minister of Transport, Aziz Kaprawi.

FL Technics Jets supports Grafair with Hawker base maintenance solutions

FL Technics Jets, a global provider of tailor-made maintenance, repair and overhaul services for business aviation, is delighted to announce that recently it has provided comprehensive Hawker aircraft base maintenance support to its latest customer Grafair, a Swedish business jet and FBO operator.

The agreement with the Swedish carrier was signed in the beginning of 2015. Since then, FL Technics Jets has already provided the first set of MRO works on the Grafair’s Hawker 800XP business jet. The agreed upon service package comprised such maintenance works as a 12 Months’ Check of engines, APUs and other aircraft systems as well as defect rectification and other. All services were provided in the FL Technics Jets own MRO centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. Following the successful completion of the aforementioned works, the Grafair’s aircraft has returned to its base at Stockholm-Bromma Airport in Sweden. Additional scheduled maintenance works on the aircraft are to be conducted later this year.

”It‘s a real pleasure to support Grafair, one of the most prominent business aviation players in Europe, with our services. The fact that the Swedish carrier has placed its trust in our company and has since expressed full satisfaction with our services explicitly speak for the quality and reliability of our business aviation MRO solutions,” comments Darius Saluga, the CEO of FL Technics Jets. “We are proud to add Grafair to the map of our customers worldwide, and look forward to expanding our cooperation in the future.”

Grafair is a Stockholm-based international aviation company engaged in business, air ambulance and air taxi charter flights as well as Fixed-Base Operations (FBO). The company operates Cessna and Hawker aircraft. In 2014 European Business Air News (EBAN) awarded the company as the best FBO in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa.