ARC NEWS
FAA issues first 737 Max airworthiness certification
December 02, 2020
The US Federal Aviation Administration on 30 November issued the first Boeing 737 Max airworthiness certificate since the agency grounded the type in March 2019, the FAA confirms. Unlike type certificates, which apply to entire aircraft models, airworthiness certificates are the documents that clear specific aircraft to fly. Having lifted the Max’s grounding on 18 November, the agency is again clearing jets for flight – but only those that meet new airworthiness requirements. Boeing declines to comment about the milestone, deferring to the FAA. The FAA issues airworthiness certificates to newly manufactured jets prior to delivery to customers. Each of the roughly 450 Max in Boeing’s inventory need the certificates prior to delivery. Boeing produced, but did not deliver, those jets amid the 20-month grounding. The airframer has said it expects to deliver about half the 450 Max – some 225 – within one year. “We expect to have sufficient number of inspectors on hand to meet Boeing’s planned delivery schedule for the foreseeable future,” the FAA says. Previously delivered 737 Max – there are some 390 in airlines’ fleets – received their airworthiness certificates prior to the grounding. Those jets do not need new certificates but must also comply with new airworthiness requirements prior to being flown, the FAA says. Prior to the grounding, the Chicago-based airframer had issued airworthiness certificates itself, having been granted that authority by the FAA. But in November 2019, under intense critique for its approval of the Max design, the FAA said it had taken back that responsibility. In lifting the Max’s grounding, the FAA also released an airworthiness directive (AD) requiring all Max have updates prior to being flown. That AD requires flight control computers be modified in ways intended to prevent the type of circumstances that preceded two crashes that killed 346 people. The AD also requires that the jets’ horizontal stabiliser wires be separated to comply with FAA regulations.


PIA seeks dry lease of up to eight narrowbodies
December 02, 2020
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has issued a tender notice to dry lease up to eight narrow body aircraft, with the first example to be delivered at the start of next year. It intends to lease the aircraft, which it states should be of up to 2012-vintage, for a period of six years, or up to the aircraft’s first 12-year check. PIA has set the delivery schedule to run from January to December next year. The aircraft should also be configured with at least 170 seats in an all-economy layout, in addition to a soft divider after the first two rows. It is unclear if the aircraft is intended to replace its existing fleet of narrowbodies. PIA to have a fleet of 11 Airbus A320ceo aircraft, of which nine are currently in service. All 11 A320s, aged between 10 and 16 years old, are also leased aircraft.



Crews cautioned as Russian airspace change swamps navigation update
December 01, 2020
European regulators are cautioning that flight-management system databases and charts for western Russia might be outdated as a result of the data workload created by an extensive restructuring of the region’s airspace. The restructuring – which takes effect on 3 December – is centred on the Moscow flight information region but affects nine other surrounding FIRs. Overhaul of the airspace structure will result in major changes to standard departure and arrival procedures, introduction of new transitions, and adjustments to waypoints, navaids or descent profiles. “This created a substantial increase in the volume of aeronautical data that… providers have to code in their flight-management system navigational databases,” says the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in a 27 November bulletin. It says that data providers have informed the regulator that coding of all the necessary information “cannot be ensured in a timely manner”. Such data is regularly updated according to the Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control cycle, the latest of which is designated AIRAC 2013. EASA warns of a number of possible scenarios, such as charts being outdated as the flight-management system database is updated, or missing procedures in the database. Data providers including Jeppesen, Lufthansa Systems and Navblue have issued alerts to customers regarding the potential deficiencies. Jeppesen has produced a list of over 30 Russian airports, among them Moscow Zhukovsky, for which data is either fully or partially incomplete. “We strongly urge you to make this information available to appropriate crew members or customers immediately,” the company stated in a navigation data alert on 19 November. Lufthansa Systems has also transmitted a similar warning over the “unprecedented” amount of affected data, listing 22 airports for which it has been “forced to postpone” revisions until the next AIRAC cycle at the end of December. EASA is recommending that operators inform cockpit crews about the situation, to increase awareness, and notify them of any outdated charts or databases – as well as limitations in accepting approach or departure clearances, particularly for area navigation procedures. Operators should also evaluate, for each Russian airport affected by the airspace changes, the need for special briefings before flights to western Russia.


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