Investigators have revealed a fourth incident involving a Boeing 787 deviation from the localiser path, during an ILS approach to runway 25R at Hong Kong last year. The incident occurred to an Ethiopian Airlines 787-8 which had been arriving on 18 July. It had been cleared for the ILS approach to 25R but, shortly after passing the RIVER waypoint, the aircraft “kept diverging” to around 1nm north of the approach path, says the Hong Kong Air Accident Investigation Authority. The twinjet (ET-ASG) also descended to an altitude of 3,700ft, coming within 570m horizontally of terrain rising to 3,277ft. Air traffic controllers transmitted a warning to the crew and instructed the flight to climb to 4,500ft, after which the aircraft positioned for another ILS approach and a safe landing. While none of the 235 occupants was injured, the incident bears a remarkable similarity to three other events – all involving 787s – which took place over the following three months, all in the vicinity of the RIVER waypoint during approaches to 25R. The RIVER waypoint is about 16nm from runway 25R and close to the Tai Mo Shan peak. Two of the three subsequent incidents occurred to Virgin Atlantic 787-9s while the other involved an Etihad Airways 787-9. Ethiopian’s service had been arriving from Manila, in darkness, at the time of its deviation. Weather conditions and visibility were good, according to meteorological data from Hong Kong airport. All of the events are under investigation.

Source: Cirium

Lufthansa is evaluating a temporary grounding of its entire Airbus A380 fleet as part of capacity cuts in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The airline says it may reduce capacity by up to 50% over the coming weeks – more than previously planned – as a result of a "drastic decline" in bookings amid "exceptional circumstances" Capacity cuts will be made at all passenger airlines across the group, it indicates. Lufthansa has 14 A380s, stationed in Frankfurt and Munich. The aim of any temporary grounding would be "to reduce the financial consequences of the slump in demand", says the carrier. "The company is in talks with its operating partners and trade unions in order to avoid dismissals… by means of various part-time models," adds Lufthansa, which in February introduced a recruitment freeze and multiple other cost-saving measures, including voluntary unpaid leave. Lufthansa has for a limited period waived change fees on existing and future bookings in a bid to stoke demand by offering passengers flexibility.

Source: Cirium

The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $19.7 million fine against Boeing for regulatory violations related to sensors on nearly 800 examples of the 737NG and 737 Max. In a 6 March enforcement letter to Boeing, the FAA says sensors that feed head-up guidance systems made by Rockwell Collins, now Collins Aerospace, were not approved to work with those guidance systems. Chicago-based Boeing says the FAA’s findings “do not involve a safety issue” and that the company has cooperated with the FAA’s investigation. Asked if it might need to modify affected 737s, Boeing says it believes “there are no issues with the physical units” and that the fine relates only to documentation. “Boeing certified on applications for airworthiness certificates that [the aircraft] were airworthy, when the aircraft contained sensors that were not” approved, says the FAA’s letter, addressed to Boeing vice-president of engineering for commercial airplanes Lynne Hopper. The proposed fine applies to sensors feeding Collins’ 4000 series head-up guidance systems on 618 737NGs and 6000 series systems on 173 737 Max, the letter says. “Boeing failed to verify whether the installed sensors were listed on the applicable sensor interchangeability document,” the FAA says. “Boeing presented the… 791 aircraft for airworthy when the aircraft were un-airworthy.” Boeing says the FAA’s “findings relate to insufficient documentation to validate that improved parts that provided input to the [head-up system] complied with the Collins… certification documentation”. “A detailed review of the… installation found the parts met or exceeded all original requirements,” it adds. “The original certification documentation was not properly updated to reflect the improved parts installed by Boeing.” Collins declines to comment. The FAA has given Boeing 30 days to respond.

Source: Cirium