Cockpit-voice recordings from a Boeing 727-200 which landed with its nose-gear retracted in Alabama captured the captain admitting that he should have executed a go-around, after an unsafe gear warning and automated 'pull up' alerts.
As the Kalitta Charters II aircraft (N720CK) descended towards Tuscaloosa, on 28 January this year, the captain called for a 'flap 15' configuration and deployment of the landing-gear. In preliminary findings the US National Transportation Safety Board says the airline's 727 operating manual cautions that simultaneous operation of the flaps and landing-gear causes a "large volume demand" on the hydraulic system, and that – with engines near idle – there may be a shortfall of system pressure.As a result of this dip from normal pressure, it says, the hydraulic system might not be able to unlock the nose-gear. The inquiry says a gear-warning horn sounded and was acknowledged by the crew, and the cockpit-voice recorder also picked up multiple 'sink rate' and 'pull up' warnings. But the captain appears to have ignored the warnings, reportedly stating that the aircraft had a history of microswitch problems. When the first officer asked whether the captain was intending to execute a go-around, the captain responded: "I'm gonna go…I got it, I got it." The 727 landed on runway 4 with its nose-gear retracted. After the aircraft came to a halt the captain, apparently referring to the nose-gear, said: "It wasn't down." "Shoulda gone around," the first officer replied, to which the captain responded: "Yeah, shoulda." The captain, during an interview, said he had asked for the landing-gear to be recycled and that he had smelled smoke and did not want to delay the landing. "Neither the first officer, flight engineer or non-revenue mechanic reported these items," says the inquiry. "Nor were any of these items audible on the [cockpit recorder]." The flight engineer stated that he had recommended that the gear be recycled, but that the captain declined, while the first officer stated that he recommended a go-around to troubleshoot the problems, which the captain also declined. On the day before the accident a different crew, also arriving at Tuscaloosa, had similarly experienced an indication that the nose-gear had not deployed. The crew sought vectoring to delay the arrival and ran through the abnormal situations checklist, swapping a bulb on the gear indicator without result before recycling the landing-gear. The indication subsequently changed, showing the nose-gear down and locked, but the event was not written up in the maintenance log after the jet landed. Its captain said the problem might have been created by the simultaneous deployment of landing-gear and flaps, at low thrust, and said he had informed the captain of the accident flight of the gear indication issues.

Source: FlightGlobal

United Airlines will offer alternative flights to any passengers uncomfortable with flying on the Boeing 737 Max once the narrowbody returns to the skies. “We are going to make it very transparent to our customers [that their trip is on a Max],” chief executive Oscar Munoz said at an Aviation Club luncheon in London today. “If they are not happy, we will offer to rebook them, even if they take that decision at the gate.” He adds: “We don’t assume everybody will jump back on the aircraft.” United has been unable to operate its 14 Max 9 aircraft since the US Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators grounded the type in March following two fatal crashes. Munoz, who adds that the airline is “not in any particular hurry” to bring the re-engined narrowbody back to service, reiterated his pledge to fly on the first United Max service following re-certification, acknowledging that the grounding has damaged customer perceptions of the Max brand. United was due to increase its fleet of Max aircraft to 30 by the end of this year, with another 28 due in 2020. In his speech to the Aviation Club, Munoz outlined some of the factors behind what he called the airline’s “turnaround” since he joined in 2015. These included “regaining the trust of our employees”, partly by settling long-running labour disputes; adding routes, including 93 cities last year alone; improving customer care by giving cabin crew devices to instantly record any passenger grievance; and increasing capacity to “mid-continent” secondary airports using Bombardier CRJ550s, a 50-seat derivative of the CRJ700 with a business class cabin, operated by its United Express partner GoJet Airlines. Munoz admitted that there had been “missteps on the journey”, including a controversial incident in 2017 when a ticketed passenger was dragged violently from an aircraft following a dispute over seating, leading to calls for the chief executive to resign.

Source: FlightGlobal

Scandinavian budget carrier Norwegian's share price has dropped by around 10% after the airline revealed it was seeking additional funding from investors, through a convertible bond issue and a release of new shares. Norwegian says the transactions leave the airline "fully funded" through 2020 "and beyond", based on its current business plan. Newly-appointed chief executive Geir Karlsen says that, while the airline is seeing results from efficiency measures, its liquidity has been hit by various factors. These include the engine issues on its Boeing 787s, the grounding of the 737 Max, and reduction in credit-card acquirer capacity. Norwegian sought the funds to provide working capital through the winter season. "The actions we are now taking, are necessary to create financial headroom to make sure that we have sufficient liquidity as we enter the next chapter of Norwegian," says Karlsen. Norwegian says it has raised around NKr2.5 billion ($273 million) in gross proceeds through the private placement – comprising 27.25 million new shares, just under 20% of its share capital – combined with a $150 million convertible bond issue. Just over 5 million existing shares were also allocated during the private placement, the airline adds, sold for hedging purposes on behalf of certain investors in the convertible bond issue. It had been prepared to release up to 12.5 million of these existing shares, which are owned by HBK Holding and Folketrygdfondet. Norwegian had also included an option to increase the bond issue to $175 million. Both the private placement and the convertible bond issue received "significant interest" from investors, both current and new, claims Norwegian, adding that both were oversubscribed. But the market has not reacted encouragingly to the additional fundraising, with Norwegian's share price falling by around 10% following the disclosure.

Source: FlightGlobal