Indian investigators have revealed that an Air India Airbus A319 which suffered a severe hard landing at Chennai was released to continue flying and not taken out of service for five days. The aircraft had landed on Chennai's runway 25, with a descent rate of 400ft/min, touching down initially with a 1.6g impact before bouncing. Five seconds later it contacted the runway again, this time with a descent rate of 912ft/min, and the impact was much harder at more than 3.5g. Airbus considers a hard landing to be above 2.6g and a severe hard landing to be above 2.86g. The Indian DGCA says an automatic load report was not generated, and the captain instead took a manual report from the computer – which showed a 1.59g impact – and consulted with a maintenance engineer. It points out that only a verbal exchange took place and the matter was not recorded in the technical log. After a visual inspection, and in the absence of a formal abnormal record, the aircraft was released to service. It then operated for a further 30 sectors over the next few days until, on 3 October, a routine flight-operations monitoring analysis picked up the unusually-high 3.5g impact recorded during the landing. Airbus subsequently examined the flight-data recorder information and classified the event as a severe hard landing, adding that preliminary assessment showed "exceedance" of loads on the fuselage, wings and main landing-gear. The aircraft, a 2009 airframe, was eventually grounded in Bangalore on 4 October, five days after the incident. Investigators have determined that the bounced landing resulted from the first officer's keeping the throttle in the 'climb' position instead of retarding it to idle – the position necessary to ensure spoiler deployment. The flare was initiated at 25ft but the first officer applied "excessive" pitch input, it adds. This combination of thrust setting and pitch, which reached 5.6° nose-up, meant the aircraft became airborne again after the initial runway contact. The captain noticed the incorrect thrust position and took over the controls, retarding the throttle, but did not realise the "quantum of bounce", says the inquiry, and the effort to smooth the touchdown failed, resulting in the second, hard impact. None of those on board – comprising 59 passengers and six crew – were injured. The aircraft (VT-SCU) did not suffer damage, despite the severity of the landing.

Source: FlightGlobal

The planned relaunch of Icelandic low-cost carrier Wow Air has been delayed until December, according to a statement provided by the owner of the shuttered airlines' assets, though many questions about the effort's feasibility remain unanswered. The 8 October statement from Michele Ballarin, chair of Virginia-based USAerospace Associates, does not disclose any information about pending schedules, routes or destinations. USAerospace, which acquired Wow's assets after the carrier failed in March, did not answer additional emailed questions. When it announced its plans in September, USAerospace said it would relaunch the airline in October. Lack of transparency around those plans cast doubt on the project. “Wow Air intends to be fully operational in December with ticket sales hitting the market in November,” says the statement to FlightGlobal. “Significant market adjustments have taken place since the announcement of the re-launch of Wow Air. This contraction of air carriers has provided an increase in aircraft inventory previously not available in the late summer. Wow Air will take this opportunity to acquire and reconfigure our launch aircraft in the best interests of our customers and shareholders.” In the past few weeks, several low-cost carriers including Thomas Cook, France’s XL Airways and Adria Airways, ceased operations, leading to a stark reshuffling of the vacation-flight market. USAerospace's statement on 8 October adds that it “intends to place new aircraft orders with our OEM in Q2-2020.” In early September, USAerospace had reached an agreement to purchase the Wow Air brand, and said it plans to restart operations between Washington Dulles International airport and Keflavik International airport outside of Reykjavik. At the time, the organisation said it plans to operate hubs in both cities and seeks to focus on air cargo in addition to passenger operations. USAerospace chair Ballarin, who also goes by the name “Michele Roosevelt Edwards”, detailed the return plans during a press conference on 6 September in Reykjavik. The price of the agreement has not been disclosed, but she said her company had committed $85 million to get the airline back up and running. She also said Wow will begin operations with two aircraft, eventually expanding the fleet to 10 or 12 aircraft. A spokesperson at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which operates Dulles airport, told FlightGlobal on 8 October that MWAA had an initial meeting with the new investors in August. She adds that the Authority has heard nothing from the airline since that time and is unable to give further information about potential operations from Washington DC area airports. Wow had operated 20 aircraft at the end of 2018, but cut its fleet almost in half to improve its financial position before ceasing operations and cancelling all flights on 28 March. The carrier launched in 2012 by operating single-aisle Airbus aircraft and later expanded its fleet with larger A330s.

Source: FlightGlobal

Concerns over the competition impact on the single-aisle aircraft market have spurred the European Commission to open an in-depth investigation into the planned tie-up between Boeing and Embraer. The regulator says it will particularly examine the situation in the 100- to 150-seat sector – in which the two airframers have "to a certain extent" aircraft types which address the same market. Boeing offers the 737 family in the single-aisle category while Embraer has the E-Jets, with both airframers having re-engined versions. The Commission says that while the US and Brazilian manufacturers both compete with Airbus – which has the A320 family and A220 in this sector – they "also seem to engage in head-to-head competitions". It also suggests Embraer has an influence over the broader single-aisle market, above 150 seats.
"Despite Embraer's comparatively small market share it…seems to exert some price constraint on the market leaders," says the Commission. "The transaction may therefore eliminate a small but important competitive force in the concentrated overall single-aisle market," it adds. Single-aisle types from Russia, China and Japan – including the Irkut MC-21, Comac C919 and Mitsubishi MRJ – face high entry barriers and these airframers are unlikely to replicate the "competitive constraint" which Embraer can flex, the Commission states. "With our in-depth investigation, we want to make sure that mergers in commercial aircraft do not significantly reduce effective competition on prices and product development," says European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager. Boeing and Embraer have decided not to submit commitments during the initial investigation to address the preliminary concerns, says the Commission. It says it has 90 working days – until 20 February 2020 – to reach a decision.

Source: FlightGlobal