Russia's federal air transport regulator is seeking information to verify that adequate bird-control measures are in place at the airport following the accident involving a Ural Airlines Airbus A321 at Moscow Zhukovsky. Rosaviatsia has disclosed that another Ural A321 (VQ-BOB) suffered a bird-strike – including impacts to the left-hand engine inlet – while landing at Zhukovsky on 8 August, one week before the cornfield landing of VQ-BOZ which apparently lost power in both engines after a strike on take-off. While the earlier incident did not result in any problems with the engines or other aircraft systems, Rosaviatsia points out that 50 notable incidents have occurred so far this year relating to bird-strikes – on top of a further 823 in which no damage occurred.

Source: FlightGlobal

French investigators are seeking assistance to locate engine parts which they believe fell from an Airbus A220-300 as it passed over the east of the country last month. The Swiss aircraft had been operating the LX348 service to London Heathrow from Geneva on 25 July. While climbing through 32,000ft the aircraft suffered a mechanical failure of its left-hand Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engine. The crew shut down the powerplant, says French investigation authority BEA, and diverted to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Inspection of the aircraft subsequently determined that the stage one rotor of its low-pressure compressor was missing. US investigators have taken the lead on the inquiry. But BEA is putting out a public call for witnesses in an effort to find missing parts of the engine which, it say, may have fallen into a forest area near Perrigny-sur-Armancon, some 190km south-east of Paris.

Source: FlightGlobal

Following a senior management shake-up that saw its chief executive and commercial chief step down, Cathay Pacific has also appointed a new head of its low-cost subsidiary HK Express. Cathay veteran Mandy Ng, who has been with the operator for 17 years, takes over as HK Express chief executive with immediate effect, following the departure of Ronald Lam to the post of Cathay chief customer and commercial officer. Ng began her career at Cathay as a management trainee in 1999, before working in planning, revenue and sales departments within the airline. She was most recently general manager of business development at Swire Pacific. Swire Group wholly owns Cathay Pacific. Former Cathay chief Rupert Hogg and former customer and commercial chief Paul Loo disclosed their resignation on 16 August, amid mounting scrutiny of the airline from China. Hogg is succeeded by Augustus Tang, who has been with the Swire Group since 1982 and was most recently chief executive of Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO), a post he held since November 2008.

Source: FlightGlobal