Airline pilots have voiced fears over the safety of a fleet of Boeing aircraft after a crucial fire-fighting system has been found to have the potential to malfunction. Boeing has issued an alert to airlines using its flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner, warning that the switch used to extinguish an engine fire has failed in a “small number” of instances. The switch also severs the fuel supply and the hydraulic fluid to prevent flames spreading.” UK airlines Tui, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic operate more than 60 Dreamliners between them. The US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has decided not to ground the fleet, despite admitting a “risk to the flying public”.

Source: The Gaurdian

US major United Airlines has placed a firm order for 20 more Embraer 175's and taken options on a further 19, continuing its regional fleet replacement. The deal has a list-price value of $1.9 billion. Deliveries are scheduled for the second half of 2020. The E175's will be configured with 70 seats and replace older aircraft in United's feeder fleet, likely Bombardier CRJ700's, says the carrier's chief financial officer Gerry Laderman. Replacing older aircraft is a necessity for United, which can only have up to 255 with 70-76 seats in its regional fleet under its contract with pilots. It operated CRJ700's, Embraer 170's and E175's that, together, totalled that number at the end of March, its latest fleet plan shows.

Source: FlightGlobal

UK investigators have revealed that a weight entry error during take-off calculations resulted in a Blue Air Boeing 737-800's suffering a tail-strike on departure from Birmingham. Analysis of the incident, on 28 July last year, found that the captain read the zero-fuel weight – rather than the take-off weight – to the first officer during calculations for take-off performance. This incorrect weight, 12t below the actual figure, was entered into the electronic flightbag. As the aircraft rotated from runway 15 at 143kt, ground operations personnel saw the tail of the jet come close to the ground and air traffic control asked the crew whether they had experienced a strike. Inspection of the 737 after it landed showed damage to the tail-skid and auxiliary power unit drain mast. None of the 190 passengers and six crew members were injured.

Source: FlightGlobal