The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has temporarily suspended the operations of GippsAero GA8 aircraft.

This follows a fatal GA8 aircraft accident on 14 July 2019 in Sweden during a skydiving flight.

The accident happened near Umeå in northern Sweden. None of the nine people on board the aircraft survived the accident.

The GA8 is manufactured in Australia by GippsAero, which is based in the Latrobe Valley.

CASA has temporarily suspended GA8 operations as a precautionary step pending the outcome of further investigation by Swedish and European authorities.

The temporary suspension will be for up to 15 days from midnight 20 July to midnight 03 August 2019 and affects all GA8 aircraft operating in Australia and all Australian registered GA8 aircraft operating overseas.

CASA has written to all Australian operators of GA8 aircraft advising them of the temporary suspension and reminding them of their obligation to comply with all applicable GA8 Airworthiness Directives issued by CASA.

CASA has also written to all National Aviation Authorities who have GA8 aircraft operating in their jurisdiction advising them that CASA has imposed a 15-day temporary operating suspension on these aircraft.

CASA has been working closely with the Swedish and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

In response to CASA temporarily suspending GA8 operations in Australia, EASA has issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive to European GA8 aircraft owners and operators to not operate the aeroplane except for ferry flights.

CASA has sent an airworthiness engineer to Sweden to observe the accident investigation and collect relevant safety information.

There are 63 GA8 aircraft registered in Australia out of a world-wide fleet of 228. The GA8 is a single engine high wing aeroplane with fixed tricycle landing gear.

In Australia the GA8 is used in a range of operations including charter, aerial work and parachuting.

GippsAero hold a production certificate issued by CASA to manufacture the GA8 and is subject to regular surveillance and safety checks by CASA.

The aircraft type was certified in 2000 by CASA for normal operations, which includes skydiving.

Source: CASA

UK leisure airline Jet2 has banned a disruptive passenger from its flights for life and billed her for £85,000 ($105,000) in costs. The carrier cites an incident on a 22 June flight to Dalaman which was diverted back to London Stansted. The Royal Air Force scrambled two Eurofighter Typhoons to escort the aircraft. Jet2, owned by Dart Group, says the passenger "displayed a catalogue of aggressive, abusive and dangerous behaviour on the aircraft", including an attempt to open the doors during flight. The sonic boom created by the RAF fighters as they rushed to the aircraft alarmed local residents, the airline notes. Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy describes the episode as "one of the most serious cases of disruptive passenger behaviour that we have experienced". He states that the passenger "must now face up to the consequences of her actions", adding: "We will vigorously pursue to recover the costs that we incurred as a result of this divert, as we do with all disruptive passengers."

Source: FlightGlobal

The captain of an Air Niugini Boeing 737-800 that crashed while attempting to land at Chuuk on 28 September 2018 became fixated with trying to land the aircraft, ignoring several automated warnings that the aircraft was below the glidescope and had an excessive sink rate. The final report into the fatal accident of the aircraft, registered P2-PXE, by Papua New Guinea's Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) concluded that the aircraft was unstable in its approach, and the co-pilot should have taken control of the aircraft and initiated a missed approach, in accordance with the operator's standard operating procedure manual. It notes that the pilots failed to respond to 16 aural alerts from the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), "pull up" visual warnings at the bottom of the primary flight display, and indications from the PAPI that the aircraft's approach angle was too high, choosing instead to continue the unstable approach. The pilot-in-command also reported that there was no visibility for the last 30 seconds of the flight due to encountering a small storm cell. As a result, the aircraft impacted the water of Chuuk Lagoon around 1,500ft (460m) short of the runway threshold, deflecting across the water several times and turning clockwise before coming to rest partially submerged.

Source: FlightGlobal