22 OCT 2009 _______________________________________ *United jet lands safely at DIA after total hydraulic failure *Continental Express flight diverted to Los Alamos *The Mother Of All Runway Excursions *Hijacking on flight to Cairo thwarted *Tokyo Narita opens extension to its second runway *Southwest Tests New Onboard Materials To Shed Pounds And Fuel **************************************** United jet lands safely at DIA after total hydraulic failure An Airbus A320 en route from San Diego to Denver experienced total hydraulic failure Wednesday morning but landed safely at Denver International Airport. United Airlines Flight 418 landed on Runway 34-L at 11:35 a.m. and had to be towed, said Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle. No injuries were reported. He said the FAA will investigate. DIA spokesman Chuck Cannon said an alert was declared and fire equipment was stationed along the runway as a precaution. Evergreen aviation consultant Mike Boyd said that what happened was serious. But he said the Airbus A320 is such an advanced aircraft and United pilots so well-trained that the passengers were never in danger. The aircraft has backup systems, said Boyd, and the United pilots would have repeatedly faced this situation in their simulator training. Boyd said the maneuverability of the A320 would have been limited and required the pilots to land quickly. He added that the people with a giant headache will be the mechanics who now have to repair the A320. http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13613873 ************** Continental Express flight diverted to Los Alamos LOS ALAMOS, N.M.(AP) - Storms in Albuquerque and high winds in Santa Fe combined to divert a Continental Express commuter flight to the Los Alamos airport. An airline spokeswoman said there were no injuries Tuesday. The aircraft, an Embraer RJ 145, carried three crew members and 42 passengers, who were bused to Albuquerque. Flight 2025 from Houston's intercontinental airport was scheduled to arrive in Albuquerque at 3:42 p.m. Because of violent thunderstorms, the aircraft initially was diverted to Santa Fe but couldn't land there because of high winds. After arriving in Los Alamos, firefighters raised a ladder to the plane's door to help passengers off. The small airport has no equipment to serve commercial flights. *************** The Mother Of All Runway EXcursions Pilot Lands 767 On Taxiway At Hartsfield-Jackson In Atlanta The FAA and NTSB are investigating how a Delta Boeing 767 from Rio de Janeiro wound up landing on a taxiway, rather than on Runway 27R at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The NTSB is reporting that, according to preliminary information received from several sources, on Monday, October 19, 2009, at 0605 EDT, a Boeing B767-332ER (N185DN) operating as Delta Air Lines flight 60 from Rio de Janeiro to Atlanta landed on taxiway M at ATL after being cleared to land on runway 27R. No injuries to any of the 182 passengers or 11 crewmembers were reported. A check airman was on the flight deck along with the captain and first officer. During cruise flight, the check airman became ill and was relocated to the cabin for the remainder of the flight. A medical emergency was declared and the company was notified by the crew. A determination was made to land at the scheduled destination of ATL. The flight was cleared to land on runway 27R but instead landed on taxiway M, which is situated immediately to the north and parallel to runway 27R. The runway lights for 27R were illuminated; the localizer and approach lights for 27R were not turned on. Taxiway M was active but was clear of aircraft and ground vehicles at the time the aircraft landed. The wind was calm with 10 miles visibility. Both the runway and the taxiway are 11,890 feet long, according to FAA spokesperson Kathleen Bergen. Night/dark conditions prevailed; twilight conditions began at about 0720 EDT and the official sunrise was at 0746 EDT. CNN is reporting that Delta says its officials are cooperating fully with the investigation. A team of four from the NTSB, led by David Helson, is investigating the incident. FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.faa.gov, www.delta.com aero-news.net ************** Hijacking on flight to Cairo thwarted CAIRO, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Security guards thwarted on Wednesday Hijacking an Egyptian plane on its way from Istanbul to Cairo, pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV reported. A Sudanese man used a knife from the in-flight meal to threaten crew of the plane and demanded that the flight be diverted to Jerusalem, it said. It added that the hijacker was drunk and threatened the crew with the knife but the guards succeeded in stopping him. The Egypt Air flight number 783 landed safely at Cairo airport, said a source from Cairo airport on condition of anonymity, adding that the accident is under investigation. **************** Tokyo Narita opens extension to its second runway Tokyo Narita airport today opened the extension to its second runway. The runway has been extended to 2,500m (8,200ft) from 2,180m, says a Tokyo Narita airport spokesman, adding that this means the airport now has 20% more landing slots. Previously the second runway was unable to handle larger aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, Boeing 777-300 or Boeing MD-11, says the spokesman. Now the runway can handle large commercial aircraft with the exception of the Airbus A380, he adds. Tokyo Narita had wanted to extended the second runway years ago but was unable to, because of strong opposition from local land owners. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Southwest Tests New Onboard Materials To Shed Pounds And Fuel Southwest debuted a "green aircraft" that uses environmentally friendly materials that make it nearly 520 pounds lighter, including a seat covering and carpet that have not been tried on commercial aircraft before. It will test the materials on a 737-700 aircraft throughout its route system for at least six months. The initial flight was from Dallas to Seattle today. Annually, the lower weight could save the airline about 10,000 gallons of fuel per aircraft. It originally anticipated 472 pounds in weight savings, but now believes this will be greater. In the long run, it anticipates a weight reduction of as much as five pounds per seat. The products include a new carpet developed specifically for commercial aviation by InterfaceFLOR, which has been in the modular carpet business for about 35 years. InterfaceFLOR developed the product in a research-and-development partnership of sorts with Boeing. At 52 ounces per square yard, the new carpet is about 10% lighter than what Southwest uses now. InterfaceFLOR is installed in sections and uses just three different sizes to fit the configuration of the aircraft; Southwest's current carpet is cut into 138 different sizes to fit. That's why Southwest maintenance employees were able to install it in two hours on their first try, compared to four hours for the traditional carpet. Southwest also is testing two different new seat cover materials, both of which would be about two pounds lighter per seat than the current leather seat coverings. One is a synthetic leather, izit Leather by Willow Tex. Willow Tex General Manager Drew Clabough said the product has never been tested on commercial aircraft, but Clabough said it has been used on private jets. The other seat cover being tested is a man-made composition leather, using recycled materials discarded by the leather industry. Manufacturer E-Leather said it is being used on about 13 airlines. Southwest's "green plane" also includes a new life vest pouch that is about a pound lighter and allows more space for under-seat baggage, as well as recyclable aluminum instead of plastic "rub strips" for the carpet. http://www.aviationweek.com ****************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC