Flight Safety Information November 26, 2012 - No. 236 In This Issue Plane avoids landing with other aircraft on runway Judge: United Airlines not liable for 9/11 plane hijacking China lands first jet on aircraft carrier PROS IOSA Audit Experts China Eastern Airlines to acquire 60 A320 aircraft Plane avoids landing with other aircraft on runway HEBRON, Ky. (AP) -- The FAA says a Cincinnati-bound passenger plane that was trying to land had to pull up suddenly from the runway because another plane hadn't cleared the landing strip. The plane landed safely on a second attempt. FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said there was no safety risk to passengers Saturday. Patrick Steitz says he was a passenger on the Pinnacle Airlines flight from St. Louis. He says the plane was within about 10 feet of the runway at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport when the engines roared and the plane turned back up. He says passengers realized what was happening and were relieved the plane didn't try to land. Steitz says the pilot later told them over a loudspeaker what happened. The Laurel, Md., resident says the pilots handled the situation well. Back to Top Judge: United Airlines not liable for 9/11 plane hijacking United Airlines isn't liable for the plane hijacking in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center's Tower 7, a judge ruled. NEW YORK - United Airlines isn't liable for the plane hijacking in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center's Tower 7, a judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan Wednesday granted a motion by the carrier for a judgment without a trial, saying it wasn't responsible for the tower's destruction. He dismissed the airline from the case. World Trade Center Properties sued United Continental Holdings, American Airlines and others in 2008, claiming their negligence caused the tower's collapse. United "had a legal duty and a clear chance to prevent the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11" when two hijackers passed through a Portland, Maine, security checkpoint for which United shared responsibility, the plaintiff said in court papers. "United had no connection to Flight 11 or its hijackers," the judge wrote. On the morning of Sept. 11, Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari arrived at Portland's airport, passed through its security checkpoint, flew to Boston's Logan International Airport, where they passed through two more checkpoints - neither operated by United, the court said - and boarded Flight 11 to Los Angeles. They hijacked the plane and crashed it into 1 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. When that tower fell, debris spewed into the facade of Tower 7, causing fires and eventually its collapse, according to court papers. A spokesman for Silverstein Properties said the company is proceeding with a separate suit against United over the second plane that was flown into the trade center. "While we are disappointed by the judge's ruling, his decision was limited to the narrow issue of whether United shared liability for the security lapses that led to the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11," Bud Perrone, a spokesman for Silverstein Properties, said in an e-mailed statement. "The main claim against United, for its security lapses leading to the terrorists crashing United Flight 175 into the World Trade Center, is proceeding." World Trade Center Properties is an affiliate of Silverstein Properties, which is developing towers at the site. Perrone said the plaintiffs look forward to persuading a jury to force the defendants' insurance companies to "pay up in order to finish the rebuilding of the World Trade Center." Mary Ryan, a spokeswoman for Chicago-based United, said the company declines to comment on the ruling. United became United Continental Holdings in a 2010 merger with Continental Airlines Inc. Other defendants in the case include Delta Air Lines, Massachusetts Port Authority, Boeing, US Airways Group, Midway Airlines and Pinkerton's. The defendants also moved for summary judgment on the basis that World Trade Center Properties was "fully compensated" for the collapse by insurance. Hellerstein did not rule on that motion Wednesday. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/judge_united_airlines_not_liab.html Back to Top China lands first jet on aircraft carrier Chinese state media says the military has successfully conducted the first landing of a fighter jet on its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. Beijing: The Chinese military has successfully landed a fighter jet on the Liaoning, China's first seaworthy aircraft carrier, according to a report on Sunday by Xinhua, the state news agency. China Central Television showed video of the jet, the J-15, landing on the deck of the carrier, which was put into service in September after years of construction work. The video also showed the jet, which is painted yellow with the number 552 written in red beneath the cockpit, successfully taking off from the carrier. Many Chinese and foreigners see the Liaoning as a symbol of China's military modernisation and its desire to extend its combat capacity. A J-15 fighter jet on China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. Photo: AP But the carrier will not be combat-ready for some time, and foreign military analysts say China's military abilities and budget still lag far behind those of the United States, which is China's greatest rival for influence in the western Pacific. Advertisement China bought the carrier years ago from Ukraine, where it had been called the Varyag. The Xinhua report said the carrier had undergone a series of "sailing and technological tests" since September 25, when it was formally put into service by the People's Liberation Army, whose navy is modernising more rapidly than any other military branch. Xinhua said the carrier had completed more than 100 training and test programs. The report said the J-15 jet was designed and made in China and is the nation's "first generation multipurpose carrier-borne fighter jet." It is able to carry anti-ship, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, as well as precision-guided bombs, Xinhua reported. The jet is comparable to Russia's Su-33 and the United States' F-18, according to Xinhua. ''Sailing and technological tests'' ... the Liaoning, a former Ukrainian carrier acquired by China. Photo: Zha Chunming For years, the threat of hostilities in the Taiwan Strait drove much of the Chinese navy's modernisation plans, and the risk of a conflict there involving both US and Taiwanese forces occupies a singular place in Chinese military strategy and planning. But Chinese civilian leaders and generals are also focused these days on the rising tensions with neighbouring nations over disputed territory. This autumn, tensions with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands, which the Japanese administer and call the Senkakus, rose sharply when the Japanese government announced that it was buying the islands. There have also been diplomatic and maritime clashes with Vietnam and the Philippines over territory in the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil, gas and fish. Several Southeast Asian nations dispute Chinese and Taiwanese claims to large parts of the South China Sea. Foreign military officials and analysts are carefully watching China's development of other warfare technology, including an anti-ship ballistic missile. Analysts said such a missile would give the Chinese military greater "area-denial" abilities, meaning it could help keep foreign ships, particularly aircraft carriers, outside of nearby combat zones. Last Friday, Xi Jinping, the new Communist Party chief and civilian head of the military, made his first promotion on the army's general staff. He promoted Wei Fenghe, commander of the 2nd Artillery Corps, to full general at a ceremony in Beijing. Wei's unit is based in Sichuan province and oversees China's nuclear arsenal. The promotion might have been a sign that Xi is moving quickly to try to build a base of support within the military. Xi served as a civilian vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission in recent years and has personal ties to some influential generals who come from prominent Communist Party families. Separately, Luo Yang, who headed China's fighter-jet building program as chairman and president of Shenyang Aircraft Corp., died Sunday during landing tests for the nation's first aircraft carrier. He had a suspected heart attack while helping oversee the tests, Fu Mingyao, a spokesman for Shenyang Aircraft's parent, state-controlled Aviation Industry Corp. of China, said by phone today. Luo was 51, he said. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/happy-landing-for-chinas-fighter-jet- 20121126-2a2or.html#ixzz2DKb4NclX Back to Top Back to Top China Eastern Airlines to acquire 60 A320 aircraft, divest eight Canadair and 10 Embraer aircraft China Eastern Airlines placed (23-Nov-2012) an order for 60 A320 aircraft from Airbus, worth USD5.4 billion at list prices (although the carrier said it received a "substantial" discount on this list price). The carrier expects to take delivery of the aircraft in stages between 2014-2017, with the purchase to be funded through working capital, commercial bank loans and other sources. "The Airbus aircraft will primarily be used to satisfy the increasing demand for domestic medium and short-haul passenger air transportation routes," the airline said, adding: "The purchase of the Airbus aircraft will further strengthen the company's competitiveness in the domestic civil aviation market and increase its operational capacity in domestic routes of the company." The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. China Eastern Airlines also said it has agreed to sell 18 regional jets, including 10 Embraer and eight Canadair aircraft, to Airbus as part of efforts to streamline its fleet. The 18 jets, valued at CNY1.54 billion (USD247 million), have an average usage of around 8.2 years. They will be delivered to Airbus from 2014 to 2016. "The disposal of the regional jets will streamline the aircraft models operated by the company, optimise the fleet structure of the company and lower the unit operation costs of the company," China Eastern Airlines said. http://centreforaviation.com/news/china-eastern-airlines-to-acquire-60-a320-aircraft- divest-eight-canadair-and-10-embraer-aircraft-189797 Curt Lewis