Travel Safety Update - Europe.

Feb 15, 2009

Aeroflot

Aeroflot suffered an embarrassing incident in December when passengers aboard a 767 set to depart Moscow Sheremetyevo for New York JFK demanded that the flight crew be replaced after the captain delivered a slurred welcome-aboard announcement, causing passengers to suspect he was intoxicated. Aeroflot initially suggested that the pilot may have suffered a stroke but then retreated from those statements, admitting "that his physical condition was not good." Feb 11, 2009

Aeroflot Nord, Boeing

Regarding last September's Aeroflot Nord 737-500, investigators concluded that the pilot misread an attitude indicator and that the aircraft, with autopilot and autothrottle turned off, banked to its left before hitting the ground. Morozov stressed that "the direct cause of the accident was the loss of orientation in space" and that it remains the "prerogative of prosecutors" to determine whether a crewmember was intoxicated. The controller working the doomed flight told Russian television last year that the pilot "wasn't obeying my instructions," and officials quickly backed off initial claims that there were problems with the engines. Aeroflot cut ties to Aeroflot Nord after the accident and said it would not permit the carrier to codeshare or operate under the Aeroflot name, although it owned a 51% stake in the airline and had described it as a "subsidiary" prior to the crash. Feb 11, 2009

Aeroflot Nord, Boeing

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee yesterday released its final report on last September's Aeroflot Nord 737-500 accident near Perm that killed all 88 onboard, finding that the pilot who "lost spatial orientation" had been drinking. IAC Deputy Chairman Alexei Morozov told reporters that an examination "detected the presence of ethyl alcohol in the crew commander's body before his death" and that the captain's "regime of work and rest in the period preceding this aviation accident was a factor behind his overall tiredness and ran counter to the established standards." Feb 11, 2009

Aeroflot-Nord, Boeing

The chief pilot of a Russian airliner which crashed last year killing 88 people had alcohol in his blood but the primary cause of the crash was poor training, investigators said on Tuesday. A Boeing 737-500 operated by Aeroflot subsidiary Aeroflot-Nord crashed as it tried to land in the Ural mountains city of Perm early in the morning, killing everyone on board in Russia's worst air crash for two years. Feb 10, 2009

ATR, Aer Arann

ATR received approval from London City Airport to operate the ATR 72-500 there following successful completion of steep-approach trials and noise tests. The aircraft joined the 42-300 and 42-500 in operation at LCY on Aer Arann flights to/from Isle of Man. Feb 11, 2009

Baltia Air Lines

Baltia Air Lines announced commencement of the FAA Air Carrier Certification process. It intends to launch New York JFK-St. Petersburg 747 flights and eventually plans to operate between major US markets and Eastern Europe. Feb 10, 2009

Boeing, Air France

EASA formally approved the 777F Friday following FAA certification on Feb. 3, Boeing announced. Launch customer Air France is scheduled to take first delivery this quarter. Feb 9, 2009

British Airways

Passengers used emergency slides to evacuate a British Airways plane when its nosewheel collapsed on landing at London's City airport on Friday Feb. 13, injuring four people, officials said. The front undercarriage failed when BA flight 8456 from Amsterdam landed at the east London airport on Friday evening with 67 passengers and four crew on board, the airline said. British Airways flight BA8456 from Amsterdam with 67 passengers and four crew on board is slumped on its nose after it crash-landed at London's City airport Friday. "As a precaution, the emergency slides were deployed and the passengers were evacuated down the slides onto the runway," BA said in a statement. A passenger was taken to hospital with a minor injury and one other minor injury was reported, BA said. The London Ambulance Service, which sent six ambulance crews to the airport, said four people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. A BA spokeswoman said the plane was an RJ-100, a model manufactured by BAE Systems. Feb 13, 2009

IntraPoint

IntraPoint, the US and Norway-based provider of Crisis Manager software and services, signed an agreement with Icelandair Group to implement its Crisis Manager Web-based software solution for handling incidents and crises. Feb 9, 2009

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