Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




AEROSPACE
Iceland ash cloud 'just a training exercise': expert
by Staff Writers
Keflavik (AFP) Sept 15, 2010


Airbus says Chinese firm to make some A350 parts
Beijing (AFP) Sept 15, 2010 - Airbus said Wednesday it had awarded the manufacture of some wing parts for its A350 XWB -- an aircraft designed to compete with Boeing's Dreamliner -- to a Chinese aviation company. With the move, the European aviation giant made good on a 2007 pledge to manufacture five percent of the A350's airframe in China. "This is... an important step forward for Airbus to develop a truly global industrial and engineering footprint, which helps Airbus to create a competitive cost base," Klaus Richter, vice president of procurement, said in a statement.

Airbus said the Chinese firm, CAC Commercial Aircraft Company (CCAC), would manufacture the A350's spoilers and droop panels. Both are movable control surfaces on the wing. It added that one of its joint ventures in China, Airbus Beijing Engineering Centre, would be involved in the design of the parts. In July last year, the European giant announced it had started building a new plant in northeast China that would make major components for its A350 XWB, as well as composite parts for its smaller A320 planes. According to French media reports, Airbus is currently negotiating the sale of 150 planes to China for 16 billion dollars, and the order could be announced when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits France in November.

The giant Icelandic volcanic ash cloud that caused aviation chaos in April was "just a training exercise" compared with the potential impact of a bigger eruption, an expert warned on Wednesday.

"Larger events are less frequent but they will occur," said volconologist Haraldur Sigurdsson, who is chairing a conference to discuss how to better coordinate the global response in the case of another eruption.

During its peak in the week after it began erupting on April 14, the Eyjafjoell volcano spewed enough ash to cause the biggest European airspace shutdown since World War II, affecting more than 100,000 flights and eight million passengers.

"This is what the earth is capable of and will do from time to time," Sigurdsson told scientists and airline industry experts gathered at the conference in Keflavik, southwest of the capital.

But that could have been "just a training exercise" compared to the impact of a bigger eruption, Sigurdsson cautioned.

Airline industry representatives called for a more co-ordinated response in the wake of the next eruption.

Nancy Graham, the director of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, said ash-induced shutdowns were a "global event that needed a global response".

Graham called for the development of scientific criteria by which to judge ash distribution and whether air space closure is necessary.

Gunther Matschingg, the senior vice-president for safety of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), criticised decision-making procedures during the shutdown.

"There were so many cooks cooking the broth, it was difficult to find out who was in charge, who makes the decisions. We were dealing with many institutions," he said.

"This was very difficult to manage. Individual states made decisions on flying zones," he said.

The shutdown cost the aviation industry worldwide approximately 1.7 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros), Daniel Cellaja, director of air transport of the European Commission, said.

Ulrich Schulte-Strayhaus of the Association of European Airlines (AEA), called for a "single European sky".

"We need clarifications, (to know) what is the role of each player," he said.

Matschingg said the London-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, which assessed the threat level for Eurocontrol (the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, which in turn circulated information to national authorities), was too conservative.

"VAAC had a more of a risk averse approach (instead of focusing on) risk management control," he said.

"It is very clear that we need appropriate risk management. I hope it will turn out be less of a crisis next time," he said.

.


Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








AEROSPACE
India, Russia to develop transport planes
New Delhi (UPI) Sep 14, 2010
India and Russia have signed a deal to jointly develop and produce military transport aircraft for both countries. A statement issued by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited said the agreement was signed with Russia's United Aircraft Corporation-Rosoboronexport in a meeting this week. With a payload capacity of 15-20 tons, the aircraft would "meet the requirements of the Indian ... read more


AEROSPACE
Russia To Test Unmanned Lander For Mars Moon Mission

China preps next lunar space mission

Chandrayaan-2 Will Try Out New Ideas And Technologies

China Publishes Official Chinese Names For Places On The Moon

AEROSPACE
105 Days In Isolation - And Counting - For 400 More

NASA's Next Mars Rover Rolls Over Ramps

Don't Forget Deimos

Russia to test Mars lander for 2011 flight

AEROSPACE
Boeing And Space Adventures To Offer Commercial Spaceflight Opportunities

OS/COMET To Be Used On Orion CEV Project

NSS Calls For House To Adopt Senate Version of NASA Authorization Act Of 2010

Goddard Scientists Explore Desert RATS

AEROSPACE
China's Second Lunar Probe Chang'e-2 To Reach Lunar Orbit Faster Than Chang'e-1

China Finishes Construction Of First Unmanned Space Module

China Contributes To Space-Based Information Access A Lot

China Sends Research Satellite Into Space

AEROSPACE
Russian Mission Control Set To Readjust ISS Orbit

Boeing wins billion dollar NASA extension

NASA Opens Space Station For Biological Research From NIH Grants

Russian cargo vessel docks at International Space Station

AEROSPACE
Sirius XM-5 Satellite Delivered To Baikonur For October Launch

Emerging Technologies May Fuel Revolutionary Launcher

EUMETSAT Chooses Arianespace To Launch Metop-C

Falcon 1e Launch Capabilities Brought To The European Institutional Market

AEROSPACE
This Planet Smells Funny

Scientists looking to spot alien oceans

Deadly Tides Mean Early Exit For Hot Jupiters

Can We Spot Volcanoes On Alien Worlds

AEROSPACE
Luxottica to launch world's first 3D glasses

Portable Laser Backpack Revolutionizes Interior 3D Mapping

CEA-Leti Completes Scalar Magnetometer Prototype For ESA

One-fourth of US adults use mobile applications: survey




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement