Southwest Flight 2294 Emergency Landing

Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday after a football-sized hole in its fuselage caused the cabin to depressurize, an airline spokeswoman said.

There were no injuries aboard the Boeing 737, which was traveling at about 30,000 feet when the problem occurred, Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told CNN.

The sudden drop in cabin pressure caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy.

Southwest Flight 2294 was en route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Baltimore, Maryland, with 126 passengers and a crew of five aboard, McInnis said.

More news at CNN - Jet makes landing with football-sized hole

Carla One for French President First Lady

Nicolas Sarkozy's ‘bling bling’ reputation reached new heights today when it emerged his new £50million jet has been named ‘Carla’ after his glamorous third wife.

The French President defied the recession last year to order £240million worth of planes, including an Airbus designed to be bigger than any flown by other European leaders, and two corporate run-arounds for shorter trips.

The first, a hugely luxurious Dassault Falcon 7X with a range of 6000 nautical miles, has now been delivered complete with the hand-painted legend ‘Carla One’ glistening on its side, in honour of First Lady Carla Bruni.

‘She’s a beautiful plane and of course officially named after the President’s wife,’ said a source at the Villacoublay airbase near Paris, where the plane is currently under lock and key in a top secret hangar.

The Presidential couple, who are currently in Italy at the G8 summit, have a shared love of private planes which goes back to the days when they were dating.

In December 2007 Mr Sarkozy was accused of demeaning the French presidency with ostentatious behaviour by whisking his then girlfriend away on an Egyptian beach holiday on a private jet belonging to French billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

When they finally married last year, Mr Sarkozy made it clear that the former supermodel would have the very best in aviation luxury to transport her around the world.

But critics worried about on-board gold taps or Jacuzzis on their new jet are likely to be disappointed.

While the Falcon comes with designer furniture including full leather seats and teak desks, it is said to be red, white and blue, with no tacky accessories.

Aviation expert Jean Guisnel, of France’s Le Point magazine, said ‘the model is decorated in the livery of all official French planes - sober and elegant.’

The Sarkozys will also be getting a top-of-the-range Airbus A330-200 which is bigger than any other European leaders, but smaller than U.S. President Barack Obama’s
Boeing 747-200, otherwise known as Air Force One.

The Airbus will be outfitted with desks for Mr Sarkozy and a secretary, a meeting room for 12 people and seating for 60 passengers as well as a bedroom and a private bathroom.

Mr Sarkozy was dubbed ‘President Bling-Bling’ by the French press because of his love of designer goods, including Ray Ban sunglasses and Rolex watches.

While Miss Bruni is also known for her extravagance, she has been trying to tone the vulgarity, knowing that it has alienated people hit by the global recession.

Dassault Falcon 7X

The Dassault Falcon 7X is a French-built large-cabin, long range business jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation, the flagship offering of their business jet line. In 2001, the Falcon 7X, at approximately $35 million, was nearly $10 million cheaper than its nearest competitors in the long range, large cabin market segment, the Gulfstream G550 and Bombardier Global Express. Its 2007 cost is $41 million. As of 2008, the approximate unit cost of the 7X is $50 million.

It is the first fully fly-by-wire business jet. It is also equipped with the same avionics suite, the Honeywell Primus EPIC "Enhanced Avionics System" (EASy), that was used on the Falcon 900EX and later on the Falcon 2000EX.

The Falcon 7X is notable for its extensive use of computer-aided design, the manufacturer claiming it to be the "first aircraft to be designed entirely on a virtual platform", using Dassault Systemes' CATIA and PLM products.

Photo gallery of Dassault Falcon 7X

Airbus A310

The Airbus A310 is a medium to long-range widebody airliner. Launched in 1978, it was the second aircraft created by the Airbus consortium of European aerospace companies, which is now fully owned by EADS. The A310 is a shortened derivative of the A300, the first twin-engined widebody airliner. The A310 (along with the A300) officially ceased production in July 2007 although the last delivery was in June 1998.

The A310's range exceeds that of all the A300 models, except for the A300-600, which surpasses the A310-200. This feature has led to the aircraft being used extensively on transatlantic routes. The A300 and A310 introduced the concept of commonality: A300-600 and A310 pilots can qualify for the other aircraft with one day of training.

Demand for the aircraft started to slow down and there were no new A310 passenger orders during the late 1990s. The A310 (along with the A300) ceased production in July 2007, though five orders from Iraqi Airways remained on the books until July 2008. The remaining freighter sales are to be fulfilled by the new A330-200F derivative.

The aircraft was formally launched in July 1978 for Lufthansa and Swissair. A further development of the A300, the aircraft was initially designated the A300 B10. Essentially a "baby" A300, the main differences in the two aircraft are
* Shortened fuselage - same cross section, providing capacity of about 200.
* Redesigned rear fuselage - altered tapering and moving aft of the rear bulkhead created additional capacity. The redesign was also used for the A300-600 and A330/A340 fuselages.
* Redesigned wing - designed by British Aerospace who rejoined Airbus consortium
* Smaller vertical fin

The A310 was marketed as an introduction to widebody operations for developing airlines. The A310 was replaced in Airbus' lineup by the highly successful A330-200, which shares its fuselage cross-section. Between 1983 and the very last aircraft produced 1998, 255 A310s were delivered by Airbus.

The A300 and A310 established Airbus as a competitor to Boeing and allowed it to go ahead with the more ambitious A320 and A330/A340 families.

AirBus A310 Variants

* A310-200
* A310-200C
* A310-300
* A310-300C
* A310 MRT/MRTT

Photo gallery of AirBus A310


AirBus A310

AirBus A310 Air Transat

AirBus A310 Emirates Skycargo

AirBus A310 Kenya Airways

AirBus A310 Lufthansa Airline

AirBus A310 Turkish Airlines

Related posts:

* Airbus A330

Yemeni AirBus A310 jetliner crashes

A Yemeni jetliner with more than 150 people aboard has crashed in the Indian Ocean off the island nation of Comoros, aviation officials in Yemen said Tuesday.

The jet was en route to Moroni, the capital of Comoros, from Yemen's capital Sanaa when it crashed about an hour before reaching its destination, officials from the national airline Yemenia said. There was no immediate news of the fate of those on board.

Yemenia Flight 626 left Sanaa at 9:30 p.m. for what was expected to be a 4½-hour flight. The airline has three regular flights per week to Moroni, off the east coast of Africa about 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) south of Yemen.

Most of the 143 passengers aboard the Airbus A310 were Comoran, an official at Sanaa's international airport said. The aircraft also carried a crew of 11, for a total of 154 people on board.

There has been no indication of foul play behind the crash, the officials said.

The crash is the second involving an Airbus jet in a month. On June 1, an Air France Airbus A330 crashed off Brazil while en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. All 228 aboard are presumed dead. The cause remains under investigation.

Airbus A330s airspeed and altitude indications failures

United States accident investigators are probing two recent failures of airspeed and altitude indications aboard Airbus A330s -- the same type of plane that crashed into the Atlantic nearly a month ago.

The planes landed safely and there were no injuries or damage, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. One flight was between the United States and Brazil in May and the other between Hong Kong and Japan in June.

The probes were launched in the aftermath of the June 1 crash in the Atlantic Ocean -- when Air France Flight 447 was flying to Paris, France, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All 228 people on board the plane, an A330, were killed.

Investigators are looking at the possible role of airspeed sensors known as pitot tubes, among other factors, as a possible cause of the Flight 447 crash.

That flight sent 24 automated error messages in the four minutes before it crashed, the head of the French accident investigation board, Paul-Louis Arslanian, has said. The error messages all indicate there were problems with on-board information about the plane's speed, which can cause some of the plane's instruments to stop functioning, Arslanian said.

Search teams are looking for the bulk of the plane's wreckage and for its flight data recorders.

The first of the two incidents being investigated by the NTSB happened May 21, when a TAM Airlines flight from Miami, Florida, to Sao Paulo, Brazil, experienced a loss of primary speed and altitude information while in flight, the NTSB said.

"Initial reports indicate that the flight crew noted an abrupt drop in indicated outside air temperature, followed by the loss of the Air Data Reference System and disconnections of the autopilot and autothrust, along with the loss of speed and altitude information," the NTSB said.

The flight crew used backup instruments and the primary data was restored in about five minutes, the NTSB said.

Another "possibly similar" incident happened June 23 on a Northwest Airlines flight between Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan, the NTSB said.

Investigators from the NTSB are gathering data recorder information, monitoring system messages, crew statements and weather information, the NTSB said.

Source: CNN - NTSB to probe problems on other Airbus flights

Sukhoi Superjet 100

Sukhoi Superjet 100 aeroplane family is being developed based on the principle of maximum standardization of frame assemblies and systems, viz.: wings, fins, chassis, engine unit, crew cabin, basic aeroplane systems and component parts.

The standardization of the design will make it possible to improve the economic performance of the aeroplane family operation with expenditures kept at a rational level.

The aerodynamics and design of the aeroplanes of the family are based on proven advanced technology to minimise technical risks at the stage of design, testing and operation.

To broaden the customer base among airlines, each of the 2 standard sizes of the aeroplanes of the family (for 75 and 95 seats)has a basic and a LR modification designed for use on a network of various-length routes to make it possible for airlines to improve the economic performance of their operations through a more balanced composition of their fleets based on the route structure and passenger flows.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 aeroplane family conforms to current and long-range requirements of Russian and global market in commercial aeroplanes.

The design meets the specific requirements of airlines in Russia, the CIS, and western countries, and conforms to the Aviation Rules AP-25, FAR-25, JAR-25 requirements.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 family aeroplanes conform to the ground noise level requirements under ICAO Chapter 4 and FAR 36 Section 4 standards to come into force 2006.

The M&R system provides for annual up time up to 3,600 FH

Aeroplane frame design service life:

* basic: 70,000 FH, 70,000 takeoff and landing cycles
* LR: 70,000FH, 70,000 takeoff and landing cycles.

The aftersales support of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 aeroplane family is based on the state-of-the-art principles followed in world practices.

Compatibility with 99% of the class A, B and C aerodrome profiles in Russia and the CIS.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 Wallpaper Photos