AIR TRANSPORT
flightglobal.com 17-23 February 2015 | Flight International | 15Hydromash backs
rapid Il-114 revival
TRANSPORT PB
ritish Airways has received
operational approval from
the UK Civil Aviation Authority
to use Boeing’s electronic log-
book (ELB) on its 787 fleet, mak-
ing it the first Dreamliner opera-
tor to go paperless for technical
and cabin logs.
Developed in partnership with
Ultramain Systems, the ELB is in-
tended to enable improved – and
more efficient – communication
between flightcrew, cabin crew
and ground-based maintenance
and engineering staff.
The ELB software runs on the
787’s integrated electronic flight-
bag and onboard server system to
gather both automatically collect-
ed flight data and crew-observed
fault input. Information is shared
with ground-based personnel and
maintenance systems while the
aircraft is still airborne, enabling
ground crew to be ready at the gate
with parts and documentation.“The ELB will allow faster and
more detailed communication
between our crews and ground
teams,” says BA’s 787 fleet chief
Steve Frewin.
“We worked closely with Boe-
ing and used our shared exper-
tise and knowledge of the 787’s
full technology capabilities in
order to receive this approval
from the CAA.
“This development represents
our commitment to investment
in technology to further improve
our customers’ flying experienc-
es,” he says.
Per Noren, vice-president for
customer solutions at Boeing’s
Digital Aviation unit, confirms
BA to be “the first 787 customer
to eliminate paper technical and
cabin logs”.
Pilot-observed faults can now
be entered in the ELB, whereas
previously they were handwritten
by a pilot into a paper logbook.BA also uses Boeing’s aircraft
health management (AHM) soft-
ware. In-flight faults generated by
the aircraft and systems and auto-
matically recorded by AHM are
correlated and displayed side by
side with faults recorded by pilots.
Boeing says use of the ELB
with AHM “provides compre-hensive analytics and prognos-
tics capabilities, creating a more
complete picture of the aircraft’s
maintenance status”.
“Equipped with this data-driv-
en knowledge, airlines are able to
understand, diagnose and quick-
ly execute maintenance items,”
the airline says. ■A
US Airways Embraer 190
made an emergency landing
with its nose gear retracted at
Houston’s George Bush Intercon-
tinental airport on 9 February.
Photographs posted by passen-
gers on Twitter showed the air-
craft, registration N953UW, rest-
ing on its nose on the tarmac with
its main landing gear extended.
The US Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration, which is investigat-
ing the incident, says one passen-ger suffered an “injured left leg
and ankle while deplaning”.
Parent American Airlines says
no other serious injuries were re-
ported from the 52 passengers and
four crew members on board. ■S
outh Korean carrier Asiana
Airlines has signed a letter of
intent with Airbus for the pur-
chase of 25 A321neos.
Airbus says the aircraft will be
configured to seat 180 passengers
in a two-class layout, for regional
and domestic services. The type
is also expected to be operated by
low-cost affiliate Air Busan.
Engine selection will be an-
nounced at a later date, with theoption of either Pratt & Whitney
PW1100G or CFM International
Leap-1A powerplants.
Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets
database shows that Asiana op-
erates a fleet of 24 A321s, pow-
ered by International Aero En-
gines V2500 engines, as well as
eight A320s.
Air Busan’s fleet includes
seven A321s, three A320s and
five Boeing 737 Classics. ■TECHNOLOGY DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDONBA logs paperless first on Dreamliner
UK carrier will be only 787 operator to use electronic technical and cabin records after aviation authority gives approvalBA says the electronic logbook will enable faster communicationThe narrowbodies will seat 180 passengers across two classes
Asiana shows intent for A321neos
FLEET ELLIS TAYLOR SINGAPORE INCIDENT JON HEMMERDINGER WASHINGTON DC
E190 lands without nose gearThe flight was from PhiladelphiaA
Ryanair Boeing 737-800 trig-
gered a low-altitude warning
while conducting an approach to
Bergerac last month, says French
investigation authority BEA.
The aircraft, operating from
London Stansted on 29 January,
was carrying out a non-directional
beacon approach to runway 28.BEA says that the approach
controller’s minimum safe alti-
tude warning system activated as
the flight was being transferred to
the airport’s tower controller.
The crew also received a
ground-proximity warning and ex-
ecuted a go-around, before landing
without further incident. ■Ryanair 737 crew took low approach
SAFETY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDONAirTeamImagesTwitterAirbus