Colombia—Pilots of the doomed LaMia charter plane knew its engines were shutting down several minutes before the crash that killed 71 people, but failed to notify air-traffic control until it was too late, Colombian officials said Monday. Investigators from Colombia’s Civil Aviation Authority said the pilots didn’t report “a total electric failure without fuel” until 2 minutes before the aircraft collided at 145 miles an hour into a hillside just outside Medellin, Colombia Nov 28. While the crew had asked for priority landing, they didn’t indicate imminent danger and investigators said the pilots spoke with controllers “in a completely normal manner. “There was no technical failure, only human and managerial error,” the head of the investigation team for Colombia’s Civil Aviation Authority said in the first official report since the accident. <br/>
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The merger of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America brings an interesting new dynamic that Alaska has to navigate. It's now responsible for a fleet of jetliners from two different aerospace giants. Emblazoned on the nose of each of its Alaska's 737s are these words. "Proudly all Boeing." Virgin America, flies the competing plane, the Airbus 320. "We'll sit down with both manufacturers in the months ahead and talk to them about 'Is it better for us to move to an all-Boeing fleet on the Virgin side, or is it better for us to continue to operate these two fleet types?'" said Brad Tilden, Alaska Airlines president and CE. Different planes can limit an airline's flexibility. Most airline pilots are only certified to fly one type of plane at a time. <br/>
Iran Air is expected to finalise an aircraft purchase deal with ATR the next week, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, Iran’s deputy minister of roads and urban development, said. Representatives from the aircraft manufacturer will visit Tehran Dec 28 to hold a final round of negotiations with Iran Air, Fakhrieh Kashan said. The Iranian airline is allowed to buy 40 planes from ATR, he said, adding that Iran Air will pay 15% of the needed fund and 85% will be provided by foreign financers. Fakhrieh Kashan also said that the carrier will purchase 8 new aircraft by March 2017, including 1 A320 and 2 A330 planes from Airbus as well as 5 ATR aircraft. Earlier, Dec 11, Iran Air finalised a long awaited contract with Boeing to purchase 80 passenger planes. <br/>
Interjet said it is carrying out inspections of its Russian-made Superjet 100 planes to comply with a directive from the Russian aviation authority. Sukhoi said last week the aviation regulator detected a defect in the tail section of its Superjet 100. Interjet said Sunday it was carrying out checks of its Superjet 100 planes as a result of the Russian regulator's order. Interjet has bought various Superjet 100 planes from Sukhoi, which is part of state-owned United Aircraft Corp, an umbrella corporation created by Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2006 to revive the local aircraft industry. The Superjet line has been dogged with safety concerns. In 2012, 45 people were killed after a Superjet plane crashed in Indonesia during a promotional flight, causing Aeroflot to ground 4 planes. <br/>