Russian investigators are to analyse the flight recorders from the Bek Air Fokker 100 which crashed during take-off from Almaty Dec 27. The recorders have been retrieved from the wreckage, says Kazakhstan’s ministry of industry, and they will be transferred to the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee for analysis in Moscow. Kazakh prime minister Askar Mamin, who is chairing the investigation commission, says the inquiry aims to present preliminary findings by Jan 10. Ninety-eight occupants were on board, including 5 crew members, and the accident has resulted in 12 fatalities. Another 53 people have been hospitalised, with 17 in critical condition. Bek Air was grounded in the aftermath of the crash. <br/>
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Eurowings has canceled more than 170 flights due to a 3-day strike by cabin crew starting Monday. The cancellations mostly affect flights within Germany from airports that include Cologne-Bonn, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Dusseldorf. Eurowings said it was working to minimise disruption to travellers and that more than 1,000 flights would operate according to schedule. Cabin crew union UFO called the strike action during a dispute over opportunities to work part-time at Germanwings, which provides around 30 of Eurowings' 140 aircraft. UFO lamented the failure of talks with Lufthansa, saying the carrier failed to crew a clear vision for its plan to bring the Germanwings aircraft under Eurowings control. Eurowings called the strike "unfounded and incomprehensible to us." <br/>
Italian authorities are to suspend the operating licence of carrier Ernest Airlines from mid-January, although it has not detailed the reasons for the decision. Civil aviation regulator ENAC says that the suspension will take effect from Jan 13. But it states that there are “no imminent critical issues” which would jeopardise operational safety. The suspension is intended to allow the carrier to “protect passengers” who are already booked to travel with the carrier. ENAC says the suspension is being deferred until next month in consideration of the holiday period, including that for Ukraine which commences at a later date. Ernest operates a small fleet of Airbus single-aisle jets <br/>
Investigators have revealed that a White Airways ATR 72-600 operated a return flight to Lisbon in an un-airworthy state after the captain failed to notice significant damage to the turboprop following a hard landing. The aircraft, operating for TAP Express, suffered a tail-strike after an unstable approach resulted in a bounced touchdown at Fez July last year, says Portuguese investigation authority GPIAA. Such was the impact that a flight attendant was injured, an access panel fell from the ceiling, and disembarking passengers queried the cabin crew about what had happened during the landing. “No reports regarding aircraft condition discrepancies were made during the tail-support installation procedure,” says GPIAA. <br/>