A preliminary report into the August crash of an airliner in Brazil found signs of ice buildup on the plane but no definite cause for the accident, the country’s Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) said on Friday. The document pointed out that icing detectors had been activated on airline Voepass’ aircraft, and a Cenipa official told a press conference that cockpit recordings showed the copilot said there was “a lot of icing” during the flight. According to investigators, that comment indicates that the plane’s de-icing system might have failed, but Cenipa said that information still needed to be confirmed. Three experts interviewed by Reuters suggested that icing could have played a role in the crash, but urged caution as the report is preliminary and accidents are caused by multiple factors. The ATR-72 aircraft from local carrier Voepass swirled out of control before plunging to the ground on Aug. 9, killing all 62 on board. According to Cenipa, investigations into the crash will probably last for over a year. US aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse said: “Everything I have read from the report today is consistent with icing, but accidents are rarely caused by one single event.” After looking at the report, aviation safety analyst David Soucie told CNN on Saturday that it appeared the crew may have “armed the de-ice boots (on the plane) too soon. Just a few seconds after the de-ice warning,” adding that ice must be allowed to build up on the leading edge of a plane’s wing so it will break off. “If you don’t let it build first, as in this case, the ice simply builds up in the inflated boot. Then the inflation cycle is under the ice dome and does nothing,” he said, adding that it then gets “heavier and heavier.”<br/>
unaligned
Canadian carrier WestJet Airlines plans to add three more leased Boeing 737 Max 8s to its fleet, for a total of nine of the narrowbodies added in the past six months. WestJet said on 6 September that it will acquire the aircraft through Irish lessor SMBC Aviation Capital, as part of a strategy to offset “delays for direct-from-factory aircraft”. ”With this we have taken on all nine aircraft that were flying for a Canadian airline that exited the market earlier this year,” chief executive Alexis von Hoensbroech said in a social media post. ”All these airplanes will enter into service over the next few months.” Cirium fleets data show that the 737 Max 8s added to WestJet’s fleet were previously operated by now-defunct ultra-low-cost carrier Lynx Air, which collapsed in February amid rising costs and intense competition. <br/>
Russian carrier Smartavia has reached a preliminary agreement to take 45 Yakovlev MC-21 twinjets for fleet modernisation. The Arkhangelsk-based airline was formerly owned by Aeroflot before it was sold and rebranded as Nordavia, and subsequently evolved as a budget carrier under the Smartavia name. It operates Boeing 737s and Airbus A320neos. Smartavia and Yakovlev unveiled the fleet-renewal agreement during the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. “Replenishment of the airline’s fleet with new aircraft of this type will allow us to successfully implement a business strategy based on a smart approach to all elements of the company operating in the air transportation sector,” says Smartavia chief Sergei Lazarev. Under the agreement – which aerospace firm United Aircraft describes as a “confirming intention” – the airline will take delivery of the 45 aircraft, under financial leases, to 2035. No initial delivery date has been disclosed.<br/>
A bomb threat that forced a flight operated by India's Vistara Airlines to make an emergency landing in the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum on Friday was false, the local governor said. Turkish officials had said a piece of paper with "bomb on board" written on it was found in a lavatory on the aircraft, prompting bomb disposal teams to search the plane and evacuate its 234 passengers and 13 crew. A Vistara spokesperson had said flight UK27 from Mumbai to Frankfurt diverted due to "a security concern." The flight landed at Erzurum at 4.30pm local time (1330 GMT). "As of 23:30, we have completed all search and examination operations. As a result of the work we carried out, we found that the bomb threat was unfounded," Erzurum governor Mustafa Ciftci told reporters at the airport. Ciftci also said a precautionary halt to landings and take-offs at the airport was lifted after inspections were completed. "All flights coming or leaving from our province will now be able to fly comfortably," he said. Vistara said in a post on X that customers, crew and the aircraft were cleared by security agencies and that all necessary checks were conducted. The airline also said it was sending an alternate aircraft to Turkey by 12:25 local time on Saturday to take the passengers to Frankfurt.<br/>
India's SpiceJet on Friday said it will convert about $97m of its dues to the commercial aviation investment and servicing arm of Carlyle Group into equity and debentures. The restructuring plan comes as the budget airline has struggled to fully restore operations despite multiple fundraises over the last year. Late last month, the country's aviation watchdog placed SpiceJet under enhanced surveillance after a recent audit revealed "certain deficiencies". The carrier on Friday said it entered into an agreement with Carlyle Aviation Management to restructure certain aircraft lease obligations of about $137.68m, as of June 30, which upon settlement or waivers will be adjusted to $97.51m. SpiceJet said it will issue shares worth $30m to Carlyle, and also transfer $20m worth of compulsorily converted debentures of SpiceXpress, a separate airline cargo company owned by the carrier.<br/>
Seven people were injured, with one hospitalized after a plane operated by Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s budget carrier Scoot encountered turbulence during a flight from the city state to Guangzhou in China on Friday, the Straits Times reported on Saturday. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet on Flight TR100 hit turbulence as it was approaching the destination, before landing safely at 09:10 a.m. local time, the newspaper quoted Scoot as saying. Four passengers and three crew members received medical assistance immediately upon arrival in Guangzhou, with one hospitalized for further observation, the Straits Times quoted the budget carrier as saying. In May a passenger was killed and seven other people were critically injured after a Singapore Airlines aircraft flying from London to its home country encountered severe turbulence as it entered Thai airspace. <br/>
The small passenger plane involved in a crash that killed 18 people in Nepal in July was carrying a load and travelling at a speed that did not match guidelines at the time of the accident, a government-led investigation team said in a preliminary report on Friday. The aircraft owned by Nepal's Saurya Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from the capital Kathmandu on July 24, killing all 17 passengers and the co-pilot, with only the captain surviving. The report said the airline had not complied with the "load weighing, loading and securing of load requirements" and that the plane speed given in the "operation flight plan of the event flight, as well as recorded in the FDR, were inconsistent with the Quick Reference Handbook".<br/>"We found problems with the plane's speed and the load it was carrying. Also, proper, secure latching of load was absent," Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, chairman of the probe team, told Reuters by phone. The panel said that guidelines on baggage and cargo weighing, its distribution and latching should all be adhered to. The 50-seater CRJ-200 plane carrying two crew members and 17 technicians was heading for regular maintenance to Nepal’s new Pokhara airport, which has aircraft maintenance hangars that are unavailable in adequate numbers at Kathmandu airport. Those on board were Nepali citizens except for one engineer from Yemen.<br/>
Nepalese investigators have revealed that the operator of the Bombardier CRJ200 involved in a fatal take-off accident at Kathmandu was not complying with aircraft loading requirements before the crash. Weight and balance of the Saurya Airlines jet before the 23 July flight are among the aspects of the inquiry highlighted for further scrutiny by the Nepalese government’s aircraft accident investigation commission. Flight-data recorder analysis has indicated that the aircraft experienced an “unusually high” pitch rate – up to 8.6°/s – during rotation from Kathmandu’s runway 02, far above the typical 3°/s. Almost immediately after rotation, the aircraft began to oscillate – its right wing dipped, before it rolled to left-wing down, and then banked 94.6° to the right, descending from about 130ft to strike the ground with its right wing. The jet was airborne for about 15s, the inquiry indicates, with both stick-shakers activating “multiple times” from around 3s after lift-off. Only the captain survived from among the three crew members and 16 passengers. The CRJ200, which had remained grounded for 34 days before the flight, was being ferried from Kathmandu to Pokhara in order to undergo base maintenance.<br/>
Cebu Pacific will ramp up services from Sydney to Manila later this year. The Philippines-based low-cost carrier, which currently flies five times per week to Sydney, will increase to daily Sydney services from 1 December. “We are thrilled to be expanding our network at Sydney Airport. This development is a testament to our commitment to enhancing global connectivity and providing greater convenience for our passengers from Australia,” said Xander Lao, Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer. Cebu Pacific, which is this year marking its tenth anniversary of travel to Australia, returned to its pre-COVID Australian capacity last year. The airline, launched in 1996, commenced Sydney flights in 2014, followed by Melbourne flights four years later. The carrier is operating 459-seat A330neo aircraft into Australia. When daily Manila services begin in December, Sydney Airport will have the highest Philippines capacity in Australia at 3,219 weekly seats, up 44 per cent on December 2019 levels. “We are proud to be the only airport in Australia offering a daily service to Manila, which provides passengers with unprecedented choice and convenience when traveling to Sydney,” said Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton. “This new route not only strengthens our ties with the Philippines but also offers passengers seamless access to Manila, opening a world of opportunities for business and leisure alike. We are thrilled to support Cebu Pacific in delivering this valuable service and look forward to the positive impact it will have on both our communities.”<br/>