Investigators have tentatively determined that problems with an oil-cooling system apparently led to the fire that engulfed the wing of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 jet on the ground last week, according to an industry official familiar with the details. Accident experts delving into the incident, which substantially damaged the jetliner at Singapore’s Changi Airport but didn’t result in any injuries, are focused on what they believe was a fuel leak in part of the cooling system. Called a fuel-oil heat exchanger, it serves the dual purpose of cooling hot engine oil and transferring heat to raise the temperature of fuel flowing to the engines. The carrier and Boeing have declined to comment on the status of the investigation. The engines were manufactured by General Electric Co., but at this point neither the company nor Singapore authorities believe there is a systemic problem, according to the industry official.<br/>
star
For United Airlines, the Fourth of July was a reason to celebrate this year. At least on one count. The carrier Wednesday said it's on-time performance over the Fourth was the best ever since United Airlines and Continental Airlines merged six years ago. United said 72.2% of both mainline and regional flights arrived on time between July 1 and July 4. That was a 20.4% increase over results a year ago and a 48.7% increase over 2014. Noted Greg Hart, United's chief operations officer: "We are getting more customers to meetings, beaches and family gatherings on time than ever before in our combined company history." The carrier's on-time performance over the July Fourth holiday week caps six months of improving on-time performance at the Chicago-based carrier, especially within its mainline division. Improvement in regional flight on-time performance has proved more challenging.<br/>
Swiss investigators have released a preliminary report into a “serious incident” on June 19, involving a near-miss between an unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, and a Swiss Avro RJ100 on approach to London City Airport. The Avro RJ100, registered HB-IYT, was operating a scheduled service between Zurich and London City with 87 passengers on board. In its brief report, the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB) said the aircraft was performing an IFR approach to London City’s runway 27 at an altitude of 3,000 ft. when the incident occurred at 1326UTC. “We can confirm there was an incident on June 19 involving one of our aircraft and an object when on approach to London City. It wasn’t a collision. As the investigation is ongoing, I can’t give any further information at the moment,” a Swiss spokeswoman told ATW. The aircraft landed safely, with no injuries or damage.<br/>