Airbus developing ground collision alerting system
In 1977, Tenerife airport was the scene of a devastating ground collision between two 747 aircraft, the first one taking off and the other taxiing on the same runway. This remains the world’s deadliest aviation accident, claiming 583 lives. The subsequent investigation found two main causes. The first was a misunderstanding between ATC and the flight crew of the aircraft that was taking off. The second was a lack of coordination...
Gloucestershire Airport ATC overhaul and sale update
Gloucestershire Airport is planning a £500,000 refurbishment of its ATC facilities over the coming months to help it keep its number one slot as the UK’s busiest general aviation airport. The current ATC tower facilities are apparently in need of some refurbishment, including a general rewire, upgraded comms system and new desk suite. As Gloucester is also a MET reporting station, the airport management are also upgrading its...
The NATS blame game commences
The UK CAA says that it is launching an investigation into the system failure at National Air Traffic Services (NATS) that resulted in more than 1,500 flight cancellations at the end of August. Meanwhile, airlines are calling for compensation from the UK air traffic service provider after having lost a combined £100m due to cancelled flights and extra costs borne from the outage. The system failure at NATS was apparently caused by the...
Budding Pilots Take to the Skies Thanks to RAF Charity
A group of 11 RAF Air Cadets from around the UK will be taking to the skies this summer, after winning Flying Scholarships from a national military charity. Ten of the teenagers were awarded 12 hours of flying lessons, with the eleventh receiving 35 hours, for their commitment to the work of Royal Air Forces Association which supports the RAF family. They were each presented with their scholarships at the RAF Association’s annual...
Line in the Air?
As FTN went to print last month, the UK Civil Aviation Authority published its decision to grant Farnborough Airport new controlled airspace, some six years after the possibility of controlled airspace for Farnborough had first been formally mooted. The airspace proposal put forward by airport operators TAG Farnborough Airport was modified by the CAA, in order it said to afford easier access to non-commercial, light aircraft traffic,...
