Jet engine maker Pratt announces 400 job cuts

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney has announced it is laying off 400 workers, including 200 in Connecticut.

Tuesday’s move follows an announcement last month that 575 employees of the United Technologies subsidiary had agreed to retire as part of a voluntary separation plan.

At the time, the company said more cuts would be necessary as it grapples with the winding down of military operations in Afghanistan and what it called uncertainty in the commercial jet engine spare parts business.

Pratt also cut 350 salaried workers in January and laid off 80 hourly employees and eliminated 20 other positions in buyouts in December.

United Technologies, which had a payroll of 218,000 at the end of last year, has told federal regulators that it intends to cut 3,000 jobs this year.

© Copyright 2013 Globe Newspaper Company.
Sourced from Globe.com

US grounds all F-35s over engine blade crack

By Zach Rosenberg
Source:

The discovery of the blade crack comes five years after the first flight of the F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant was delayed several months due to fatigue-related blade failures in the third-stage LPT.

The latest crack – discovered only days after the F-35B returned to flight following a 25-day grounding caused by a fueldraulics failure – was discovered on 19 February by a borescope inspection on an F-35A at Edwards AFB, California, and confirmed by an eddy current inspection, P&W says.

“It is too early to know the fleet-wide impact of this finding,” says the Joint Program Office (JOPO). But all F-35s are grounded “until the investigation is complete and the cause of the blade crack is fully understood”.

The engine in the 19 February incident has run a total of around 700h, of which 409h were flight hours, P&W says.

Though the issue was found in a single engine, there was no clear cause behind the crack. The engine’s turbine module has been shipped to P&W’s Connecticut test facility for closer inspection.

“We will conduct more thorough evaluations to determine the cause of the indication of the crack,” the engine maker says.

Lockheed referred all questions about the grounding to the international joint programme office.

Two previous incidents with the third stage low pressure turbine blades have resulted in F-35 groundings in the past, once in 2007 and again in 2008. Those incidents, which both occurred in the F-35B vertical-takeoff variant, were traced to high-cycle fatigue. Unexpected vibration levels were caused by interaction of the the blade with the wakes from vanes upstream of the third-stage turbine.

The troubled aircraft programme, meant to provide a new fighter-bomber for all three major services of the US military, has been grounded several times before.

Sourced by Flightglobal


Tanzania’s Precision Air Services signs contract for 5 ATR -600s

Tanzanian carrier Precision Air Services and ATR today announced the signature of a contract for the purchase of four ATR 42-600s and one ATR 72-600 aircraft. The deal is valued at US$ 98 million. Delivery of the 50-seat ATR 42-600s will start in late 2012. The ATR 72-600 will be delivered in 2014.

With this acquisition, Precision Air Services will bring its fleet of ATRs up to 14 aircraft, thus becoming the largest operator of ATR aircraft in Africa. The current fleet of ATRs of Precision Air Services includes 5 ATR 72-500s, 2 ATR 42-500s and 2 ATR 42-300s.

With the introduction of these 5 brand new ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft, the carrier will further develop its regional network, adding new routes and frequencies to its domestic market. This fleet expansion will allow the airline to offer its passengers the advantages and comfort of the new ATR -600 series ‘Armonia’ cabin.

Commenting on the deal, Michael Shirima, the Board of Directors Chairman of Precision Air Services declared: “We have been operating ATR aircraft for years, and we are totally convinced of their suitability for our regional routes. The ATRs are perfectly adapted to the hot climate in Africa, and feature optimal performance in smaller airfields and unpaved runways. Also, they provide us the lowest operating costs, thus strongly contributing to the development of regional aviation in our country”.

Alfonse Kioko, Group Managing Director and CEO of Precision Air, commented: “The very low fuel burn and the high dispatch reliability of the ATR aircraft, are helping us to maintain the level of ticket price necessary for the very strong competition in our market”.

ATR and Precision Air Services set up in 2006 a joint-partnership for certified aeronautical maintenance training for some selected Tanzanian students. Each student spends three years being trained at the Aeronautical Technical School in Toulouse, France, and then joins Precision Air Services’ maintenance crew in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. So far, 12 students have already completed their training and joined the airline. Other additional 24 students are currently being trained or programmed in the coming years.

Filippo Bagnato, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, declared: “We are pleased to introduce the new ATR -600s in Eastern Africa, as well as to receive again the confidence of Precision Air Services. We have developed a strong partnership with the airline across time, which includes also the development of training programmes for maintenance and piloting activities. We are convinced that such fruitful relationship will be further strengthening in the coming years”.

ATR has today 110 aircraft in operation and on order with African and Middle East carriers and is established in 25 countries of the region.

About ATR 42-600:

  • Passenger capacity: 46-50 seats
  • Engines: Pratt & Whitney 127M
  • Maximum power at take-off: 2,160 horse power per engine
  • Maximum weight at take-off: 18,600 Kg
  • Maximum load: 5,500 Kg
  • Maximum range with full passenger load: 801 nautical miles (1,483 Km)

 

About the ATR 72-600:

  • Passenger capacity: 68-74 seats
  • Engines: Pratt & Whitney 127M
  • Maximum power at take-off: 2,750 horse power per engine
  • Maximum weight at take-off: 23,000 Kg
  • Maximum load: 7,500 Kg
  • Maximum range with full passenger load: 899 nautical miles (1,665 Km)

About Precision Air Services

Precision Air Services was established in 1993. The airline has since increased its frequencies and capacity with its current fleet of nine ATR aircraft, including two 48-seater ATR 42-320, five 68-seater ATR 72-500 and two 48-seater ATR 42-500.The airline offers the widest connections to all major towns in Tanzania and, regionally, to Kenya, Uganda and Comoros.

About ATR

Formed in 1981, ATR has grown to become the world’s leading manufacturer of advanced 50 to 74 seat regional turboprop aircraft, has sold more than 1,200 aircraft and has 175 operators in 94 countries. ATR operators have cumulated more than 21 million flights. ATR is a joint venture and equal partnership between major European aerospace companies Alenia Aeronautica (a Finmeccanica company) and EADS. Its headquarters are in Toulouse, France. ATR is certified ISO 14001, the worldwide standard for environmental management and sustainability.


PICTURE: Aeropostal DC-9 rips engine in hard landing

A McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operated by Venezuela’s Aeropostal made a hard landing at an airport in eastern Venezuela today, ripping off both of its Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines in the process.

The aircraft, registration YV-136T, was carrying 125 passengers and five crew members on a flight from Caracas to Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana airport in Puerto Ordaz, said the emergency service centre of eastern Bolivar state on its Twitter feed. Seventeen passengers were injured, it added.

Photos posted by the agency show the severely damaged right-hand engine of the aircraft, which had separated from the fuselage. The centre said the engine had suffered a “mechanical failure” but did not elaborate. A statement from Venezuela’s transport of ministry said both engines came apart from the aircraft body.

The aircraft involved in the incident was built in 1976, Flightglobal’s ACAS database showed. It has logged 66,012h and 65,814 cycles.