[simpits-chat] Fwd: Fw: Flight Safety Information (29JAN03-040) (fwd)

Gene Buckle simpits-chat@simpits.org
Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:19:46 -0800 (PST)


>Flight Safety Information (29JAN03-040)
>_________________________________
>
>*Disruptive airline passenger sets fire to seat
>*Jet evacuated in Boston after box-cutter found
>*U.S. Navy Plane Crashes in Caribbean Sea
>*Boeing jetliner unit expects profits despite slump
>*Sixth Next Generation Boeing 737-800 Delivered to China Southern
>*Explosion rocks American Airlines offices in Ecuador
>***********************************************
>
>Disruptive airline passenger sets fire to seat
>
>WASHINGTON (AP) A 64-year-old man was arrested Tuesday night after
setting
>fire to his seat on board a United Airlines flight at Washington's
Dulles
>International Airport, the Transportation Security Administration said.
>
>TSA spokesman Robert Johnson said the man who appeared to be Russian was
>''difficult'' during boarding for United Flight 383 to Chicago, shoving
>passengers on his way to the gate.
>
>After boarding the aircraft around 7 p.m., the man got into an
altercation
>with a flight attendant as the plane was pushing back from the gate,
Johnson
>said. The man then pulled out a cigarette lighter and started a small
fire
>in his seat.
>
>The flight attendant notified the pilot and a federal air marshal on
board
>the plane. The aircraft returned to the gate and airport police and the
air
>marshal removed the man from the plane and arrested him. No passengers
were
>injured.
>
>The FBI, federal air marshals and airport police are investigating the
>incident.
>
>''It appears to be an isolated incident,'' Johnson said. He said he
expects
>the man, who remained unidentified late Tuesday night, to be charged
with
>the federal offense of interfering with a flight crew, a felony.
>
>The flight later arrived safely in Chicago, Johnson said.
>****************
>
>Jet evacuated in Boston after box-cutter found
>
>BOSTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - A flight waiting to depart Boston's Logan
Airport
>for San Francisco was evacuated after a passenger in the first-class
cabin
>discovered a box cutter -- the same object allegedly used by the Sept.
11
>hijackers, local media reported on Tuesday.
>
>The incident occurred as United Airlines Flight 179 was preparing to
leave
>Boston at 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT), a Transportation Security
Administration
>told Boston radio station WBZ.
>
>The official said a first-class passenger discovered the box-cutter in
the
>magazine pouch in front of his seat. The plane was subsequently
evacuated
>and all passengers were ordered to undergo another security screening.
>
>Spokespersons at Logan and at the TSA in Washington were not immediately
>available for comment.
>
>Two of the planes used in the Sept. 11 attacks departed from Logan.
Under
>tighter security regulations imposed after the attacks, passengers were
>banned from having box cutters in the passenger cabins of U.S.
commercial
>aircraft.
>******************
>
>U.S. Navy Plane Crashes in Caribbean Sea
>
>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - A U.S. Navy warplane crashed into the
Caribbean
>Sea as it approached an aircraft carrier for landing, a Navy official
said
>Tuesday. The two servicemen on board safely ejected.
>
>The F-14D Tomcat fighter jet crashed Sunday more than a half mile from
the
>aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt involved in exercises off the
Puerto
>Rican island of Vieques, said Lt. Fred Kuebler, spokesman for the Second
>Fleet in Norfolk, Va.
>
>The pilot and flight officer ejected from the plane and were plucked
from
>the water by a rescue helicopter after the crash about 60 miles off
Puerto
>Rico. Neither had serious injuries, Kuebler said.
>
>An investigation was under way to determine the cause of the crash.
>
>The Navy did not identify the servicemen but said they were part of
Fighter
>Squadron 213, based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va.
>
>The $40 million plane was in training exercises off Vieques. Training on
the
>island has been criticized by Puerto Rican leaders since off-target
bombs
>killed a civilian guard in 1999.
>
>Activists claim the exercises, which began in 1947, have endangered the
>environment and the health of the island's 9,100 residents. The Navy
denies
>the claims, but plans to withdraw from Vieques by May 1.
>
>The current round of training, the last scheduled on Vieques, could last
>into early February. Exercises continued Tuesday, with a guided-missile
>cruiser firing inert shells at the island, officials said.
>
>On Sept. 10, three servicemen were killed when a Navy S-3B Viking jet
also
>crashed into the Caribbean off Puerto Rico. The cause of that crash
remains
>under investigation.
>*****************
>
>Boeing jetliner unit expects profits despite slump
>
>SEATTLE, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Its customers are among the most unstable
>companies in the world, its sturdy competition is determined to gain
market
>share and its orders and deliveries have dwindled to their lowest levels
>since the mid-1990s.
>
>But despite that challenging landscape, Boeing Co.'s commercial jet unit
>expects to post profits during an epic air travel slump projected for at
>least two more years, thanks to timely cost cuts, production
improvements
>and smarter pricing.
>
>Officials at the Seattle-based jetliner unit say they have learned from
past
>market swings, when Boeing struggled to match its production to its
gyrating
>order flow and posted its first company-wide annual loss in 50 years in
>1997.
>
>The result is a much smaller and more disciplined business, focused on
>production efficiency and squeezing more cash out of its shrinking order
>book, even as it cedes the No. 1 industry spot to rival Airbus SAS for
the
>first time.
>
>"If you go back to the 1995 timeframe, the last time we were at the
trough
>in the cycle, we were in the red," said Mike Cave, Chief Financial
Officer
>at Boeing's jetliner unit, by telephone. "We've gone from being
hopelessly
>unprofitable at the trough to debating what level of profitability is
>appropriate to discuss."
>
>The jet unit slashed costs in part through 30,000 job cuts announced
just a
>week after the Sept. 11, 2001 hijack attacks and another 5,000 cuts
>scheduled for 2003, dropping its payroll to 60,000, less than half its
1998
>peak of 122,300.
>
>Production is also down by about half from the 563 jets Boeing built in
1998
>to between 275 and 285 in 2003, with no recovery seen until at least
2005.
>The company has not delivered fewer jets since 1996, when it shipped
271.
>
>Yet the jetliner unit will "absolutely" stay in the black for the
>foreseeable future, even as revenues shrink, Cave said, citing the sale
of
>low-margin parts-making businesses and the introduction of more
efficient
>assembly processes.
>
>"The good news is we actually have been so much more productive than
planned
>that we have been able to reduce our workforce at a faster rate than we
>would have thought," Cave said. "The bad news is that means we have had
to
>say goodbye to a lot of highly skilled workers."
>
>GETTING LEAN
>
>By redesigning its factory floors and making parts simpler and easier to
fit
>together, part of a "lean" manufacturing drive, Boeing has slashed
workers
>hours per aircraft.
>
>Several models are now pulled continuously across the factory floor on a
>"moving line" at 2 inches (5 cm) per minute, reflecting the new
discipline
>required from, and new tools available to, Boeing's machinists and
>engineers.
>
>Boeing guards much of its production data for competitive reasons, but
many
>of its processes now take about 40 percent less time than they did just
a
>few years ago, said Russ Bogue, Vice President of Manufacturing at the
>jetliner unit.
>
>One decidedly low-tech innovation is a conveyor belt, designed to load
hay
>bales onto trucks, that Boeing uses to lift seat rows to be installed on
>near-finished jets. The task time on a narrow-body 757 has fallen to
less
>than six worker hours from about 85.
>
>And with suppliers pitching in by bundling some of the 300,000 parts on
a
>narrow-body 737 into more manageable sub-assemblies, final assembly time
at
>the Renton, Washington, plant has shrunk to 13 days from 23 in just four
>years.
>
>"I believe we will continue to be able to do more with fewer resources,"
>Bogue said.
>
>Wall Street has waited several years for the fruits of Boeing's lean
effort,
>and many analysts had hailed a promising trend toward higher profit
margins
>that was cut short by the current industry crisis.
>
>But after rallying to a record high near $71 in late 2000, Boeing shares
>have steadily declined, closing on the New York Stock Exchange on
Tuesday at
>$31.45, about where they stood in 1995.
>
>Part of Bogue's challenge now is to keep streamlining the factories to
>prepare for an inevitable production increase.
>
>The last time that happened, Boeing hired thousands of new workers who
were
>overwhelmed by parts shortages that forced the company to halt work on
two
>assembly lines and take $3 billion in charges and post a $178 million
loss
>in 1997.
>
>Bogue says the leaner assembly scheme will help Boeing reap fatter
profits
>down the road.
>
>"I look forward to the day when we stress the system we've got with
higher
>production rates," Bogue said.
>
>PRICE WAR WITHDRAWAL
>
>Boeing has also backed away from a debilitating price war with Airbus
that
>saddled it with orders for hundreds of jets at razor-thin profits.
Airbus
>has since built a bigger backlog -- 1,505 orders to Boeing's 1,152 --
and
>plans to deliver 300 jets in 2003.
>
>Boeing will provide the latest snapshot of its profit picture on
Thursday,
>when it reports its fourth-quarter and full-year 2002 financial results.
>
>Analysts polled by research firm Multex project forecast on average a
>company-wide profit of 71 cents per share for the fourth quarter. The
>company earned 90 cents a share in the fourth quarter of 2001.
>
>In the jetliner unit, revenues fell $3 billion to $22 billion during the
>first nine months of 2002, and operating profit, which excludes certain
>expenses, was down 10.5 percent to $2.3 billion. Boeing delayed more
than
>500 scheduled jet deliveries to help airlines struggling with mountains
of
>debt and a lack of passengers since the Sept. 11 hijack attacks.
>
>Boeing also runs the No. 2 U.S. defense contracting business and is a
major
>supplier to NASA, in addition to building satellites and launch
vehicles.
>******************
>
>Sixth Next Generation Boeing 737-800 Delivered to China Southern;
China's
>Largest Airline Continues to Modernize Fleet
>
>SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2003--China Southern Airlines, the
>largest airline in The People's Republic of China, is pleased to
announce
>that it has taken delivery of its sixth "Next Generation" Boeing 737-800
>aircraft.
>
>"We are pleased to continue to 'upgrade' our fleet with this very modern
and
>brand new aircraft," said Mr. Zhang Jianmin, Assistant President, China
>Southern Airlines and head of the airline's official delivery delegation
to
>Seattle.
>
>"China Southern and its Boeing 737-800 operation has proven very
>successful," said Mr. Rob Laird, Vice President, Sales -- Boeing
Commercial
>Airplanes. "As we look forward to continued rapid growth in China's
domestic
>air travel, this partnership is ideal -- a great operator and a great
>airplane."
>
>The delivery of China Southern's newest passenger aircraft is the sixth
of
>20 new Boeing 737-800 "Next Generation" aircraft in a deal that was
inked on
>October 3, 2001.
>
>The 20 new 737-800 aircraft will replace the same number of existing 737
>series aircraft currently operated by China Southern Airlines and will
>significantly lower the average age of the airline's fleet -- already
one of
>the youngest civil aviation fleets in China.
>
>The "Next-Generation" Boeing 737-800's range is approximately 3,300
nautical
>miles (5,926 km), an increase of up to 900 nautical miles over earlier
737
>models. China Southern's new 737-800 will offer 167 seats in a two-class
>configuration ... eight First Class and 159 Economy Class seats.
>
>The largest airline in The People's Republic of China for the past 23
years,
>China Southern Airlines (www.cs-air.com/en) connects more than 80 cities
>around the globe. Major business and vacation destinations served in
China
>include: Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Guilin, Hong Kong, Kunming,
Shanghai,
>Shenzhen and Wuhan as well as international service, including:
Amsterdam,
>Bangkok, Fukuoka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Islamabad, Kuala Lumpur,
Jakarta,
>Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Moscow, Osaka, Penang, Phnom Penh,
Seoul,
>Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.
>
>SOURCE: China Southern Airlines
>*****************
>
>Explosion rocks American Airlines offices in Ecuador
>
>QUITO, Ecuador, Jan 28 (Reuters) - An explosion rocked American
Airlines'
>offices in a Quito hotel late on Tuesday, injuring three people,
officials
>said.
>
>The explosion occurred at American's offices at about 7:20 p.m. local
time
>(0020 GMT), witnesses told Reuters.
>
>Police commander Col. Milton Martinez said the explosion was likely
caused
>by a "pamphlet bomb," a device commonly used to set off low-impact
>explosions and attract attention.
>
>Several such explosions have occurred in the past year.
>
>Those hurt suffered minor injuries, the Red Cross said.
>
>A police officer at the scene showed Reuters papers attributing the
>explosion to a group calling itself the People's Revolutionary Militias.
The
>group, which Martinez said appeared to be new, said it opposed U.S.
>"interventionism" as well as a recent government austerity package.
>