Friday, 25 October 2013

HAL/NAL Regional Transport Aircraft

RTA-70
Role	Regional airliner
National origin	India
Manufacturer	Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL)
Introduction	2017
Status	project

The HAL/NAL Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) is a project of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL). It is also known as the Indian Regional Jet (IRJ). This aircraft is supposed to be a turboprop or a jet with a capacity of 70-100 passengers. The basic version will have 70-90 seats (RTA-70).

In 2007 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) were planning to jointly design and develop a 70-seater civil regional aircraft. NAL had held discussions with Pratt and Whitney (Canada) and General Electric (U.S.) for an engine. The NAL-designed RTA-70 is meant to ply short-haul routes and compete with planes of French-Italian aircraft maker Avions de Transport Régional (ATR), a leading exporter of turbo-prop aircraft to the Indian sub-continent.

In 2008, the Indian government through the Ministries of Defence and Civil Aviation have approved the plan and have asked HAL to prepare a roadmap for the project. It will not be an indigenous venture as the government is planning to enter into a memorandum of understanding with major names in the industry like Embraer, Bombardier Aerospace^[3] or United Aircraft Corporation. The aircraft was expected to fly in six to seven years.

In 2010 at the India Aviation exhibition held in Hyderabad, a proposed cabin was on display and more details on the specifications of the aircraft have been revealed.

On 23 December 2010, it was announced that the Indian government had asked NAL to consider the use of turbofan engines on the RTA-70.^[1] According to an NAL official, the use of a jet engine was seen as "a stepping stone to the high end" by the government.

Design

The aircraft is claimed to offer 25% lower acquisition costs, 25% lower operating costs and 50% lower maintenance costs than existing turboprop regional aircraft.

The 70-seat aircraft will have a range of 1,350 nm (2,500 km), and require a take-off field length and landing field length of 900m (2,950 ft). The aircraft would have a length of 28.6m and a wing-span of 29.4m. The aircraft would have a service ceiling of 30,000 ft, a cruising speed of 300kt, and the noise level would meet Stage 4 criteria.

The cabin, which would be able to seat four abreast, would have a width of 3.01m and height of 3.35m. The cargo hold would have a volume of 25m³ (880 ft³).

NAL is considering a composite airframe. The aircraft will be powered by two "next-generation turboprop engine". It would have an indigenous fly-by-wire control system, open distributed modular avionics, automatic dependence surveillance - broadcast navigation capabilities, and advanced displays.

HAL/NAL Regional Transport Aircraft

RTA-70
Role	Regional airliner
National origin	India
Manufacturer	Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL)
Introduction	2017
Status	project

In 2007 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) were planning to jointly design and develop a 70-seater civil regional aircraft. NAL had held discussions with Pratt and Whitney (Canada) and General Electric (U.S.) for an engine. The NAL-designed RTA-70 is meant to ply short-haul routes and compete with planes of French-Italian aircraft maker Avions de Transport Régional (ATR), a leading exporter of turbo-prop aircraft to the Indian sub-continent.

In 2010 at the India Aviation exhibition held in Hyderabad, a proposed cabin was on display and more details on the specifications of the aircraft have been revealed.

Design

The aircraft is claimed to offer 25% lower acquisition costs, 25% lower operating costs and 50% lower maintenance costs than existing turboprop regional aircraft.^[4]

The cabin, which would be able to seat four abreast, would have a width of 3.01m and height of 3.35m. The cargo hold would have a volume of 25m³ (880 ft³).

HAL/NAL Regional Transport Aircraft

RTA-70
Role	Regional airliner
National origin	India
Manufacturer	Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL)
Introduction	2017
Status	project

In 2007 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) were planning to jointly design and develop a 70-seater civil regional aircraft. NAL had held discussions with Pratt and Whitney (Canada) and General Electric (U.S.) for an engine. The NAL-designed RTA-70 is meant to ply short-haul routes and compete with planes of French-Italian aircraft maker Avions de Transport Régional (ATR), a leading exporter of turbo-prop aircraft to the Indian sub-continent.

In 2010 at the India Aviation exhibition held in Hyderabad, a proposed cabin was on display and more details on the specifications of the aircraft have been revealed.

Design

The aircraft is claimed to offer 25% lower acquisition costs, 25% lower operating costs and 50% lower maintenance costs than existing turboprop regional aircraft.^[4]

The cabin, which would be able to seat four abreast, would have a width of 3.01m and height of 3.35m. The cargo hold would have a volume of 25m³ (880 ft³).

The Bombardier Dash 8 or Q-Series, previously known as the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 or DHC-8, is a series of twin-engined, medium range, turboprop airliners. Introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984, they are now produced by Bombardier Aerospace. Over 1,000 Dash 8s of all models have been built,^[3] with Bombardier forecasting a total production run of 1,192 aircraft of all variants through to 2016.^[4]

The Dash 8 was developed from the de Havilland Canada Dash 7, which featured extreme short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. With the Dash 8, DHC focused on improving cruise performance and lowering operational costs. The engine chosen was the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW100. The aircraft has been delivered in four series. The Series 100 has a maximum capacity of 39, the Series 200 has the same capacity but offers more powerful engines, the Series 300 is a stretched, 50-seat version, and the Series 400 is further stretched to 78 passengers. Models delivered after 1997 have cabin noise suppression and are designated with the prefix "Q".^[5]Production of the Series 100 ceased in 2005, and the Q200 and Q300 in 2009. Bombardier is considering launching a stretched version of the Q400.

In the 1970s, de Havilland Canada had invested heavily in its Dash 7 project, concentrating on STOL and short-field performance, the company's traditional area of expertise. Using four medium-power engines with large four-bladed propellers resulted in very low noise levels which, combined with its excellent STOL characteristics, made the Dash 7 suitable for operating from small in-city airports, a market DHC felt would be compelling. However, only a handful of air carriers employed the Dash 7, as most regional airlines were more interested in operational costs than short-field performance.

In 1980, de Havilland responded by dropping the short-field performance requirement and adapting the basic Dash 7 layout to use only two, more powerful engines. Its favoured engine supplier, Pratt & Whitney Canada, developed the new PW100 series engines for the role, more than doubling the power from its PT6. Originally designated the PT7A-2R engine, it later became the PW120. When the Dash 8 rolled out on April 19, 1983, more than 3,800 hours of testing had been accumulated over two years on five PW100 series test engines. Certification of the PW120 followed in late 1983.^[6]

Distinguishing features of the Dash 8 design are the large T-tail intended to keep the tail free of prop wash during takeoff, a very high aspect ratio wing, the elongated engine nacelles also holding the rearward-folding landing gear, and the pointed nose profile. First flight was on June 20, 1983, and the airliner entered service in 1984 with NorOntair. In 1984, Piedmont Airlines, formerly Henson Airlines, was the first US customer for the Dash 8.

The Dash 8 design has better cruise performance than the Dash 7, is less expensive to operate and much less expensive to maintain, due largely to having only two engines. The Dash 8 has the lowest cost per passenger mile of any regional airliner of the era. It was a little noisier than the Dash 7 and could not match the STOL performance of its earlier DHC forebears, although it was still able to operate from small airports with 3,000 ft (910 m) runways, compared to the 2,200 ft (670 m) required by a fully loaded Dash 7.

In April 2008, Bombardier announced that production of the Classic versions (Series 100, 200, 300) would be ended, leaving the Series 400 as the only Dash 8 still in production. 671 Dash 8 Classics were produced, the last one delivered to Air Nelson in May 2008.

Ilyushin Il-114

The Ilyushin Il-114 (Russian Илью́шин Ил-114) is a Russian twin-engine turboprop airliner designed for local routes. In the Antonov An-24class, it first flew in 1990. Altogether, 20 Il-114s have been built.

After Vyborg was forced to shut down in July 2010, Uzbekistan Airways remains as the sole operator of the type. As of October 2012 no further orders have been placed for the Ilyushin 114. Uzbekistan Airways currently operates four of their six aircraft of the type, with two being stored in Tashkent.

In winter 2012/2013 the aircraft is scheduled for the following routes:

Exclusively for flights between Tashkent and Navoi as well as Termez.
Together with the Airbus A320 for flights between Tashkent and Karshi, Bukhara or Urgench.
Together with the Avro RJ85 or the Airbus A320 for flights between Tashkent and Nukus.

Though the aircraft is not scheduled for other internal flights, following ad hoc changes it is also (though rarely) flown to other destinations in Uzbekistan. The same applies to international connections: though these are no longer scheduled for the Ilyushin 114, the aircraft is sometimes also used ad hoc on flights between Tashkent and Ashgabad as well as Bishkek. Uzbekistan Airways frequently changes aircraft prior to flights in order to allow for optimal usage of aircraft space in relation to actual demand.

The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional airliner built by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. A stretched variant of the ATR 42, the aircraft seats up to 78 passengers in a single-class configuration, and is operated by a two-pilot crew.
The ATR 72 was developed from the ATR 42 in order to increase the seating capacity (48 to 78) by stretching the fuselage by 4.5 metres (15 ft), increasing the wingspan, adding more powerful engines, and increasing fuel capacity by approximately 10 percent. The 72 was announced in 1986,^[4] and made its maiden flight on 27 October 1988. One year later, on 27 October 1989, Finnair became the first airline to put the aircraft into service.^[5] Since then, at least 408 ATR 72s have been delivered worldwide with orders pending on at least 28 more.

Passengers are boarded using the rear door (which is rare for a passenger aircraft) as the front door is used to load cargo. Finnair ordered their ATR 72s with a front passenger door so that they could use the jet bridges at Helsinki–Vantaa airport. Air New Zealand's standard rear door aircraft can use jet bridges at airports with this equipment. A tail stand must be installed when passengers are boarding or disembarking in case the nose lifts off the ground, which is common if the aircraft is loaded or unloaded incorrectly.

The ATR aircraft does not have an auxiliary power unit (APU) as normally equipped. The APU is an option and would be placed in the C4 cargo section. Most air carriers normally equip the aircraft with a propeller brake (referred to as "Hotel Mode") that stops the propeller on the #2 (right) engine, allowing the turbine to run and provide air and power to the aircraft without the propeller spinning. The downside to the prop brake is improper usage; many airlines have burned out these brakes, so some companies have removed them from the aircraft entirely.

Lao Airlines Flight 301

The aircraft was operating a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Wattay International Airport, Vientiane to Pakse International Airport, Pakse, Laos.^[2]^[3] The flight departed from Vientiane at 14:45 local time (07:45 UTC) and crashed into the Mekong River at 15:55 local time (08:55 UTC) while approaching Pakse for the second time, less than 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the airport.^[4]^[5]^[6] The aircraft had already gone around once due to poor weather and was in the downwind leg for another approach when the aircraft impacted the nearby river.^[3]

There were five crew and 44 passengers on board, all of whom are presumed to have died upon impact.^[7] Marks on the ground indicated that the aircraft landed heavily on the ground before entering the Mekong.^[8] The weather was reported to be poor at the time of the accident due to the remnants of Typhoon Nari affecting southern Laos.^[3]^[9]

Recovery of the victims and wreckage was hampered by the fast-flowing, deep waters of the Mekong. To assist with the search, 50 divers from Thailand were brought in.^[1] Eighteen of the victims had been recovered as of 18 October.^[10] By 23 October, 44 of the 49 victims had been recovered. Identification had been confirmed for 27 of them.^[11] Some of the victims were found 19 kilometres (12 mi) downstream of the crash site.^[8]

The accident, the first involving the ATR 72-600,^[12] was the deadliest ever to occur on Laotian soil and also the deadliest ever for the airline since it was founded in 1976.^[13]^[14]^[15] It was the first fatal crash on a Lao Airlines flight since 19 October 2000.^[16]

Lao Airlines Flight 301

Lao Airlines Flight 301
Accident summary
One of six ATR-72 aircraft operated by Lao Airlines
Date	16 October 2013
Summary	Under investigation
Site	Done Kho Island, Mekong River,Pakse, Laos 15°09′06″N 105°43′59″ECoordinates: 15°09′06″N 105°43′59″E
Passengers	44
Crew	5
Fatalities	49 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	ATR 72-600
Operator	Lao Airlines
Registration	RDPL-34233
Flight origin	Wattay International Airport,Vientiane, Laos
Destination	Pakse International Airport, Laos

Location of the accident shown within Laos.

Lao Airlines Flight 301 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Vientiane to Pakse, Laos. On 16 October 2013, the ATR 72-600 aircraft operating the flight crashed into the Mekong River in Pakse; all 49 people on board died.

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Aircraft[edit]

The aircraft involved was an ATR 72-600, registration RDPL-34233, serial number 1071, with an accumulated 758 hours of flight. It was delivered toLao Airlines on 29 March 2013.^[1]^[2]

Accident[edit]

The aircraft was operating a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Wattay International Airport, Vientiane to Pakse International Airport, Pakse, Laos.^[2]^[3] The flight departed from Vientiane at 14:45 local time (07:45 UTC) and crashed into the Mekong River at 15:55 local time (08:55 UTC) while approaching Pakse for the second time, less than 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the airport.^[4]^[5]^[6] The aircraft had already gone around once due to poor weather and was in the downwind leg for another approach when the aircraft impacted the nearby river.^[3]

Investigation[edit]

The Laotian Department of Civil Aviation opened an investigation into the accident.^[1] The aircraft's manufacturer ATR and the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA) are assisting them.^[3] The BEA sent four investigators to Laos.^[17]

The wreckage of the aircraft was lifted from the Mekong on 22 October. Both the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder were recovered from the Mekong.^[11]

Passengers and crew[edit]

The victims were of eleven nationalities. Of the 44 passengers on board, 16 were Laotian,^[7] as were four of the five crew. The pilot was aCambodian national.^[8]^[9] The remaining casualties consisted of seven French nationals, six Australians, five Thais, three South Koreans, threeVietnamese, and one each from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and the United States.^[4]^[8]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21] At least two children, both from Australia, were among the dead.^[7] Early reports that a Canadian was on board were incorrect, since it was later determined that the individual was a Vietnamese national.^[22]

Country	Passengers	Crew	Total
Laos	16	4	20
France	7	–	7
Australia	6	–	6
Thailand	5	–	5
South Korea	3	–	3
Vietnam	3	–	3
Cambodia	–	1	1
China	1	–	1
Malaysia	1	–	1
Taiwan	1	–	1
United States	1	–	1
Total	44	5	49