For the aviation fans

[Bateleur1]

Looks like the low cost options are going to get fewer for travelers at Lanseria:

https://techcentral.co.za/mango-joins-saa-in-cancelling-flights/96152/

 

The only logical reason I see for this is that because SAA is cutting quite a few of its domestic flights, Mango will have to take that over, and you have only so many aircraft available.  So I assume they are going to use the aircraft to take over quite a few of the canned SAA flights.  Comair might be smiling though. 

[SwissVan]

The only logical reason I see for this is that because SAA is cutting quite a few of its domestic flights, Mango will have to take that over, and you have only so many aircraft available. So I assume they are going to use the aircraft to take over quite a few of the canned SAA flights. Comair might be smiling though.

I don’t see how SAA can cut all these flights and still survive, how do they make money if they are not selling seats?

Does anyone know how many flights / slots they have cut in total, perhaps as a % of before BER?

[JJDT]

Time for FLYSAFAIR to step into the gap Mango will leave open.

[Long Wheel Base]

Mango are loosing 2 aircraft at the end of March. They going back to the owner. Lease expired. But apparently they going to wet lease in 2 aircraft to replace them. But as stated above, they going to be taking up some of the pax/flights that SAA has ceased to fly. Lanseria is also apparently very expensive to fly to and from(not a reliable source.......So can't confirm this by any means).

[Long Wheel Base]

I don’t see how SAA can cut all these flights and still survive, how do they make money if they are not selling seats?

Does anyone know how many flights / slots they have cut in total, perhaps as a % of before BER

 .....

You asking the same questions as us.

Not sure the exact % but its like half.

 

See below from an internal mail a few weeks ago.

 

 

SAA will continue to operate all international services between Johannesburg and Frankfurt, London Heathrow, New York, Perth and Washington via Accra.

 

Regional services to be retained include from Johannesburg to Blantyre, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Maputo, Mauritius, Nairobi, Livingstone, Victoria Falls and Windhoek.

 

On 29^th February 2020, SAA will close the following regional and international services from Johannesburg to Abidjan via Accra, Entebbe, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Luanda, Munich, Ndola, and Sao Paulo.

 

On the domestic route network, SAA will continue to serve Cape Town on a reduced basis.

 

All other domestic destinations, including Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth, will cease to be operated by SAA on 29^th February 2020. Domestic routes operated by Mango will not be affected by the changes.

[Long Wheel Base]

The only logical reason I see for this is that because SAA is cutting quite a few of its domestic flights, Mango will have to take that over, and you have only so many aircraft available.  So I assume they are going to use the aircraft to take over quite a few of the canned SAA flights.  Comair might be smiling though. 

SAA did offer mango the unused aircraft but it was turned down. Main reasons being training of mango crew and spares. It is no secret that SAA crew(pilots mainly) get paid a FAT salary and no ways mango would have been prepared to pay them that to fly for them so they would have had to either find extra pilots or train there own pilots. Then having spares for a multi aircraft fleet is expensive. 

[SwissVan]

SAA did offer mango the unused aircraft but it was turned down. Main reasons being training of mango crew and spares. It is no secret that SAA crew(pilots mainly) get paid a FAT salary and no ways mango would have been prepared to pay them that to fly for them so they would have had to either find extra pilots or train there own pilots. Then having spares for a multi aircraft fleet is expensive.

I’m think Boeing will have some 737’s available for cheap cheap lease including free crew training in the near future.... smirk ????

Edited February 27, 2020 by SwissVan

[Lotus]

I foresee the cost of domestic flights increasing for the budget-conscious traveler.

 

Lanseria has been a great airport for those of us in Jhb not close to ORT, and the cost of travel to ORT will have to be factored into the ticket prices now. You can either pay the Gautrain fare, or have the cost of parking at ORT (Lanseria isn't cheap for parking either, but it's been easy to get family to drop off or even Uber).

 

As far as Lanseria-served flying is concerned, this leaves Safair on the CT route only. Kulula hasn't been a low-cost airline for ages (I don't even bother checking their prices anymore), so Safair will probably raise their prices (why not, if there's no other competitor?).

Edited February 27, 2020 by Lotus

[Bonus]

We lived on the west rand and Lanseria was soooo easy to get to, to check in at and to fly from.

[Bateleur1]

Comair invested quite a bit in Lanseria and would not surprise me if they have shares there as well.  I know quite a few years ago they spent quite a bit of money there and signed a deal with Lanseria which basically closed the doors for SAA/Mango to operate from there for a period (say 5 years or something).  When that deal came to an end Comair was going to try and renew the deal when SAA took Comair to court for anti competitive business.  Not sure what the outcome was then but I am sure that Comair still have favourable rates compared to Mango there.

[Bateleur1]

So for some time I was wondering with exactly which aircraft we flew when we moved to Germany.  Eventually I could just not take it anymore and decided to mail Frankfurt Airport to ask them if they can tell me where to get the registration number of the aircraft we flew with.  I could give them the date and flight number.  Was not even an hour and they responded. D-AIMM.

[SwissVan]

The Blanco take was/is that hovering with no vis is all but impossible ....

 

 

But having said that if the weather is closing in on you in a heli its sure is going to be a lot easier to do a precautionary landing  than in  a fixed wing, Prior to that it seems there was a lot of ATC interaction

 

 

 

 

 

Bryant's Widow Files L.A. Helo Crash Suit

by Mark Huber

 - February 25, 2020, 7:27 PM

 

 

 

 

 

Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, filed a wrongful death suit in Los Angeles County Circuit on Monday against Island Express Helicopters, its holding company, and the estate of pilot Ara Zobayan. Vanessa Bryant is being represented by the Los Angeles mega-law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson and joined by the Kansas City aviation law firm of Robb & Robb, which specializes in helicopter accidents. Robb & Robb has secured large settlements from a variety of helicopter crashes including $100 million for the survivor of the crash of an Air Methods Airbus AS350 B3e near Frisco, Colorado in 2015. Neither firm returned AIN’s request for comment. 

The suit does not specify damages, but charges the helicopter operator and the pilot with 27 negligence and fraud-related counts, according to the Los Angeles Times. Retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball legend Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and six other passengers died January 26 when an Island Express Sikorsky S-76B flown by Zobayan crashed while on a VFR Part 135 flight near Calabasas, California. Information released by the National Transportation Safety Board suggests that the helicopter crashed while Zobayan was attempting to fly in an area of rising terrain and instrument meteorological conditions. 

This legal action comes one week after various media outlets reported that Zobayan had received “counseling” from the FAA after penetrating Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Class B airspace without permission while flying an AS350 in May 2015. In that incident, Zobayan had requested a special VFR (SVFR) transition and was denied. Per policy and instructions on the Los Angeles terminal area chart, SVFR is prohibited at LAX for fixed-wing operations. It is not prohibited for rotary-wing operations but, depending on traffic flow, can be difficult to obtain.

 

Per previous reporting, Zobayan was a veteran helicopter pilot with more than 8,000 hours total time and had extensive experience flying in the L.A. basin and its complicated airspace. FAA counseling for inadvertent or infrequent airspace or other types of violations is not uncommon. In a recent high-profile case, in 2017 actor and pilot Harrison Ford was given “counseling” after accidentally landing an Aviat Husky on a taxiway at John Wayne International Airport (KSNA) in Santa Ana, California.   

On Tuesday, AIN learned that Island Express Helicopters had been fined by the FAA in the amounts of $8,500 and $10,950 in 2018 for violations of the agency’s drug-testing requirements. Drug-testing fines represented the majority of FAA enforcement actions in 2018, comprising 90 out of the 176 cases for the year, according to FAA quarterly enforcement action reports examined by AIN. Major aviation industry companies such as Delta Air Lines, NetJets, and PHI Helicopters all were caught up in what were largely technical violations related to FAA drug-testing protocol and/or requirements. FAA drug-testing fines in the first quarter of 2018 alone amounted to $332,040 distributed across 27 cases.

In a statement from Island Express to AIN on Tuesday, the company said, “During a regular FAA audit of Island's drug program in 2018, it was discovered that two employees were not immediately added to the random testing pool after their negative pre-employment tests. The fines were paid. The program was changed so that all applicants are automatically added to the pool. The employee involved was not Ara Zobayan.” 

[SwissVan]

SACAA Plane down after departing George of navaid calibration flight.

 

Rest in Peace

 

https://m.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/fears-for-three-crew-members-as-plane-goes-missing-near-george-20200123

 

 

SACAA Interim report was published recently.

 

ZS-CAR.pdf

 

 

 

Under the preliminary findings page 24 of pdf:

 

2.2.15 The aircraft was fitted with an FDR which was downloaded in France under the supervision of a RSA IIC. According to available preliminary graph FDR results, as the aircraft levelled off at 3900ft (QNH 1018), a rapid descent occurred, and the aircraft lost 1500ft in approximately 9 seconds; three seconds prior to impact, the aircraft nose pitched up before impacting the terrain at 2192ft.

 

Page 28 of pdf

 

The preliminary FDR analysis

00:20:15 - 00:21:00

• The aircraft pitch increased from +5 and decreased to +2 degrees.

• The aircraft altitude increased from 2900 ft to 3900 ft

• The aircraft airspeed increased from about 210 to 245 kts.

• The aircraft magnetic heading was generally constant at 37.5 degrees until about 00:20:45 when it increased to 67.5 degrees

• The aircraft roll was about zero degrees and began to increase to 35 degrees at 00:20:45.

00:21:00 - 00:21:10

• The aircraft pitch decreased from about +2 to -10 degrees from 00:21:02 to 00:21:05 and over the next 5 secs decreased to -32.5 degrees.

• The aircraft altitude decreased from 3900 to 3200 ft between 00:21:00 - 00:21:05 and the next 5 secs decreased to 2800 ft.

• The aircraft airspeed increased from 245 to 275 kts.

• The aircraft magnetic heading increased from 67.5 to 150 degrees.

• The aircraft roll increased from about 35 to 105 degrees during the period of 0:21:00 - 00:21:07 and then over the next 3 secs decreased to 75 degrees.

00:21:10 - 00:21:13

• The aircraft pitch increased from -32.5 to -17.5 degrees.

• The aircraft altitude decreased from 3200 to 2400 ft.

• The aircraft airspeed increased from 275 to 310kts during the period of 00:21:10 to 00:21:12 and one second later the airspeed was 290kts.

• The aircraft magnetic heading increased from 150 to 177 degrees.

• The aircraft roll decreased from 75 to 10 degrees.

[Robbie Stewart]

SACAA Interim report was published recently.

 

ZS-CAR.pdf

 

 

 

Under the preliminary findings page 24 of pdf:

 

2.2.15 The aircraft was fitted with an FDR which was downloaded in France under the supervision of a RSA IIC. According to available preliminary graph FDR results, as the aircraft levelled off at 3900ft (QNH 1018), a rapid descent occurred, and the aircraft lost 1500ft in approximately 9 seconds; three seconds prior to impact, the aircraft nose pitched up before impacting the terrain at 2192ft.

 

Page 28 of pdf

 

The preliminary FDR analysis

00:20:15 - 00:21:00

• The aircraft pitch increased from +5 and decreased to +2 degrees.

• The aircraft altitude increased from 2900 ft to 3900 ft

• The aircraft airspeed increased from about 210 to 245 kts.

• The aircraft magnetic heading was generally constant at 37.5 degrees until about 00:20:45 when it increased to 67.5 degrees

• The aircraft roll was about zero degrees and began to increase to 35 degrees at 00:20:45.

00:21:00 - 00:21:10

• The aircraft pitch decreased from about +2 to -10 degrees from 00:21:02 to 00:21:05 and over the next 5 secs decreased to -32.5 degrees.

• The aircraft altitude decreased from 3900 to 3200 ft between 00:21:00 - 00:21:05 and the next 5 secs decreased to 2800 ft.

• The aircraft airspeed increased from 245 to 275 kts.

• The aircraft magnetic heading increased from 67.5 to 150 degrees.

• The aircraft roll increased from about 35 to 105 degrees during the period of 0:21:00 - 00:21:07 and then over the next 3 secs decreased to 75 degrees.

00:21:10 - 00:21:13

• The aircraft pitch increased from -32.5 to -17.5 degrees.

• The aircraft altitude decreased from 3200 to 2400 ft.

• The aircraft airspeed increased from 275 to 310kts during the period of 00:21:10 to 00:21:12 and one second later the airspeed was 290kts.

• The aircraft magnetic heading increased from 150 to 177 degrees.

• The aircraft roll decreased from 75 to 10 degrees.

 

 

Thanks for sharing Swiss, 

 

I am keen on reading the whole report, but so far scanned over it and from what I am understanding unless I am missing something is that there was a possible loss of control, either pilot induced due to cloud cover or mechanical (pitch and roll rate decrease and increase).

 

Again, my perspective is based on very loosely translated assumptions. 

[SwissVan]

Thanks for sharing Swiss,

 

I am keen on reading the whole report, but so far scanned over it and from what I am understanding unless I am missing something is that there was a possible loss of control, either pilot induced due to cloud cover or mechanical (pitch and roll rate decrease and increase).

 

Again, my perspective is based on very loosely translated assumptions.

When I glanced through the report I only looked for the FDR data and posted those, imo these reports contain a lot of other info which is probably necessary from an investigation point of view but also a lot of waffle...

 

From what I see (uneducated non pilot perspective) maybe they tried to avoid the mountain at the last minute and this induced a stall followed by a spin

 

But tbh I have not had the time to really think about it

[Robbie Stewart]

When I glanced through the report I only looked for the FDR data and posted those, imo these reports contain a lot of other info which is probably necessary from an investigation point of view but also a lot of waffle...

 

From what I see (uneducated non pilot perspective) maybe they tried to avoid the mountain at the last minute and this induced a stall followed by a spin

 

But tbh I have not had the time to really think about it

 

Now that you say it, I did notice the the ATC instructed the aircraft that they were requesting to fly in uncontrolled airspace at 17 DME. This together with the lowering ceiling possibly led to another Kobe Bryant scenario...