NTSB Discusses Investigation In Public Meeting

A maintenance error combined with excess weight in the back of the plane led to the crash of US Airways Express Flight 5481 last year at North Carolina's Charlotte-Douglas Airport, federal investigators said Thursday. All 21 people aboard were killed in the crash, the deadliest in the United States in nearly 2 1/2 years. The twin-engine Beech 1900, operated by Air Midwest, took off on Jan. 8, 2003. Within seconds, however, its nose pitched up sharply. The aircraft stalled, then rolled left and plummeted into a maintenance hangar. The plane had been destined for Greer, S.C.

7E7 Engine Selection In April

Engine manufacturers are looking forward to an April Boeing decision on 7E7 powerplants, Pratt & Whitney President-Commercial Engines Robert Leduc said at the Asian Aerospace 2004. The airframe manufacturer is taking the competing engine specifications to key airline customers. Boeing firmed aircraft specifications just a few weeks ago, but now "we finally locked down on thrust and configuration," allowing Pratt to deliver its "best and final" engine specifications at the end of March, Leduc said. So large is the prospective market -- 2,000-2,500 airplanes over 20 years by Boeing's forecast, 1,900 by conservative Pratt guesses -- that Leduc plans to keep the program going in the event the PW-EXX is not selected, slowed somewhat waiting for Air