April 8, 1996

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HEADLINE NEWS

CREW FATIGUE EMERGING AS CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUE

Although the overall U.S. military safety record was exemplary in 1995, a series of recent aircraft accidents suggests crew fatigue is an underlying problem

By WILLIAM B. SCOTT

HEADLINE NEWS

DARKSTAR MAKES 'SOLO' FIRST FLIGHT

LOS ANGELES The Lockheed Martin/Boeing Tier 3drone made its first flight on Mar. 29 at Edwards AFB, Calif., landing as planned after 20 min. From takeoff to landing rollout, the DarkStar reconnaissance aircraft operated completely autonomously, with no updates to its on-board flight plan.

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM

HEADLINE NEWS

EF2000 FIRST DELIVERY DELAYED TO 2001

MANCHING, GERMANY The German parliament is expected to approve production investment for the Eurofighter 2000 by the end of the year, paving the way for production to begin in January, 1 998. The U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain agreed on a revised worksharing plan.

By PIERRE SPARACO

HEADLINE NEWS

FLIGHT TEST EXPANDS EUROFIGHTER ENVELOPE

MANCHING, GERMANY The Eurofighter 2000 flight test program is proceeding well and should demonstrate the full flight envelope by the end of the year, according to FranzJoseph Enzinger, program manager for the EF2000 flight test at the Daimler-Benz facility here.

By BRUCE D. NORDWALL

HEADLINE NEWS

ACTIVE F-15 VECTORS

NEW YORK_ A NASA, Air Force, industry team has completed the first flight phase of an F-l5 fitted with axisymmetric thrust vectoring nozzles. On Mar. 27 during a nearly two-hour flight from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA pilots Jim Smolka and Rogers Smith vectored the aircraft's Pratt & Whitney pitch-yaw balance beam nozzles for the first time in flight, one at a time, in both pitch and yaw.

HEADLINE NEWS

USAF, NTSB, CROATIA PROBE 737 CRASH

WASHINGTON PARIS SEATTLE A U.S. Air Force CT-43 carrying Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown strayed off course while flying a nondirectional radio beacon (NDB) approach in instrument conditions and flew into a 2,300-ft. hill near Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia.

By DAVID HUGHES,CRAIG COVAULT,PAUL PROCTOR

HEADLINE NEWS

REDUCING CFIT RISK

WASHINGTON A study conducted by the Flight Safety Foundation found that performing a precision instrument approach, especially at unfamiliar airports, is five times safer than flying a nonprecision approach procedure and reduces the risk of controlled flight into terrain.

HEADLINE NEWS

GPS PLAN TO ADD NEW SECURITY TECHNIQUES

PHILIP J. KLASS WASHINGTON The Clinton Administration's recent plan to stop degrading Global Positioning System accuracy within 10 years provides time to develop alternative techniques to deny GPS use to enemy forces (AW&ST Apr. 1, p. 23).

HEADLINE NEWS

LONGBOW APACHE MODS UNDERWAY

FT. WORTH The first six of 18 U.S. Army AH-64A Apaches are being converted to Longbow AH64D models at McDonnell Douglas' Mesa, Ariz., plant under a singleyear contract. The first production helicopter is to be delivered in March, 1997, with initial operational capability scheduled for August, 1998.