CRASH d'un G650, pendant une série d'essais

Triste nouvelle !
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"Crash" au décollage ; 4 morts (aucun survivant?).

Nos pensées vont vers les victimes ("doing their job") et à leurs familles, bien aimé(e)s et proches.

Nous espérons que la "root cause" de l'accident sera vite élucidée, et que Gulfstream pourra poursuivre le programme avec courage et réussite.

Affaire à suivre, hélas !
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DATE:03/04/11. SOURCE:Flightglobal.com
Gulfstream G650 test aircraft crashes on takeoff, killing four
By Jon Ostrower

The US Federal Aviation Administration and Gulfstream Aerospace has confirmed has confirmed one of its five G650 test aircraft crashed at Roswell International Air Center Airport in Roswell, New Mexico, killing two pilots and two test engineers aboard.
According to the FAA, the aircraft - operating as Gulstream Test 31 - had spent the morning, approximately 2.5h, conducting takeoff-performance and brake testing when the aircraft when it was cleared for takeoff on runway 15, at around 09:30 local time.
On its takeoff roll the aircraft had "just gotten airborne" when the right wingtip struck the ground, causing the aircraft to lose altitude, collapsing the gear, skidding on the runway and catching fire.

The FAA says winds were under 10kts at the time of the accident.
Gulfstream Aerospace president, Joe Lombardo, says: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who were lost," adding "We are cooperating 100 percent with the investigation."
Both National Transportation Safety Board and FAA investigators are enroute to the scene.
A source familiar with the accident says S/N 6002, registered N652GD, was the airframe involved. S/N 6002 first flew on 25 February 2010 and was tasked with validating the aircraft's systems, as part of the planned 1,800h certification campaign.
Gulfstream has targeted 2011 for FAA and EASA certification of the large cabin ultra-long range G650, with its first planned delivery in 2012.

Pas de révélations extraordinaires à ce stade. C'est bon pour nous :

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16:00 4-21-2011

As the investigation continues into the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] during a test flight on April 2, the NTSB has said it might be more than a year before the cause of the accident is determined.

However, Tom Latson, the NTSB investigator in charge of the accident, confirmed with AIN that the flight-test G650 involved in the crash, S/N 6002, was equipped with a telemetry data downlink.

This could provide investigators with a trove of additional clues, above and beyond those from the twinjet’s CVR and FDR, though the NTSB declined to reveal what telemetry data it has in hand.

Latson did say that the Board will be conducting an “extremely thorough investigation.”

Aside from Gulfstream, other parties to the investigation include the FAA, Parker Aerospace (manufacturer of the
aircraft’s fly-by-wire flight control system), Rolls-Royce and the German Accident Investigation Bureau (the 16,100-pound-thrust BR725A1-12 engines on the aircraft were manufactured in Germany).

Financial analysts are expecting more details about how the crash will affect the G650’s planned late 2011 certification, and a sense of when flight tests will resume, during Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics’s first-quarter investor call on Wednesday.

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Bonjour, chers tous, et merci, Ugant.

Ugant a écrit:Pas de révélations extraordinaires à ce stade. C'est bon pour nous :

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16:00 4-21-2011

As the investigation continues into the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] during a test flight on April 2, the NTSB has said it might be more than a year before the cause of the accident is determined.

However, Tom Latson, the NTSB investigator in charge of the accident, confirmed with AIN that the flight-test G650 involved in the crash, S/N 6002, was equipped with a telemetry data downlink.

This could provide investigators with a trove of additional clues, above and beyond those from the twinjet’s CVR and FDR, though the NTSB declined to reveal what telemetry data it has in hand.

Latson did say that the Board will be conducting an “extremely thorough investigation.”

Aside from Gulfstream, other parties to the investigation include the FAA, Parker Aerospace (manufacturer of the
aircraft’s fly-by-wire flight control system), Rolls-Royce and the German Accident Investigation Bureau (the 16,100-pound-thrust BR725A1-12 engines on the aircraft were manufactured in Germany).

Financial analysts are expecting more details about how the crash will affect the G650’s planned late 2011 certification, and a sense of when flight tests will resume, during Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics’s first-quarter investor call on Wednesday.

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Oui, ceci correspond au contenu du rapport du NTSB, qui était attendu à ce stade.

Bonjour, chers tous.

Ceci va peut-être freiner certaines discussions futiles ailleurs (sur d'autres Forums), concernant la suite des événements dans le programme de cet excellent appareil, malgré la tragique accident mentionné dans le post ci-dessus.
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DATE:04/05/11. SOURCE:Flight International
Gulfstream holds to 12 green G650s this year
By [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] chief executive Jay Johnson says the company's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] unit is moving forward with all "non-flying" aspects of G650 certification while an US National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation of the 2 April fatal crash of a flight test aircraft, one of five in the nascent fleet.

C'est normal. Gulfsream a raison.

The NTSB in its initial report noted that the aircraft was performing a take-off with simulated engine failure to determine take-off distance requirements at minimum flap settings when the accident occurred. A final probable determination by the NTSB typically takes 12-18 months. Johnson says the company is working closely with the FAA in consultation with the NTSB to determine when it will be appropriate to resume test flights. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] had expected to certificate the aircraft this year.

Bien sûr, il risque d'y avoir des perturbations dans le déroulement du programme.

Meanwhile, assembly plans continue for the first tranche of aircraft. "I said we'd deliver approximately 12 green G650s this year, and I'm still in a place where I can do that," said Johnson.

Information encourageante. A suivre.

Gulfstream delivered "strong" performance in the quarter, Johnson said, with revenues of $1.4 billion, roughly equal to the revenues from the first quarter of 2010, with a backlog growing to $17.9 billion.

Ceci est encourageant.

A "healthy" interest in new aircraft is primarily coming from international quarters, accounting for 70% of new orders, said Johnson. Half of those came from the Asia-Pacific region including China, where Gulfstream gained orders for five large-cabin aircraft in the quarter.

Oui.

Johnson said order activity in the midsize sector, which includes the new G250, was "not as robust, but certainly improving". Gulfstream expects to certificate the G250 this year.

A noter. Les questions viendront après !

Bonjour, chers tous !

Une nouvelle encourageante : reprise des vols de certification pour le G650 !
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Le Gulfstream G650 reprend ses vols d'essai
30/05/2011 10:35 -
La campagne de certification du futur fleuron de Gulfstream a redémarré. L'avionneur vise toujours une certification pour la fin de l'année.

A Savannah, on ne jette pas l'éponge, loin de là. Le biréacteur d'affaires G650 a repris ses vols d'essai le 28 mai dernier. Ce premier vol depuis [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], a duré 1 heures et 39 minutes et a été réalisé par le premier prototype (S/N 6001). A bord se trouvaient les pilotes Jake Howard et Tom Horne, ainsi que le navigant d'essai Bill Osborne. La reprise des travaux, ..... c'est certainement ce qu'ils auraient voulu ! La direction de Gulfstream maintient une certification FAA de l'avion pour la fin de l'année et de premières livraisons pour 2012, et dit toujours travailler activement avec NTSB pour faire toute la lumière sur le crash du deuxième prototype (S/N 6002). L'accident est survenu durant un essai de décollage à basse vitesse sur un seul moteur et le minimum de volet, afin de déterminer la longueur minimum de décollage dans ces conditions. Au moment de la rotation, l'aile de l'avion aurait touché le sol à environ 1.600 m de la fin de la piste. L'appareil s'est alors écrasé avant de glisser sur une distance de 1.150 m. Lors du dernier salon EBACE de Genève, la direction de Gulfstream a déclaré que le dessin général de l'avion n'était pas mis en cause, mais que la vitesse minimale de décollage serait légèrement revue à la hausse. François Julian A suivre !