| Eastern brings aircraft back home from the west |
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February 2006
The aircraft today (15 February) had its maiden flight for the UK regional airline, following the installation of a new Flight Management System (FMS), upgraded Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), refurbished cabin interior and new galley at the operator’s in-house technical maintenance facility at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire.
Eastern Airways operates more 29 seat Jetstream 41 regional aircraft than any other airline in the world and a team of specialists, headed up by local man Alex Williamson, technical director for Eastern Airways’ Prestwick division, made sure the aircraft was welcomed back and handled with care when it returned to its roots from America.
After the installations and all the maintenance checks were complete, the aircraft was tested and flown by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and certified to enter service by the CAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
“It’s good to see the aircraft back on home turf”, said Alex. “We’ve upgraded the aircraft by installing a new flight management system along with an advanced safety system, which provides an early warning alerting pilots to other traffic in the area, which is above the requirements of the CAA. This aircraft will now fly throughout the UK on our route network, including Scotland.”
“It’s always a pleasure to be one of the first to fly a new addition to the fleet,” said captain Bill Houlsby who flew the aircraft from Prestwick to Humberside. “Our engineers have done an excellent job with the new installations that bring its technology inline with the rest of the fleet.”
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