EU-Russia Relations: Russia shuts down Nord Stream gas pipeline for repairs

Russia has reduced Nord Stream gas exports to Europe as the pipeline enters a scheduled 10-day maintenance period.

Although the routine repairs had been long-planned, some officials fear Russia might not restart the flow of gas in an attempt to destabilize Europe. Other repairs have missed deadlines in the past and now, Germany is bracing for a winter of limited gas supplies.

"As expected, Nord Stream 1 is at zero since this morning," Klaus Müller, the head of Germany's energy regulator, told Reuters on Monday.

"What happens at the end of the maintenance, nobody is able to say at this moment," he added. "We won't know any time sooner than a day before its scheduled end."

Read more at: Russia shuts down Nord Stream gas pipeline for repairs | News | DW | 11.07.2022

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Aircraft Industry - Safety: Aircraft fumes are a potential deadly travel hazard

How dangerous is the air pilots and passengers breathe on commercial flights? Two British Airways pilots are believed to have died as a result of contaminated air. The airline industry is under pressure to make changes.

In the summer of 2012, fumes in the cockpit of a German Wings flight made the pilots so nauseous that they just barely managed to land their plane at Cologne airport. Since then, in December and January, two British Airways pilots are believed to have died as a result of contaminated air.

The phenomenon of aircraft fumes has been known for years, but it is only ever discussed on the quiet because it is detrimental to the reputation of aviation.

For more than 50 years, cockpits and cabins in commercial jet planes have been ventilated with fresh air via so-called bleed air systems. Compressed air is drawn into the ventilation system through the engines - a time-tested, low-cost method, which the industry says works reliably if everything is set up, maintained and monitored properly. In the case of defective gasket seals and malfunctioning power units, however, tiny droplets of vaporized engine oil might seep into the air, releasing a distinct smell in both the cockpit and cabin.
Lufthansa chief pilot Werner Knorr conceded that much in a letter to his colleagues that was made available to DW.

Knorr stressed, however, that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Europe's top regulator of civilian aviation safety, "sees no reason for immediate and fundamental legal regulations in view of current reports and findings."

Germany's cabin crew union UFO takes a different view. Every month, the union said, it receives about 20 reports from cabin crew members detailing incidents of odor development during take-off and landing phases. "Symptoms include headaches, mucus membrane irritation and nausea," Andreas Sitek of the union's health task force told DW. "Some complain of sleeplessness and muscle spasms."

Eva Lichtenberger, an Austrian Greens politician and member of the EU parliament, proposed that EASA collect more comprehensive data on incidents involving contaminated cabin air. Such data might possibly lead to recommendations or legal regulations for improved safety features for passengers and flight crews.

Read more: Aircraft fumes are a potential travel hazard | Germany | DW.DE | 26.02.2013

Airbus - Wing cracks: Airbus expects to solve A380 problem by year's end - not considered safety hazzard

Airbus expects to have a permanent solution for tiny cracks in the wings of its A380 superjumbo jets by the end of the year and repairs completed by the end of 2013, a spokesman says.

The company is currently carrying out temporary repairs to the micro cracks found in the wings of some 17 of the aircraft last year.

At the same time the company is looking to come up with a permanent solution to the problem, which has been traced to a small number of faulty brackets among the thousands that hold the wing's skin to the structure.

Airbus has insisted that the cracks do not pose a safety risk, and envisages that the repairs can be made in 2013 when the aircraft undergo regular servicing.


Read more: Wing cracks: Airbus expects to solve A380 problem by year's end