Monday, April 5, 2010

Australia's Qantas grounds 747 after windscreen cracks

Defense News: SYDNEY, April 5 (Reuters) - Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX) said on Monday one of its aircraft had been grounded after developing cracks in its windscreen while flying from the United States.


Qantas 747-400ER (Neg#: K62162-30)

The Boeing (BA.N) 747 landed safely in Melbourne on Monday morning after a flight from Los Angeles but was immediately grounded. The first officer noticed the cracks during the flight, a spokesman said.

The windscreen was to be replaced and the plane was expected to leave for the United States again early on Tuesday.

It is the latest of a series of recent technical mishaps involving Qantas. Last week one of the airline's Airbus (EAD.PA) A380 aircraft was grounded after two tyres exploded on landing in Sydney. [ID:nSGE6300AT] (Editing by Lincoln Feast)


NCI Wins $14 Million Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield Network Enterprise Center Task Order


Defense News : RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NCI, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCIT -News), a leading provider of information technology (IT), engineering, logistics, professional services, and solutions to U.S. Federal Government agencies, announced today that it has been awarded a single award task order under the ITES-2S contract with a value of approximately $14 million, if all options are exercised, to provide IT support services for the Network Enterprise Center (NEC) at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, GA. The period of performance for the base and option periods are March 2010 to March 2015. The competitive task order represents new work for NCI.

Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield are the Army’s world-class training and military armored power projection combination on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. This dynamic platform allows military units in the region to deploy rapidly throughout the world. Under this contract, NCI will support the U.S. Garrison at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, as well as the 3rd Infantry Division, also located at Fort Stewart.

This task order provides IT services to the NEC including: support for Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfields wireless and wired Local Area Networks (LANs), including cybersecurity and information assurance support; server, storage, cluster and database administration support; software support for desktop and server systems; email and Active Directory (AD) administration; network fault management, help and work order desk operation; and maintenance and repair of microcomputer systems.

“NCI is proud to be awarded the Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield NEC task order. We are keenly aware of Fort Stewart’s critical warfighting mission responsibilities and look forward to providing outstanding support. Our unique and deep experience working with other Army Network Enterprise Centers (including Fort Bragg, Fort Belvoir, Fort Lewis, and Fort Carson); as well as Major Army Commands (HQ Army Material Command and HQ FORSCOM) and Joint Commands (USTRANSCOM, USNORTHCOM and USTRATCOM); along with our significant role in supporting U.S. Army NETCOM provide us a powerful platform to help Fort Stewart meet its mission requirements,” said Terry W. Glasgow, NCI President.

About NCI, Inc.:

NCI is a leading provider of information technology (IT), engineering, logistics, and professional services and solutions to U.S. Federal Government agencies. We have the following industry-leading and globally recognized certifications: ISO 9001:2000, ISO 20000-1:2005, and CMMI Level 3 Appraisal. NCI’s award-winning expertise encompasses areas critical to its customers’ mission objectives, including enterprise systems management; network engineering; cybersecurity and information assurance; software development and systems engineering; program management, acquisition, and lifecycle support; engineering and logistics; health IT/medical transformation; and training and simulation. The company is a member of the Russell 2000 and S&P Small Cap 600 indexes. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, NCI has approximately 2,800 employees and more than 100 locations worldwide.

Forward-Looking Statement: Statements and assumptions made in this press release, which do not address historical facts, constitute "forward-looking" statements that NCI, Inc. believes to be within the definition in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control. Such forward-looking statements are subject to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated results. These factors include but are not limited to: the failure of the Government to allot funds to NCI to complete performance of the task order; the risk of task order performance; government contract procurement (such as bid protest) and termination risks; competitive factors such as pricing pressures and/or competition to hire and retain employees; and material changes in laws or regulations applicable to the company's businesses. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, please refer to the section titled "Risk Factors" in NCI, Inc.'s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended December 31, 2009. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are only made as of the date of this news release and NCI, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any of the forward-looking statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or circumstances, changes in expectations or otherwise.