Preliminary 1998 business aircraft safety statistics compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Fla., show that the number of business jet accidents increased while the number of business turboprop accidents decreased, compared to 1997. The 1998 and 1997 business jet statistics were as follows (1997 numbers are in parentheses): accidents, 16 (15); fatal accidents, 4 (1) and fatalities, 9 (5). The 1998 and 1997 business turboprop numbers were as follows: accidents, 27 (37); fatal accidents, 12 (14) and fatalities, 27 (41).
Continental Express, U.S. launch customer for the Embraer ERJ-145, will take delivery of the 100th aircraft this month. It will be the carrier's 36th 50-seater taken over the past two years. The airline has firm orders for 75 145s and 25 of the smaller 37-seat ERJ-135 with options for an additional 175 of the small jets exercisable over the next 10 years. At the time of the delivery, the 145 fleet had flown a total of 151,736 flight hours and carried 72,750 passengers.
At B/CA press time, Trimble Navigation was in the final stages of arranging the sale of its general aviation avionics line to an undisclosed buyer. Until the deal is closed, Trimble said it will fully support its products, which include GPS receivers, Terra equipment for recreational pilots and the new Trim Lines series, which had been undergoing certification for installation in the Mooney Eagle and Cirrus SR20.
ICAO is now offering a Controlled Flight into Terrain Education and Training Aid on CD-ROM. This software, intended as a CFIT accident prevention tool, covers all aspects of CFIT and includes a CFIT risk evaluation checklist. Price: $99 ICAO 999 University St. Montreal, Quebec H3C 5H7 Canada Phone: (514) 954-8022 Fax: (514) 954-6769
By combining the resources of Airwork and Dallas Airmotive, Orlando-based BBA Aviation now claims to be the world's largest independent provider of turbine engine maintenance, repair and overhaul services. BBA Aviation, which also is the parent company of Signature Flight Support, completed the acquisition of Airwork from General Electric at the end of 1998. Included in that transaction were Airwork's two major turbine service centers in Millville, N.J., and Miami, as well as four regional shops in Van Nuys, Calif.; Wichita; Atlanta; and Dayton, Ohio.
By mid-January VisionAire Corp., the Chesterfield, Mo., company that is developing the Vantage single-engine jet, was to begin recalling employees who had been furloughed following the launch of a design review of the composite aircraft. In late 1998, VisionAire reduced its payroll to about 70 employees, laying off 100 people, including Barry Smith, vice president of marketing and sales.
SimuFlite Training International is offering a new Advanced Airmanship course that includes instruction in the current and emerging technologies of ground proximity warning systems (GPWS) and traffic alert and collision avoidance systems (TCAS). The two-hour training session at SimuFlite's Dallas-Fort Worth Airport facility uses 3-D animation and identifies GPWS alerts and warnings and the specific threats they represent.
Boca Raton, Fla.--This spring, Boca Aviation plans to complete a new air-conditioned hangar that will be able to accommodate aircraft as large as a Gulfstream V and will include 15 office suites available for lease. Other improvements at the airport include a new lighted, secure parking lot and a new control tower, which is scheduled to be completed by midyear. Phone: (561) 368-1110.
Galaxy Aerospace (Fort Worth)--David Hunt has joined the business aircraft manufacturer as regional sales manager covering Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi. John Hodskins has been named regional sales manager covering Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta facility of Raytheon Aircraft has added a second weekday shift, expanding service hours from 0800 to 2300, Monday through Thursday and 0800 to 1830, Friday through Sunday.
A chief pilot for a flight department based at Westchester County Airport recently was remarking on the evolution of his operation both in terms of equipment and missions. For instance, he said, a trip to Europe used to be a ``big deal.'' Lots of advance notice, and plenty of advance planning by the flight department. Now, he said, it's common to have less than a day's notice, and his crews essentially regard a trip from HPN to Paris as routine.
Structural failure is a relatively rare occurrence in modern aircraft, and when it does happen, maintenance practices often are cited as the cause or a causal factor in the events that generated the failure.
Flightstar Corp. (Champaign, Ill.)--This air charter provider promoted two staff members: J. Warren Smith to vice president of flight operations and Gary Kuchenbrod to vice president of ground support service.
In the last two years, the FAA has increased its HAZMATs (hazardous materials) workforce five-fold. FAA crackdowns on HAZMATs have been frequent and swift after the ValuJet tragedy when a third party company, Sabretech, allegedly placed a shipment of oxygen generators aboard a ValuJet aircraft.
The DOT and Defense Department have agreed to establish 1,176 MHz as the new frequency for civil Global Positioning System signals. That frequency will carry GPS signals once the next generation of GPS satellites is launched around 2005. Actually, three signals will be used to minimize the risk that saboteurs could use inexpensive equipment to jam the navigation aid.
This spring, an industry/government partnership will embark on the second phase of a program that could radically change the way rotorcraft operate in IFR conditions. Their goal is nothing less than to develop rotorcraft precision terminal en route procedures (RPTERPS) that will allow precision IFR, constant deceleration approaches to a stabilized hover to a point 50 feet above a helipad.
A simple, but attractive, two-page newsletter is helping the Parker-Hannifin flight department gain the appreciation and understanding of company employees. Pat Clough, a pilot in the Parker-Hannifin flight department, based in Cleveland, edits a newsletter about P-H flight operations called Flight News. The publication is distributed quarterly by the headquarters office to 600 employees worldwide, and it also is placed in the passenger waiting area in the hangar and on the aircraft.
Checklists are recognized as the backbone of aviation safety and standardization. They coordinate tasks, enhance safety and promote CRM. Used properly, a checklist can stop crew errors and lapses of memory. Problems can be solved. But if this tool is misused or ignored, even the simplest flight can end in an incident or accident. All pilots have used checklists many times, yet few pilots have been told what they really are or how to use them. You can almost hear the snickering. ``Checklists? You just do 'em. What is there to know?''
JetCorp--a full-service FBO and aircraft charter operator at Spirit of St. Louis Airport--has a new chief operating officer, recently obtained a series of Falcon 900 STCs and is planning a major expansion of its facilities in Chesterfield, Mo. David Roy, a former AlliedSignal and Garrett Aviation executive, has been named COO of JetCorp. Roy is strategically positioning the company for future growth, as well as overseeing all its daily operations.
Kellstrom Industries of Sunrise, Fla., has completed the purchase of Solair Inc. from Banner Aerospace of Dulles, Va. Solair, which is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, distributes a variety of aircraft rotables, including flight data recorders, radars, navigation systems, and other electrical and mechanical equipment. Kellstrom Industries specializes in purchasing, overhauling (through subcontractors), reselling and leasing aircraft, avionics, aircraft rotables, and engines and engine parts.
New for the helicopter pilot is the AC-U-KWIK Heliport/FBO Directory 1999. The over-1,400-page volume provides preflight planning data, such as: public, private and military heliport information; airports with helipads; lat/long of heliports/airports; fuel availability; preferred landing area if not helipad-equipped; known obstacles in landing area; and more. Price: $29.95 Primedia Intertec Publication P.O. Box 12901 Overland Park, Kan. 66282 Phone: (913) 967-1719; Fax: (913) 967-1901
SimuFlite Training International (Dallas)--Four executives at the organization's DFW Airport headquarters received promotions: Allison K. Blankenship to managing director of project management, James E. Jetton to director of sales, Melinda J. McGinty to director of client management and William H. Wilhelmi to director of marketing and business development. In the training area, three staff changes were announced: William Campbell has been promoted to director of standards, and Robert Munro and Don Roney both have been named directors of training services.
Langhorne Bond, who served as FAA administrator from 1977 to 1981, has been chosen by the Air Traffic Control Association to receive its 1999 Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award. The award salutes the lifelong achievements of an individual in the field of aviation, with special emphasis on ATC. The award's namesake is one of the recognized ``Fathers of Air Traffic Control.'' The trophy, inscribed with recipients' names, will be presented to Bond on September 30 at the Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award Banquet in San Diego.
