To date, red dye does not seem to have appeared in business jet fuel, unlike it has in air carrier fuel at some airports where airliners were delayed while their fuel tanks were drained. Since 1994, red dye has been required in diesel fuel intended for off-road vehicle use. This fuel passes through the same pipelines that are used for jet fuel (October 1994, page 32). But Allen Bretz, manager of GA sales at Phillips 66, says there are ``almost no occurrences'' of red-dye contamination, and ``it is not a pipeline problem.
Salaries for department managers and directors of operations in the medium jet category were transposed in our ``1997 Salary Survey'' (April, page 43). The 11 department managers made an average of $94,717, while the four directors of operations had salaries averaging $48,000.
Stocking the new control tower at Washington National Airport with the same radar that was in the old tower has had predictable results, said the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, a union group. Since the tower opened in early April, several radar outages have occurred. The failures prompted NATCA to criticize the FAA for not installing new equipment. The radar systems used at National are nearly 30 years old. The FAA says new equipment is scheduled to be in operation at DCA's tower by 2001.
Photograph: A five-passenger layout will be standard: two, fully berthing, extra-wide seats and two standard seats in a club configuration and a belted potty. Even though the prototype SJ30-2 is stuffed with flight-test gear, several company executives already have shuttled back and forth from San Antonio to Teterboro in the airplane--they just never left the ground. To make the most of its resources, Sino Swearingen is using its cabin mockup as a working tool to help refine interior configuration and design.
Virgin Atlantic Airlines chairman Richard Branson recently launched a corporate jet and helicopter charter company which also plans to offer feeder services into London airports for Virgin Atlantic premium class passengers. The new company, Virgin Executive, is initially operating two Eurocopter AS-355F1s, two Bell JetRangers and four Robinson R22 helicopters from a small airfield near High Wycombe, just outside London's orbital freeway.
Airworthiness Directives issued within the last 30 days are posted for viewing at www.atp.com, the web site for Aircraft Technical Publishers of Brisbane, Calif. The information is updated daily, hyperlinked (so users need only click on the AD number in the on-screen index to see the AD as it would appear on paper) and free of charge.
It's Friday, April 18th, 1997. The headline in The Wall Street Journal screams ``High Tension . . . Despite a Safe Record, Corporate Jets Have Higher Fatality Rates . . . Pilots Fly Longer Hours Over Unfamiliar Terrain to Some Outdated Fields . . . `Get the Boss There' Factor.''
A Kazakastan Airlines Ilyushin 76 on approach to India's New Dehli Airport was nearly 1,000 feet below its assigned altitude when it collided with a departing Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 in November 1996, according to investigators. The accident was fatal to all 349 persons aboard the two aircraft. Cause factors listed by the investigators included New Dehli's antiquated ATC radar that doesn't show aircraft altitude or course and problems associated with the Russian crew having to speak English to controllers.
Single-pilot IFR certification of the MD Explorer marked a first for McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems and for AlliedSignal, which took the lead in the development and flight-test activity. MDH itself had never experienced the IFR certification process, although a European operator has certificated a 500-series helicopter for instrument flight.
Crews flying aircraft over the Pacific and the Caribbean may notice some improvement in handling as a result of new ATC equipment at the ARTCCs in New York and Oakland, Calif. The Telecommunications Processor in New York and the Interim Situation Display in Oakland replace 1960s-era computers and are designed to give controllers improved capabilities for monitoring aircraft position when flying in non-radar areas.
The Korean Commercial Aircraft Development Consortium (KCDC) and Aero International (Regional) have signed a memorandum of understanding ``in order to define the principles which could eventually lead to a future industrial partnership in the AI(R)JET project.'' KCDC's objective is to develop the Korean aerospace industry, and it was a participant in January at the AI(R)JET aerostructure conference in Toulouse, France.
FlightSafety International (Flushing, N.Y.)--Three staff changes at this training organization are: Mike King is manager of the Sabreliner Training Center in St. Louis, John Springstead is manager of FSI's Learning Center at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France and Don Seiler is manager of the new helicopter training center in Lafayette, La.
The ``mini Airbus'' joint venture between Aerospatiale, Alenia and British Aerospace is expected to launch a regional jet program at the Paris Air Show in June. The company has said it will spend up to $1 billion to develop a family of regional jets ranging from 58 seats to approximately 90 seats. The first model, which is expected to enter service in 2001, will seat 70 passengers. The next airplane will be the 58 seater, and the larger aircraft is still under consideration.
Business aircraft manufacturers annual maintenance and operations workshops scheduled for the remainder of the year include: Canadair Challenger, May 9 in Montreal; Cessna Citation, April 28-30 in Wichita; Dassault Falcon Jet, May 14 in London, England; Falcon Jet 2000, May 28 in Teterboro, N.J.; Gulfstream Aerospace, June 2-5 in Savannah; Raytheon Hawker, May 18-21 in Colorado Springs; Sabreliner, May 7-9 in St. Louis; and TBM 700, May 22-23 in Ft. Lauderdale. At press time, Bombardier was finalizing its schedule for an M&O in the fall for Learjet operators.
Phoenix Aviation of the Bahamas and Texaco International Aviation Sales officially opened Nassau Jet Centre in a March ceremony, although the FBO has been serving customers since the beginning of the year. The new facility has a 14-acre concrete ramp. Its 10,000-square-foot, two-story main building houses a crew lounge and flight planning center. Catering is available, and local golf courses and health clubs have extended their offerings to flightcrews. Around the clock security and customs are provided, said FBO officials.
Pilots of Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast Airlines have been conducting informational picketing at Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth airports to protest a lack of progress in protracted contract talks. ``Management is dragging its feet, putting off the inevitable--an industry-standard contract for ASA pilots,'' according to Andy Taggart, chairman of the ASA pilots' ALPA master executive council.
Delegates to the European Business Aircraft Association convention in March in Brussels were stunned by an apparently casual comment made by a senior European Commission official. He effectively told them not to bother implementing JAR Ops 1 Specs, the long-awaited operating rules of the JAA. He said there was no point in companies operating to the new rules because the EC was currently drafting its own version, which will become common European Law at a later stage. Implementation of JAR Ops 1 Specs is due to take place in April 1998.
An imbroglio involving the Memphis-based repair station unit of A/C Fuel Cells Worldwide has resulted in a new name and rebirth for the unit. Charles Lanza, a sales and marketing official with the newly coined A/C Team, told B/CA that the firm has been given FAA approval to repair/overhaul fuel cells, floats and survival equipment. Earlier this year, the FAA revoked the repair station certificate of A/C Fuel Cells Worldwide for allegedly using bogus parts in overhauling fuel cells.
Southern Aviation Technologies recently received certification as an FAA repair station. The certification covers maintenance on Citation 500s and 600s, Westwind 1124s and Cheyenne PA31Ts. The company also has Venezuelan certification status. The former maintenance shop, which has been operating at Orlando Executive and Orlando International airports since 1994, is open for business seven days a week.
Shannon Engineering (Seattle)--Neil C. Phelps has become a partner in this company whose specialty is engineering work for corporate airplanes and helicopters.
Several safety experts and accident investigators, who wished not to be named, are worried about the effectiveness of the NTSB's investigative process as a result of the ``Family Assistance Act.'' The new federal legislation requires the Safety Board to be in charge of coordinating a daily briefing for family members-and their lawyers, if present-of the victims before briefing the press.
Learjet broke ground in Wichita on March 12 for this 70,000-square-foot aircraft paint and delivery center. The facility will be used for painting new Learjet 45s and for customer deliveries. It will replace an aging facility and also create a formal aircraft delivery center in Wichita. The center is scheduled to be fully operational in the fourth quarter of this year. The Learjet 45 is expected to become FAA certificated in June.
Fairchild says that by year-end it will move its Dornier Aircraft North America marketing and support base from its current location in Sterling, Va. to San Antonio, home of parent-firm Fairchild Aircraft. Meanwhile, the first prototype of the P&WC-powered Dornier 328JET is scheduled to make its maiden flight in January 1998. First deliveries of the 32-passenger aircraft are planned to start in March 1999 (March 1997, page 24).
