Smaller aircraft operations have been singled out in recent months as inherently more dangerous than larger aircraft operations. That simply is not true. What is true is that certain segments of aviation have fewer accidents than other segments--regardless of the size of aircraft. And the statistics prove it.
Comments are due February 21 on a comprehensive revision of airman medical standards and certification procedures outlined in FAR Parts 61 and 67 (B/CA, December 1994, page 34). The proposed changes touch most major areas of FAA medical requirements: vision, cardiovascular fitness, administration, accuracy of information on medical forms and the duration of all three classes of medical certification. For more information, contact Dennis McEachen at (202) 493-4075 or Carol Thomas at (202) 493-4076 at the FAA in Washington, D.C.
A new single-engine turboprop pusher is now in flight test. An engineering prototype of the ST50, being designed by Cirrus Design Corporation under contract to an Israeli company, made its initial flight in early December 1994 from Cirrus' facilities at Duluth International Airport in Minnesota.
Incoming House Budget Chairman John Kasich (R-OH) has renewed a long-standing proposal to privatize the ATC system. Meanwhile, the concept of an FAA independent of the DOT also is gaining momentum among GA organizations, notably the AOPA, the NBAA, the Flight Freedom Foundation and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. But the Clinton administration is steadfast in its promotion of turning the FAA into a government-run corporation.
Effective January 1, the FAA discontinued issuing international crewmember certificates, since the U.S. Department of State no longer processes applications for the certificate. The certificates facilitated crewmembers' entry and clearance on commercial flights aboard U.S.-registered aircraft operating into ICAO-contracting states. Instead of the certificate, the FAA said international crewmembers will have to obtain standard international passports. For more information, contact the FAA at (202) 267-3749.
Opposition to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's plans to close the city's Meigs Field has been voiced by the NBAA. For months, Daley has been on record in support of closing the airport, but the issue resurfaced in December 1994 after he was quoted in the local media expressing his interest in shutting the airport down by 1996. In a letter to Daley, the NBAA reminded the mayor that the city's acceptance in 1989 of federal funds for airport improvements was based on assurances that the facility would remain open until at least 2009.
About 100 U.S. airports have aircraft noise-monitoring equipment and a trained staff to interpret the results and handle noise complaints. In 1982, during a protracted disagreement between local residents and airport users, New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN) became one of the first facilities to have a noise-monitoring system installed. The system demonstrated its value during a test period by providing the first accurate measure of the noise produced by aircraft landings and takeoffs at the airport.
Piper Aircraft Sales at the Bankstown Airport in New South Wales, Australia has been appointed by Piper Aircraft Corporation as the company's new airframe and parts-marketing facility for the entire continent. Those interested can contact Piper Aircraft Sales in Hangar 229, Bankstown Airport, NSW Australia 2200. Phone: +(02) 791-0377; fax: +(02) 791-0327.
Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker is struggling to survive, despite a strengthened order book, according to financial analysts. Reuter has quoted analysts in Amsterdam as saying they have seen an internal report outlining ``crisis plans'' to secure the company's future. Fokker is now a member of Deutsche Aerospace (DASA), the German aerospace conglomerate now called Daimler-Benz Aerospace, after parent company Daimler Benz.
London-based Thames Heliport Company's plan to establish a floating heliport on the Thames River at a site convenient to London city center has been scuttled by a High Court judge. The judge concluded that although the heliport would be located offshore, it would still be a ``change in land use.'' Therefore, its construction would have required special permission from the Planning Board, and the general feeling is that that administrative body would have killed the project anyway.
Bombardier's business aircraft division has added representatives in Toluca, near Mexico City, and in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to its Canadair Challenger worldwide service network. The move ``enables us to address the needs of the growing Challenger fleet based in both of these regions, plus the increasing number of North American and European operators now flying there,'' said David Orcutt, vice president of Challenger product support.
The odds are not in your favor for the NTSB to overturn an FAA medical certification action against you. Most B/CA readers are well aware of the tremendous flap centered around airshow pilot Bob Hoover and his medical certificate. Although the triggering event was controversial, high profile and arguably not classy, the subsequent medical facts are clear, claims the Civil Aviation Medical Association (CAMA), an Oklahoma City-based organization that represents AMEs, among other physicians associated with aviation medicine.
Flights above 41,000 feet msl are prohibited in 20-, 30- and 50-series Learjets until the outflow/safety valve is replaced. The FAA says cracks in valve parts have been reported. Meanwhile, in order to prevent a possible sudden aircraft pitch-down, Mitsubishi Diamond 300s and Raytheon Beechjet 400s are subject to flap-operating limitations when these aircraft encounter icing conditions.
The PC-12's 1,200-shp turboprop engine is the most powerful growth version of the venerable PT6A that first made its debut three decades ago. The -67 series has accumulated more than 1.6-million hours in service since initial certification in January 1987. For engines in airline operations, the -67 has now achieved a basic inflight shutdown (IFSD) rate of one in 50,000 flight hours, a notable achievement considering the high cycles of commuter operations.
In January, newly-formed Sino-Swearingen broke ground for the SJ30 assembly plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia, after years of abortive attempts to bring the light jet into production. Sino-Swearingen is a joint venture of San Antonio-based Swearingen Aircraft and Taiwan Aerospace. Under the planned venture, Swearingen would deliver its first SJ30 in 1996 (B/CA, November 1994, page 22).
A high-speed airborne fax service has been introduced by England's British Telecom (BT). Operating at 4.8 Kbit/s, twice the speed of previous systems, the satellite-based service is offered via Skyphone, a London-based consortium of BT, Norwegian Telecom and Singapore Telecom. Initially, the service is being offered in the Atlantic Ocean Region West area covered by Inmarsat.
Bananas come in bunches and, unfortunately, so do airplane accidents. No focus need be made on where, when or how many recent fatal accidents have occurred. The press and network television have more than adequately covered them. This is not to fault the media, because when a large number of folks are killed in one spot, it is front-page stuff.
Pilots of commuter aircraft operating under FAR Part 135 (aircraft with 30 seats or less) virtually will have to meet the same qualification and training standards as those of major carriers operating under Part 121, if the FAA adopts a recent notice of proposed rulemaking. Crew resource management training also would be mandated. Comments are due March 14. For details, contact the FAA in Washington, D.C. at (202) 267-8096. In a separate notice, the FAA launched a regulatory review of both air taxi and commuter operations under Part 135.
Despite satellites and onboard navigation systems of almost phenomenal accuracy, the business of guiding aircraft between North America and Europe continues to rely on human air traffic controllers to provide safe separation standards in a crowded and largely non-radar operating environment. And it is done without any direct communication between pilot and controller. Once out of VHF line-of-sight range, communications are relayed through Flight Service Stations via HF radio.
To many in the aviation community, the well-known acronym NDH--no damage history--is an assuring notation. But some owners, buyers and middlemen have discovered that the reference frequently does not mean what it says.
New from British Aerospace Systems and Equipment is the SCR 500 range of solid-state cockpit voice and flight data recorders. The recorders comply with new fire protection standards and are designed for operators seeking to update or replace their FDR or CVR equipment. The CVR recording duration ranges from 30 minutes to two hours, while the audio digital combined CVR/FDR provides 10 hours to 25 hours of data and 30 minutes to two hours of voice duration. The SCR 500 series features standard ARINC 557 interchangeability.
Lloyd's of London recently revised its war-risk insurance coverage to allow underwriters to cancel it upon seven days notice if the insured fails to accept higher premium rates, geographical limitations or other new terms underwriters propose due to changing world conditions. Under the former provisions, underwriters did not have this option. To determine the impact of this policy change, contact your war-risk insurance broker, or contact Keith Harris or Greg Shepherd in Lloyd's of London's solvency department at +71-623-7100.
Bombardier Aerospace selected France's Sextant Avionique to supply its head-up display system as an option for the new Global Express business jet. Sextant says its system is being designed to have the widest field of view of any business jet HUD as well as to serve as a full-time flight director. Provisions also will be made for wind-shear and TCAS advisories, Sextant claims. Bombardier previously selected Sextant to supply the hydromechanical flight control system for the Global Express (B/CA, June 1994, page 18).
