As part of its analysis of the performance of software change 6.04A, the FAA is beginning to survey pilots using TCAS. The software is designed to reduce unnecessary TCAS Resolution Advisories. Makers of TCAS equipment were required to install the software by December 31, 1994. The FAA's TCAS Transition Program office asks pilots who have not received a questionnaire by January 15 to contact Liz Sheridan at ARINC Research in Maryland. Phone: (410) 266-4792.
North East Corporate Dispatcher Association (Teterboro, NJ)--Bob Weinwurzel, supervisor of dispatch/scheduling operations for Philip Morris was elected to a one-year term as president of the association. Elected as vice president was Pamela Lorenzo of Dassault Falcon Jet.
SL Auburn (Auburn, NY)--Stephen F. Smith has been promoted to president of this manufacturer and marketer of aviation and industrial spark plugs and igniters.
Jet Aviation's Teterboro FBO plans to start construction in the spring on a 40,000-square-foot hangar and a 17,000-square-foot office building for tenant customers. The new facilities are expected to be available for occupancy in December.
Atlantic Coast Airlines President and CEO Kerry Skeen is the new chairman of the RAA, replacing outgoing Jerry Atkin of SkyWest. Skeen formerly ran regional airline operations for Delta and later moved to WestAir, where he established the Atlantic Coast Division at Washington Dulles International. WestAir later sold the operation to a group of investors.
The flying public was naturally a bit skittish over commuter airline safety after a week of breathless and largely uninformed TV commentary on the crash of an American Eagle ATR 72-200 in Indiana. So, I suppose it was only natural that the release of a set of commuter-safety recommendations from the NTSB and an ill-reasoned pronouncement from an industry watchdog group would generate a pre-Thanksgiving hysteria over commuter airline safety. Unfortunately, some of the public's truly unwarranted concern lingers today.
The FAA at B/CA press time restricted the ATR-42 and ATR-72 from operating in known or forecast icing conditions. That equates to temperatures of 40F and below in visible moisture.
Public auction of 55.4 percent of its voting stock for $182.4 million completed the privatization of state-owned Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer in December 1994.
The alcohol-testing rules that went into effect January 1 require that all testing to be conducted use breath analyzers. When the rules were published in early 1994, the DOT sought comments on whether blood testing should be used when breath analyzers are not available.
Pratt&Whitney is offering to work with Taiwan on the development of engines for 70- to 100-seat regional jets. Taiwan, which has talked to McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace about projects in that class with no success, currently is in discussions with Brazilian airframer Embraer for a jet in that category. The Taiwanese government is seeking international partners to help develop an aerospace industry, which it says earned $450 million in 1993 and is expected to earn $6 billion annually by the year 2000.
Richard O. Reinhart, M.D. and his associate, Stanley R. Trollip, Ph.D., both of Minneapolis, have been researching the field of human factors in aviation for many years and have been making presentations to flight departments on the subject since early 1994.
An NBAA ``white paper'' sent to FAA Administrator David Hinson said approvals of limitations on access to airports ``for noise purposes'' should be coordinated at FAA headquarters. The paper results from an NBAA review of noise restrictions overall and at two specific airports--Nebraska's Millard and Florida's Pompano Beach--where FAA field offices approved restrictions that allegedly impaired business aircraft's use of the airport. The NBAA said it is convinced many of these types of restrictions ``would not survive Washington review.''
California Kamchatka Companies recently closed its FBO at Russia's Elizovo International Airport. The company, a U.S.-Russian joint venture established in 1992, cited Russian authorities' lack of cooperation as the principal reason for forcing the closure. Major corporate aircraft handlers said they would continue to assist operators using Elizovo by working directly with Russian authorities.
Bell Helicopter Textron is scheduled to begin a series of specialized training sessions this month for EMS helicopter pilots. The company said the three-day course will focus on aeronautical decision making and recovery from inadvertent flight into IMC. Classroom work is combined with simulation sessions on an IFR-approved Frasca flight-training device. The course fee is approximately $1,000. For details, contact Bell in Fort Worth, Texas at (817) 280-8222 (or -4975).
AOPA warned the Board of Commissioners for Cleveland's Cuyahoga County Airport that plans to establish a nighttime curfew ``could end up in federal court.'' Several Cleveland suburbs have asked the Board to impose a 2200 hours to 0700 hours curfew. The AOPA told the authority that restrictions on airport access due to noise concerns is ``preempted by the federal government.''
Effective January 1, Dassault Aviation's U.S. subsidiary in Teterboro was renamed Dassault Falcon Jet. Frank W. Wisekal, former president and chief executive officer of Falcon Jet, is now vice chairman of the board. Jean Francois Georges, Dassault Aviation's senior vice president of civil aircraft, took on the additional title of president and chief executive of Dassault Falcon Jet.
Aviation has always presented fertile ground for entrepreneurial dreamers to plow. And now, having perceived a market niche, two dreamers and a group of former North American Aviation aeronautical engineers are advancing yet another definition of the single-engine business jet.
Saab Aircraft, in the face of mounting losses--$32 million in the first nine months of 1994--is turning up the heat in its efforts to attract a partner.
If you're flying a heavy airplane--one with an MTOW over 12,500 pounds--your airplane flight manual (AFM) is probably fairly informative on the subject of flight in known icing conditions. Chances are your AFM suggests various system and airframe configurations for such operations, along with minimum climb and approach speeds. On the other hand, operators of smaller business aircraft may find their AFMs less than loquacious on the subject of operations in icing conditions, and that can be a problem, according to the NTSB.
Aviall sold its Miami-based Aviation Sales parts supply business to ASC Acquisition Partners L.P., an affiliate of Aerospace International Services of Houston. Aviation Sales is the latest unit of Aviall to be sold since the company spun off from Ryder System in mid-1993. Separately, Aviall is nearing completion of a deal to sell its Dallas-based business aviation maintenance and fixed-based operations to Dallas Airmotive (B/CA, August 1994, page 28).
Commander Aircraft (Bethany, OK)--Wirt D. Walker III, chairman and CEO, assumed the additional title of president of the company, replacing Herbert B. Franck, who resigned.
Acting on a recent recommendation from the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Kingdom Transport Department's air accident investigation branch has been given the responsibility to investigate major aircraft incidents as well as accidents using the same procedures for each.
At press time, the FAA was expected to extend the February 9 deadline for the installation of TCAS I in turbine-powered FAR Part 135 airplanes with 10 to 30 passenger seats. However, it's unlikely the deadline will be extended as far as March 31, 1997, as proposed by the FAA early in 1994 (B/CA, May 1994, page 11). Several unresolved issues--including the availability of parts and the finalization of a TSO--prompted the FAA to propose extending the deadline.
