Business & Commercial Aviation

When a hacker last year claimed to have tapped into an airliner’s entertainment system and then wormed his way into the flight control system, the major avionics companies were quick to internally debunk the claim, but they were less outspoken in public. That’s because the bourgeoning number of federated boxes that are increasingly common in connected cockpits are outside their direct control.

Keystone Aviation in Salt Lake City, Utah, has expanded its North American sales territory for the Daher TBM turboprop aircraft. It has added four Canadian provinces and one additional U.S. state, Alaska, to its area of responsibility.

Bombardier Business Aircraft delivered its 75th Model 75 Learjet in late February, two years after the first Learjet 75 entered service.

VistaJet experienced double-digit growth in passenger and flight traffic in 2015, the European private jet charter and aircraft management company said.

Key business jet market indicators, measured by a monthly UBS Business Jet Market Index survey, point to a weakening global market and have fallen back to levels tracked in 2008-09.

GE Aviation has created a digital organization that brings digital operations from across its aviation businesses into one.

Bombardier’s Challenger 650 business jet has been granted full type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency.

Business aviation departures in Europe rose 2.3% in February when compared to the same time a year ago, due to a boost from the leap year, according to WINGX’s Business Aviation Monitor.

Banyan Air Service signs an agreement with Aircraft Technical Publishers to transition Banyan’s technical information library from CD-based services to the ATP Aviation Hub.

Australian International Aviation College has added eight Diamond Aircraft to its fleet of DA20 C1 and DA40 CS aircraft.

Germany aircraft manufacturer REMOS plans to unveil the next generation of its high-wing composite GX aircraft at the Aero Friedrichshafen 2016 trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Dassault Aviation’s new Falcon 5X business jet will not enter service until the first half of 2020 due to difficulties in developing the Silvercrest engine at Safran’s Snecma motors division.

BendixKing has enhanced its inflight Internet connectivity for general aviation aircraft, according to BendixKing.

The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that the probable cause of the fatal Oct. 30, 2014, crash of a King Air B200 into the FlightSafety International training center in Wichita was the pilot’s “failure to maintain control of the airplane after a reduction in left engine power” and “inappropriate rudder input.”

Duncan Aviation has been selected as the exclusive aircraft-on-ground (AOG) service partner for inflight connectivity specialist Gogo Business Aviation.

Piper Aircraft recently received an order from ATP Flight School for 15 additional Archer TX training aircraft.

Wichita-based True Blue Power, announced that its lithium-ion engine-start battery will power Bell Helicopter’s 505 Jet Ranger X.

Petroleum Air Services has been appointed the first Bell Helicopter Authorized Customer Service Facility in North Africa, the helicopter manufacturer said. Petroleum Air Services provides fixed wing and helicopter transportation to the oil and gas and travel industries in Egypt.

Disabled Aircraft Services, based in Buffalo, Minnesota, has introduced upgrades to its line of PlaneSkate products designed to move aircraft with a flat tire from a runway, taxiway or ramp.

Bell Helicopter delivered 175 aircraft in 2015, including 99 Model 407s, 52 Model 429s and a dozen each of 412 twins and Long Rangers.

Jet Aviation will acquire Avjet Corp., a Los Angeles-based jet charter and management company, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will expand Jet Aviation’s aircraft management and charter services on the West Coast.

SOPs — Timely Topic I thoroughly enjoyed your article “ Sticking With SOPs,” (March 2016, page 52) You nailed it! I’m having it scanned and distributed within NTSB. Just wanted to thank you for ad–dressing this important and timely topic. Robert Sumwalt Member National Transportation Safety Board Washington, D.C. Get Out of the Way

West Star Aviation receives an STC for the upgrade of the Honeywell CAS-81A/TPA-81A or CAS-100A/TPA-100A with 7.0 software to the CAS-100B/TPA-100B with 7.1 software.

The FAA last month issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Part 23 that would overhaul airworthiness standards for small general aviation aircraft.

The buyers’ market for light jets is stronger than at any time in decades, with upward of 200 aircraft available. Well hidden among all that inventory