Edward A. Sarkisian Captain, Boeing 757/767 — United Airlines
I enjoyed reading “Making History” ( Viewpoint, June 2014, page 7) on the Falcon 7X flight from London’s City Airport to my “Alma Mater” of Teterboro Airport (TEB). I’ve just completed my trip on a United B767-300 from Heathrow to Newark in all of 7 hr., 31 min., a “fast” speed on my scale. Slogging along.
I have been reading B&CA since the dawn, and admire your work. I have flown out of Bedford, Massachusetts (BED) for well over 40 years and am exposed to the jungle drums and tribal lore. The May 31 Gulfstream GIV accident ( Intelligence, July 2014, page 16) was horrific and brings to mind our flight instructor mantra of breaking the accident chain.
“Weather-Related Loss of Control” ( Cause & Circumstance, July 2014, page 54) was a great piece! I’m so glad you referenced the NOAA/TNWS Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Convective Outlook. As you are aware, I’ve hawked the value of it for 35 years. First thing I look at when I get to the office each morning. It tells me everything I need to know about convective weather for the day. Editor’s note: The writer is a former B&CA editor-in-chief.
Richard Aarons’ column about Asiana Airlines Flight 214 and the NTSB’s recommendations ( Cause & Circumstance, August 2014, page 68) was well done and his takeaway spot on. There were many elements to this accident; the NTSB had a lot on its plate and shared it around. Fatigue (it was 3 a.m. body time for the crew), automation and manual flying skills are significant topics.
The TBM 900 has been reviewed recently in all of the major publications. As is unfailingly the case, Fred George’s “TBM 900” pilot report (July 2014, page 36) was the most thorough, informative, accurate and unvarnished. You are the best in the business.
Business aircraft operators, law enforcement agencies and others using FAA’s Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program to preserve anonymity when airborne will lose such privacy protections as the agency transitions from secondary surveillance ATC radars to the new automatic dependent surveillance — broadcast (ADS-B) system.
While I always enjoy your Fast Five columns, I noted a couple of glaring errors/misstatements by International Council of Air Shows President John Cudahy (June 2014), namely: 1. “. . . no North American air show spectator has been killed in over 60 years.” How about the P-51 crash at Reno, Nev., on Sept. 6, 2011, that killed the pilot and 10 people on the ground (I was there), or the F-86 departure crash into a Sacramento, Calif., ice cream parlor on Sept. 24, 1972, that killed 22, including 12 children?
Light plane and business jet shipments increased across all categories in the second quarter of 2014, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). A total of 592 aircraft were delivered by GAMA members in the period, up 5% from the 567 shipped in the same period last year. As a result, billings inched up from $5.723 billion in second quarter 2013 to $5.739 billion in the most recent quarter.
Textron’s Lycoming Engines report work underway on as many as 25 aircraft engine integration projects for general aviation, most of which are outside of the U.S.
