When Blain Stanley, international operations director at Aircare FACTS Training, begins a class on cabin emergency training for flight crews, he asks the pilots — many of whom have described their passengers as “Type A's” — if they think their charges would be assets or liabilities during an emergency. According to Stanley, the nearly universal answer is the latter.
The Southwest Airlines flight had been uneventful, but shortly after the Boeing 737 touched down at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 8, 2009, the right main landing gear's inboard wheel and brake assembly separated from the aircraft. The pilots managed to taxi the jetliner off the runway and onto a taxiway where all 142 occupants deplaned. Airfield crews recovered the sizeable broken components that upon examination revealed fatigue cracking emanating from the brake mounting bolt-hole.
California's Santa Monica Airport is more than doubling its aircraft landing fees of $2.07 certified maximum gross landing weight per 1,000 lb. to $5.48 beginning Aug. 1. The fees will be applied both to transient and based aircraft. City officials say the airfield side is not self-sustaining and has tapped into the city's general fund for an estimated $13.3 million in capital improvement projects. The fee increases, they say, will be used to put the airport in the black and pay for its upkeep.
David Esler's “Euro ETS Reconsidered” (April 2013, page 36) was very politically correct. Esler does a great job of describing all the players, but does not point to any benefit to the global aviation community by implementing this ridiculous program.
Beechcraft hopes to sell most of its jet programs by midyear. Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture said earlier this year that the programs have attracted a fair amount of interest and recently told Wichita reporters that he expects a bidding process to begin shortly. Options exist for the programs, ranging from a support organization buying the lines to maintain the existing fleet, to a manufacturing operation purchasing them to bring them back into production.
April 26 — About 1835 CDT, a Beech G36 (N222GL) experienced a loss of engine power and performed an emergency landing near Hoxie, Kan. The airplane was registered to and operated by Garmin International Inc., Olathe, Kan., as a business flight. It was VFR for the flight, which operated on an IFR flight plan. The flight originated from Centennial Airport (APA), Englewood, Colo., about 1605 MDT, and was en route to New Century AirCenter Airport (JCI), Olathe, Kan. According to a statement provided by the pilot, while flying at 11,000 ft.
In reference to your editorial comments in “Who's Up Front?” (Viewpoint, February 2013), as I recall, years ago United Airlines tried the approach of hiring individuals who had at least at least a Private Pilot certificate. Then at the airline's expense, they were provided additional training to achieve certification as Commercial/Instrument pilots who met the airline's first officer qualifications. I don't recall how long this plan remained in effect, but I suspect it didn't prove to be a viable avenue to provide qualified pilots to meet the airline's needs.
Dassault Aviation's Mystere 20 s.n.1 took to the skies for the very first time on May 4, 1963, and the French planemaker is holding celebrations and displays throughout the year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that signal event. The centerpiece of the moveable feast is s.n. 1 itself. The aircraft has undergone a three-year restoration by a team of former airline and Dassault employees.
Alpha Air Center of Joplin Regional Airport (KJL) in Webb City, Mo., plans to open a new 5,000-sq.-ft. executive terminal this summer. The new terminal will include a range of amenities, including showers, conference rooms, flight-planning equipment and dedicated pilot and passenger amenities. The fixed-base operation is an Avfuel dealer that participates in Avfuel Contract Fuel and Avtrip points programs.
Just a quick one to say how much I enjoy your pieces each month and to ask that y'all not let BCA evaporate into a non-paper effort given its still-important role and the value of a paper-based magazine that does what you do.
Solid growth in West Star Aviation's key markets is fueling significant expansion plans. To meet its business demands, it plans to invest roughly $15 million this year on facilities in Grand Junction, Co., East Alton, Ill.), and Columbia, S.C. Plans call for adding approximately 160,000 sq. ft. at West Star's two largest locations (Grand Junction and East Alton) and at its location in Columbia. All facilities will be new with the exception of the maintenance facility in Grand Junction. That facility will be housed in a hangar that previously belonged to Mesa Airlines.
Jet Aviation's six U.S. FBO facilities — Boston/Bedford, Mass.; Dallas and Houston, Texas; St. Louis, Mo.; Palm Beach, Fla., and Teterboro, N.J. — have joined Paragon Aviation Group's network of independent FBOs nationwide. The new partnership increased the total number of connections available to support customer requirements to 23 locations in North America.
There's been a lot of e-chatter lately concerning the place of pilots in aviation's future. The sentiments expressed celebrate the good old days when pilots, not engineers, were in charge and when the men at the controls were rugged individualists. In following these messages, it seems the fabled Pan American China Clippers were flown by pilots with “the right stuff.”
Bell Helicopter has begun offering the Max-Viz-1500 enhanced vision system as an option on new Bell 429s, as well as a retrofit installation on the helicopter. Bell and Astronics collaborated on the integration of the system, which they say will maximize visibility in poor weather and operating conditions. The EVS is installed at the factory on new helicopters and offered as a retrofit at Bell's service facility in Piney Flats, Tenn.
Ametek Sensors & Fluid Management Systems (SFMS) was selected by Embraer as a supplier for the recently awarded U.S. Air Force Light Air Support (LAS) contract. Embraer teamed with Sierra Nevada Corp. on the program and is producing the Super Tucano for the LAS contract. Ametek was selected to provide products including advanced triaxial accelerometers and Amphion solid-state relays.
Piaggio Aero is already planning to open an authorized service center (ASC) in China, even though it has just two Piaggio Avanti II turboprops in the country. The ASC will be set up as a joint venture with Chinese distributor CAEA (Beijing) Aviation Investment Co. Ltd., at the Zhuhai operating base of CAE's Free Sky Aviation, which makes the aircraft available to private members. Li Xuefeng, president of CAEA, says the ASC will begin to provide services to customers as early as this year.
Embraer has received both FAA and Brazilian Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) clearances for installation of its Prodigy Touch flight deck aboard the Phenom 300. NetJets is launching the new flight deck aboard the Phenom, and Embraer is offering the suite as an option for other Phenom 300 aircraft beginning in the fourth quarter. Based on the Garmin G3000 platform, the Prodigy Touch incorporates touch-screen technology with automation designed for single-pilot operation.
Garmin has an updated version of the Garmin Pilot app for the iPad and iPhone that incorporates Garmin's dynamic navigation maps. With the new dynamic maps, pilots can now choose between track-up or north-up moving map orientation. They will also have the option of track-up orientation on static sectionals on en route charts. Enhancements to Garmin Pilot's cloud computing technology enable seamless connectivity and information sharing between all Garmin Pilot-enabled devices.
Millennium International has expanded its service offerings to include Honeywell Primus avionics suite support. The move bolsters Millennium's support for Embraer ERJ 135/145 aircraft. Based near Kansas City, Millennium provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for commercial, military and rotor-wing aircraft.
House lawmakers are pushing for a dramatic overhaul of certification regulations for small aircraft. Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) and Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) have introduced the Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013 that essentially calls for rewriting FAR Part 23 with the intention of halving certification costs while more than doubling safety. The rewrite has strong support from the highest levels of FAA and a number of international aviation authorities.
There's a showdown underway in the Silicon Valley involving big names, big jets, and big FBO chains. Business aircraft alighting at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) use Atlantic Aviation, a part of Australia's Macquarie Group. Atlantic says it has invested $60 million in upgrading the facility in the past five years. Nevertheless, on April 16 the city council voted 10-1 to accept a proposal by rival Signature Flight Support, owned by BBA of Britain, to develop a second FBO at the city-owned airport.
Gulfstream enhanced its Field and Airborne Support Teams (FAST) replacing two Gulfstream G100s with two G150s. A G100 serves as a backup. Other enhancements include adding a third shift of two pilots and naming a new chief pilot, Tenille Cromwell. Gulfstream FAST has made more than 3,400 mission flights and surpassed 10,000 flight hours. The team uses more than 20 vehicles throughout the U.S. and Europe, including a pair of specially outfitted rapid response trucks.
Think the unthinkable. Consider the grimmest of scenarios. Contemplate a crash. What's your contingency plan for handling an accident or a ditching with survivors on board? Could you execute it, if necessary? Have you ever thought about it?
