Bell/AgustaWestland BA609A Tiltrotor With robust sales of the AW139 helping the AgustaWestland division of Finmeccanica claim 29% of the $4.16 billion global helicopter market as measured by 2010 deliveries — that's second only to Eurocopter — the status of the AB609A tiltrotor joint venture with Bell Helicopter Textron has seemed only to grow murkier.
HondaJet certification flight testing confirmed that the light business jet exceeds the maximum speed promised to customers, says Honda Aircraft. The first FAA-conforming prototype has achieved 425 KTAS at 30,000 ft. and a maximum Mach number of 0.72 above that altitude. The performance commitment for the production HondaJet is 420 kt., the Greensboro, N.C.-based company says.
For more than 30 years, the Air Charter Guide has provided a reliable and accurate listing of charter operators in the U.S. and abroad. According to Associate Publisher Francine Brasseur, the ACG does not list a commercial operator without first assuring the company holds an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), issued by the Department of Transportation, or an FAR Part 135 certificate.
Controllers have helped countless pilots circumnavigate dangerous weather. Indeed, this pilot-controller partnership is a fundamental element in severe weather avoidance in the air traffic control radar environment in the United States. Yet, despite what surely must be millions of successful exercises by this partnership, every once in a while the system breaks down. Such is the case in the incident we'll review this month.
I read with some distress “Backdoor Rulemaking” (Washington Watch, April 2011, page 61). The purely economic arguments made in the column did nothing to diminish the need for hard time duty limits for all crews. Multiple studies have shown the extreme danger of fatigue in air operations; some have even scientifically equated a 17-hr. day to being legally drunk (0.05% BAC).
Aero Dynamix Inc., Euless, Texas, named Tonka Hufford operations manager, project development. He most recently was president of RSG Aviation. Aero Law Group, Bellevue, Wash., has added Paul Lambert to its team of lawyers responsible for clients in sales, leasing, financing and the exchange of business and commercial aircraft.
In the litigation following the crash of Comair Flight 5191 on Aug. 27, 2006, a federal court allowed into evidence some of the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) reports prepared by the two pilots involved in the crash. Some opponents of Safety Management Systems (SMS) point to this fact as evidence that such programs should not be implemented because they create documentation that can be used against an operation after an accident.
At the end of the first quarter it appeared that the long-awaited upturn in the market for previously owned, turbine-powered aircraft had arrived. Starting at the end of 2010, many aircraft dealers and brokers reported an increase in inquiries, and by March some reported that sales were beginning to pick up, too.
FAA's plan to restrict use of the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program is “dangerous, invasive and unwarranted” and could have far-reaching implications, says the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). AOPA was one of the more than 600 commenters on FAA's March 4 notice of a tentative decision to limit BARR participation to only those operators with a verifiable threat to their operations.
FlightSafety International was selected as Pratt & Whitney Canada's training provider for helicopter engines, and the first students have already graduated. “Classes are running full,” says Mike Lee, FlightSafety director of maintenance training business development. Training covers six different engine series for a total of 28 models, powering 26 different helicopters from 12 manufacturers. Primary training locations are Montreal, Dallas-Fort Worth, West Palm Beach, Fla., and Paris. FlightSafety has procured training assets from P&WC.
Hank Krakowski, chief operating officer of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization (ATO), resigned April 14, in the wake of the incidents involving controllers either asleep or unresponsive during late night shifts. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt appointed the FAA's chief counsel, David Grizzle, as ATO's acting COO while a permanent replacement is found. “We are conducting a top-to-bottom review of the way we operate our air traffic control system,” says Babbitt.
FAA, DOT and NATCA have launched a united attack on the dozing controller situation and scheduling practices that can lead to controller fatigue while standing firm on individual professionalism. “We expect controllers to come to work rested and ready to work and take personal responsibility for safety in the control towers. We have zero tolerance for sleeping on the job,” said Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. He mandated that two controllers staff control towers on overnight shifts.
On March 29, the FCC published a final rule that indefinitely stays its original proposed rule mandating replacement of 121.5 MHz ELTs with 406 MHz ELTs that the FAA, NBAA and others opposed. In a separate Federal Register notice, the FCC will request further comment on the future of 121.5 MHz ELTs.
FAA released an “Information for Operators” (InFO) document, encouraging business and corporate aircraft operators to implement a safety management system (SMS). The April 11 InFO also outlines International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) SMS requirements for operators of large aircraft (those weighing more than 12,500 lb.). The release of the InFO was driven in part by ICAO requirements for noncommercial operators of large aircraft to implement an SMS program by Nov. 18, 2010.
The management at Cirrus Aircraft is awaiting word from the U.S. government regarding clearance to proceed with the Minnesota planemaker's acquisition by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., Ltd., (AVIC). The $200-plus million takeover, announced Feb. 28, has met with opposition that Cirrus executives maintain is misplaced and potentially damaging. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.), whose district includes the main Cirrus plant and headquarters in Duluth, told the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
An April poll from the Aerospace Industries Association shows strong support among Americans for the FAA and its satellite-based NextGen air traffic control system. The poll indicates that as many as 68% of Americans support new technologies to improve air safety and 65% favor maintaining or increasing FAA funding levels, while 19% favor cutting the FAA budget.
Whether inadvertent or intended, illegal charter hurts everyone in an industry that is always trying to raise the safety bar. So claims Dennis Keith, president and founder of Jet Solutions, a Dallas-based charter operator with nearly 200 aircraft on its operating certificate.
Garmin International and Kuerzi Avionics AG teamed to obtain European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for the installation of the Garmin G500H glass cockpit in the Eurocopter AS350. With this STC, any authorized Garmin aviation dealer can install a G500H in an AS350 in accordance with EASA guidelines. The G500H is an all-glass avionics system designed specifically for the VFR Part 27 helicopter market.
Concern about potential GPS receiver overload jamming by high-power cell transmitters operating on a frequency band adjacent to GPS frequencies has spread across the national fabric — far beyond aviation users and GPS manufacturers.
On March 15, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee passed legislation denying the Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Republican leaders pledged a floor vote on the legislation before the Easter recess, reports the Helicopter Association International’s Rotor News.
BCA has opened another Safety and Ops website, this one dedicated to helicopters. This report offers a mix of articles on flying safely and profitably in locations ranging from New York to Saudi Arabia, as well as how-to and technology stories. The site also provides links to dozens of online resources ranging from the Helicopter Association International and helicopter manufacturers worldwide, to national, regional and special interest associations.
Aviation associations and avionics manufacturers have joined other transportation interests in a coalition to eliminate any jamming threat from plans to expand wireless broadband coverage of the U.S. using high-power transmitters in a band adjacent to that used for GPS. That threat emerged after the Federal Communications Commission’s January decision to grant LightSquared Communications conditional approval to provide terrestrial broadband services using frequencies previously reserved for mobile satellite communications.
Eurocopter Canada announced at Heli-Expo that it sold six helicopters to Capitale Hélipro of Quebec City. With the delivery of three AS350 B2’s, two EC130 B4’s and one AS350 B3 helicopter, Capitale Hélipro will have a total fleet of 11 Eurocopter aircraft.
