Cessna announced March 7 that Lufthansa has acquired four additional Cessna Citation business jets with a total list-price value of approximately $40 million. The order for two CJ3 jets and two XLS+ aircraft is in addition to a prior Lufthansa order for four Citation CJ1+ aircraft for its new pilot training program, which was announced at the NBAA Convention in September 2007.
*Pogo Jet, Inc., Chicopee, Mass., announced the election of Theodore L. Weise and Carol. B. Hallett to its board of directors. Weise is the former president and CEO of Federal Express and Hallett served as president and CEO of the Air Transport Association.
The FAA has set the date for changing all 20 ARTCC host systems to assign preferential routes based on the equipment capability that schedulers and dispatchers enter in the ICAO FPL item 10 field and the area navigation value in item 18. When the En Route Automation Modernization replacement program is complete and operating (first one up is scheduled to be Salt Lake City in October 2008), it will assign routes the same way. After June 5, filing a domestic NAS flight plan will deprive the filer of preferential route assignments.
At about 1748 EST, a Cessna Citation 525, N102PT, crashed in a wooded area in West Gardiner, Maine. The private/instrument-rated pilot and one passenger received fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed. It was IFR at the time of the accident; a flight plan was filed for a flight from Augusta, Maine, to Lincoln, Neb. The flight originated from Augusta State Airport around 1745. The airplane was fueled and moved from the ramp into the FBO's hangar earlier that morning at the pilot's request.
I just had a quiet moment (it seems there are far too few of these) to sit down and read your March Viewpoint ("Deserving It," page 7). What a terrific piece -- it made me smile! Although I have had it pretty easy (in my opinion), I know plenty of women who have had struggled to make their mark in aviation. I believe that most of us wouldn't change the past and our experiences for all the money in the world -- it made us who we are today and helped many become, as you stated, "driven."
* Described as "the world's first production model 'copter with gas turbine power," the Alouette II on the cover had been assembled by Republic Aviation, which hoped to open a production line at its Farmingdale, N.Y., facility. The aircraft was delivered to Aetna Helicopter of Etna, Calif., which became the first operator to put a turbine helicopter into commercial service.
According to Len Beauchemin, it's easy to make "big mistakes" outsourcing heavy inspections if an operator's maintenance management isn't knowledgeable and vigilant.
Universal Avionics Systems has received an FAR Part 25 STC for the Universal WAAS-enabled FMS. LPV approaches, referred to as RNAV (GPS) LPV approaches on the approach chart, are the fastest growing type of GPS approaches in the United States. Currently 1,028 such approaches exist, and the FAA plans to add an additional 300 LPV approaches per year. The WAAS-FMS allows pilots to fly to ILS-like minimums at airports without an ILS approach or in inclement weather.
*Midcoast Aviation, St. Louis, announced that it has selected 32-year veteran Steve Bates to lead the completions and modifications program at the company's St. Louis Downtown Airport facility.
Rosen Sunvisor Systems is offering its complete sunvisor line for commercial, corporate and general aviation aircraft. Rosen sunvisors achieve increased visibility through reductions in glare, UV light and heat from the sun. The company offers either a customized handcrafted Monorail or NSA design. The Monorail system contours to the aircraft's unique design and is integrated with a custom-shaped sunvisor mounted to a patented multi-axis clamping system allowing flexible travel along the monorail.
*CAE, Montreal, Canada, has named Walter Visser managing director of Emirate-CAE training operations; Rudy Toering was named general manager for the company training centers in Canada; Steven Lee was appointed general manager of Zhuhai Flight Training Center; and Martin Williamson was named general manager for the training center in Kuala Lumpur.
The FAA Office of Runway Safety has posted "Pilot and Flight Crew Procedures During Taxi Operations" as a printable approach plate insert for pilots at www.faasafe ty.gov/ files/notices/2008/Feb/Pilotcardwithholes[2].pdf. You can also request copies of the chart from your nearest Office of Runway Safety. To locate the nearest office, go to www.FAA.gov and enter runway safety in the search box. This will take you to a link to the Office of Runway Safety Web page. Send questions or comments to [email protected].
Israeli firm Aerophone (aerophone.biz) has jumped into the airborne telecommunications battle with a compact picocell it's offering free to the airlines in return for a piece of the billing action through the passenger's cellphone provider. Calls are about $1.60 per minute. While the company says it is aiming the system at airlines, there's no reason why it wouldn't work aboard any jet midsize and up.
As we go to press, the FAA is conducting a safety self-exam prior to an April 3 U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee hearing on the agency's oversight and airline noncompliance with safety regulations. That oversight system came into sharp focus in March when the FAA slammed Southwest Airlines with a proposed $10.2 million civil penalty for continuing to operate 46 of its Boeing 737s for 1,451 flights involving 200,000 passengers without first inspecting them for fatigue cracks mandated by a September 2004 Airworthiness Directive.
Business & Commercial Aviation asked Ethan Boehner of Universal Weather and Aviation to assemble a hypothetical weather briefing package for a flight operation into a remote area. He chose the region near the town of Glasgow and Fort Peck Lake, a large reservoir formed by an earthen dam in eastern Montana where the fire season can muster a large number of helicopter operators.
Susi Air of Indonesia has ordered six Model 208B Grand Caravans, one of which was featured by Cessna in its static aircraft display at the recent Singapore Airshow. The aircraft will be delivered in 2009 and 2010. Susi currently operates eight Grand Caravans and two more are scheduled for delivery early this year. Susi Air transported more than 30,000 scheduled passengers on four routes with two aircraft in 2007 from its Medan base. The company plans for 100,000 passengers this year.
*Safe Flight Instrument Corp., White Plains, N.Y., announced the appointment of Joe Wilson as chief operating officer, Tom Grunbeck as senior vice president of sales and marketing, and Matthew Greene as vice president of marketing.
While at cruise altitude during a scheduled airline flight from Hilo, Hawaii, to Honolulu, on April 28, 1988, an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 suffered explosive decompression of the cabin roof, peeling away a complete upper cabin section from the floor line up. The pilots skillfully made an emergency landing at nearby Maui. One flight attendant was ejected from the aircraft and her body was never found. Many of the passengers and cabin crew were seriously injured, but miraculously, the only fatality was the flight attendant.
Bombardier Flexjet has announced the expansion of its Secondary Service Area (SSA) to include all of Central America and Canada. This expansion will allow Flexjet fractional aircraft owners to travel to and from these locations without incurring ferry (or repositioning) fees. The company has also removed its remarketing fees. These fees cover the maintenance and administration costs needed to place an aircraft back into inventory after the conclusion of a contract and they typically are about 4 to 7 percent of the fair market value of the aircraft.
*Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Neb., named Mike Bernholtz as turbine engine service sales representative and Joe Stokey was appointed manager of turbine engine services. Shane Heier was appointed turbine engine service tech representative for the Honeywell engine line.
At about 1443 UCT, a Cirrus SR-22, Brazilian registration PR-AIO, was destroyed when it impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Jacarepagua Airport (SBJT), Rio de Janeiro. The pilot and three passengers were killed. Preliminary information from the Brazilian government said that shortly after the airplane departed from Runway 20 its engine lost power. The SR-22 hit a building and exploded. Further investigation revealed that prior to the accident flight the airplane had been refueled with Jet-A instead of gasoline.
A new Asian customer has placed a firm order for an Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ). The aircraft will feature a VIP interior and will be powered by CFM International CFM56-5B7/P engines. The choice of cabin outfitter has yet to be announced. BAA Jet Management of Hong Kong will manage the aircraft, which will be based in Hong Kong. Airbus' Corporate Jetliner family consists of airliner variants A318 Elite, ACJ and A320 Prestige. Around 150 single-aisle and widebody Airbus aircraft are now in VIP and government service from Asia to Antarctica.
(Atlanta) - Kristi Cherry has been named a Cessna sales representative in the company's territory in Alabama and Georgia. Cherry joined the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport FBO after spending two and a half years representing Columbia Aircraft in the Atlantic/Southeast region. Cessna recently acquired Columbia, adding that company's Model 350 and 400 aircraft to the existing Cessna product line.
A Cessna 425 hit a runway sign while taxiing on an icy taxiway prior to takeoff at the airport in Cahokia, Ill. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions and that the airport issued NOTAMs indicating "poor braking condition" in effect and one-quarter inch of ice covering runways and taxiways. No one was injured.
