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.
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.
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.
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.
*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.
*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.
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.
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.
Iridium Satellite trumpeted in late February the latest report from Frost & Sullivan on "2008 LEO Satellite Quality of Service Comparison - Gulf Coast Analysis," which focused on the southern portions of Florida and Texas in February 2007. The independent research firm found that Iridium calls were three and one-half times more likely to be connected and completed without being dropped than a competing service. The report said Iridium's success rate was 93 percent compared with a competing service at 26.7 percent.
In past 50 years, aviation fuel burn has been cut by 70 percent and NOx emissions by 50 percent. So says the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) in the second in its series of 11 briefing papers looking at the technological progress being made by the aviation industry to reduce its impact on the environment. The briefing outlines the emissions produced by aero engines, the impact they have on the environment and the technology being developed to reduce the impact of new aircraft.
The "bottom line" in having a successful outsourcing experience for Don Baldwin is "aligning yourself with a good, trusted maintenance manager to handle the oversight of it," the former flight department manager (Texaco, Coca-Cola) said recently.
A Beechcraft B36TC collided with terrain about two miles south of Mammoth Yosemite Airport, Mammoth Lakes, Calif. According to the pilot, shortly after takeoff, the engine started to lose power, but did not completely stop running. He switched fuel tanks, checked the magnetos and activated the fuel boost pump. Nothing seemed to help, so he headed back to the airport but realized he was not going to make it. He executed a forced landing in snow-covered terrain. The impact resulted in crushing damage to the belly of the aircraft.
*Hawker Beechcraft, Wichita, has appointed Dan Keady to lead the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa sales team as divisional vice president. Jason Liao has been appointed regional vice president for China and Southeast Asia. Jeff Anastas, Allan Stanton and Brett Carlson are regional sales directors for India, Africa, the Middle East and Australia. Russell (Russ) W. Meyer III has been appointed director of new product development.
Although now vice president for business development at Portland, Ore.-based EVS-manufacturer Max-Viz, Lou Churchville chalked up considerable experience in previous postings with maintenance service businesses and aircraft completions and modification centers. This gave him a window into how repair stations operate and the potential pitfalls to look for when evaluating them.
Millennium Concepts, Inc., a Wichita-based aircraft design and completions firm, has launched a new Web site to provide its growing list of customers, potential clients and the media information and comprehensive data about the company's services. The new site also includes photos of Millennium's employees and facilities, details its services and products, and has interactive pages that allow potential clients and prospective employees to fill out informational surveys or job applications. Millennium Concepts Wichita, KS
"For much of the aircraft resale market, a slowdown is apparent," declared publisher Fletcher Aldredge in the first-quarter edition of VREF's Market Leader newsletter. "For more than a year, pundits have been saying that a downturn in the economy and aviation is imminent. It is possible that an economic stimulus package or burgeoning global economies will forestall any U.S. hardship, but we think not."
James Raisbeck has received the Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur award in honor of his 50 years of contributions to the field of aviation and aeronautics. The honor was bestowed at the Living Legends of Aviation's annual dinner and awards banquet in Los Angeles on Jan. 24.
*NetJets Aviation, Columbus, Ohio, announced that Mark Bianchi has been named executive vice president of aircraft maintenance. Eric Lampert has been named vice president and director of operations for the Flight Operations Department at NetJets Aviation.
Historically one of the major medical areas of concern regarding older pilots was their higher likelihood of sudden or subtle cardiovascular incapacitation. In fact, the risk of sudden death caused by cardiovascular disease was the reason stated for the initial adoption of the highly debated "Age 60" rule in FAR Part 121 operations. The original justification implied that the characteristics of the general population of white males in the United States also applied to the population of air carrier pilots.
