The National Weather Service (NWS) has a new icing avoidance tool accessible on the Web. The catch is that the FAA has only approved its use for meteorologists and airline dispatchers so far. The Current Icing Potential (CIP) tool displays high-precision maps and plots, updated hourly, to identify areas of potential inflight icing. There's also a companion icing forecasting tool, FIP, still classified as experimental, that will predict icing potential up to 12 hours ahead.
Africa: The World Health Organization (WHO) said the Buruli ulcer is sweeping across Africa. A very destructive malady, the WHO said, no one is sure where the bacterium lives in the environment or how the disease enters the body, although it is clear the bacterium is unable to do so by itself. No one knows why the tropical disease can spontaneously erupt in temperate climates like Australia or any of 25 other countries where Buruli has been spotted. It's also unclear if everyone infected with Buruli develops the disease and, if not, why some are able to fight it off.
An error appeared in the article ``Catering Vigilance Increases Safety'' (March, page 54) regarding Susan Friedenberg's Corporate Flight Atten-dant Training course. We mistakenly printed that she teaches first aid; she does not.
Jumbolair Aviation Estates, perhaps the world's only fly-in community that can accommodate a Boeing 707, has added a bed and breakfast for the kerosene crowd. After landing at the Ocala, Fla., airport's 7,500-foot lighted runway, guests of The Inn at Jumbolair will find antique-filled accommodations, an on-site gym, equestrian center and lavish suites.
Honeywell and its European satcom partner, Thales Avionics, have received approval from Inmarsat to offer airborne voice, fax and data services utilizing Inmarsat's Swift64 64-kbps service, which is roughly 25 times faster than today's typical 2.4-kbps airborne satcom links. Honeywell and Thales share technology in their mutual satellite communications hardware products.
Malev Hungari Airlines of Budapest has ordered two Bombardier CRJ200 ERs (Ex-tended Range) with deliveries set for June and July of this year. The Hungarian flag carrier has also taken options on six additional CRJ200 ERs. Plans call for the 50-seaters to feed traffic to Malev's Budapest Ferihegy Airport base. They will also feed its KLM/ Northwest code-share partners there. Malev intends to add regional services between Budapest and points in the Ukraine, Romania and the Balkans, as well as Western European destinations.
Despite continuing concerns from city officials, the FAA lifted the temporary flight restriction (TFR) over downtown Chicago in April. The TFR, which established a no-fly zone over the city after 9/11, was rescinded shortly after midnight April 9, one week after it was due to expire. When the TFR was not automatically cancelled on April 2, the AOPA immediately appealed to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, and the agency promised that the ban would be lifted shortly.
``I'm going out there to Bush Field, get in the left seat of a Citation X and fly up to Orlando and get myself a little bit unwound. And probably watch the Masters.'' Arnold Palmer after failing to make the cut at the Masters, which he says was his last. N.Y. Times
Hoping to boost the Mid-Atlantic region's role in aerospace-related technology development, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said that he is pushing to create a cutting-edge rotorcraft research center near the Boeing Co.'s rotorcraft plant in suburban Philadelphia.
Edited by David RimmerMike Vines, in Birmingham, England
A report on the U.K. government's 30-year aviation policy -- officially due out this month -- has caused some surprises and consternation among many British pressure groups -- especially environmentalists. The ``White Paper'' is based on a number of government-commissioned regional studies examining transport needs and identifying any restrictions that might slow economic growth.
Raisbeck Engineering in late March announced its departure from the secure cockpit door manufacturing business. The Seattle company's Hardened Cockpit Security System (HCSS) had received a great deal of attention because they were the first secure doors available after 9/11. Raisbeck informed current and prospective customers as well as Boeing's Alan Mullaly of the decision in late March. In a prepared statement, Raisbeck said ``we are grateful to have been able to make an early contribution to the Safety-in-the-Skies airline program.''
Accident statistics compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates for first quarter 2002 show business jet and turboprop fatalities down sharply from the corresponding period in 2001, while the number of accidents held steady. The composite fleet has experienced 22 accidents, of which five were fatal, compared to first quarter 2001, in which there were also 22 accidents, seven of which were fatal. Passengers and/or crew who died in first quarter 2002 numbered 15, versus 45 deaths in the same period in 2001.
The first CRJ operator in Japan took delivery of its first new CRJ200 on April 4. The Fair, Inc. has operated with two used CRJs since mid-2000. The new aircraft will be used primarily to expand the airline's route system. The Fair, Inc. is a code-share partner with All Nippon Airways, to which it feeds passengers at Narita.
Release of a rule to regulate fractional ownership under a new Subpart K of FAR Part 91 -- first proposed in July 2001 -- likely won't come until the fall. Lou Cusimano, deputy director of the FAA's Flight Standards Service, told an audience at the National Air Transportation Association convention that the focus on the 9/11 terrorist attacks and changes in Office of Management and Budget requirements have pushed back the schedule. The OMB now requires a 90-day review of new rules.
By now, the first Transportation Security Administration passenger screener-trainer candidates should have completed their training at Oklahoma City and returned to their respective airports. The 300 men and women are the first of a force that will be responsible for helping to train and supervise airport screeners at 429 airports nationwide. The first candidates were fitted for uniforms on March 22 and took the oath of office before beginning 40 hours of classroom instruction.
A new report stating that 96 percent of all U.S. nuclear reactors were designed without regard for the potential impact ``from even a small aircraft'' has raised concerns from the general aviation community, which has spent months trying to dispel fears about the potential threat of private airplanes.
