Regular Cause&Circumstance readers know that we look for lessons in the accident investigation reports that come our way -- lessons that you can apply immediately to improve the safety of your operation. Often, perhaps even most of the time, these lessons are uncomplicated -- simple reminders that using checklists, following SOPs, and knowing your airplane and its systems are critical to safe operations.
The Be A Pilot program took a hit after September 11 but remains healthy according to Be A Pilot President Drew Steketee in a November 29 report. Leads dropped 70 percent immediately after the attack, but have recovered to just 25 percent below those of 2001 on a week-to-week comparison basis. That level is consistent with the post-attack falloff of other aviation businesses including airline travel. Before September 11, leads were up nearly 10 percent.
One of aviation's oldest saws says that it's a business guaranteed to produce a small fortune . . . out of a large one. That probably was the way William E. Boeing felt for almost a decade after he launched his fledgling aircraft manufacturing enterprise in Seattle in 1916. Through the lean postwar years, he used his own money to keep his company afloat until it could attract enough business to become a viable venture.
General Dynamics Aviation Services' (GDAS) five U.S. maintenance centers have received the FAA's Diamond Certificate of Excellence Award. ``The fact that all of our centers achieved this level of performance and recognition in our first year of operation is an extremely significant accomplishment,'' said Larry Flynn, GDAS president. For a service center to receive the Diamond Award, at least 25 percent of its employees must complete a minimum of 100 hours of initial or recurrent training each year.
The Christie Battery System (CBS) works with the Christie DataFX to automate the management of service data for large, vented nickel-cadmium batteries. The CBS provides ongoing, real-time status of each cell for up to four batteries at one time and maintains complete documentation of each battery's service history. At the end of a servicing session, data gathered from CBS reports, visual observations and in-shop tests are used to generate an Airworthiness Report. Price: Call for pricing Marathon Power Technologies Co. 8301 Imperial Dr.
American Eagle will begin regional jet service from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in February. The AMR unit will add the 19 daily departures to its current 60 departures, covering some of the routes discontinued by American Airlines after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. American will begin 44-seat jet service from LAX to Phoenix, Albuquerque and Oakland in February. Service to Sacramento will begin in March.
Gulfstream is switching to new brakes with a 2,000-landing guarantee for future G-IVs. Aircraft Braking Systems Corp. (ABSC) will supply main wheels and the brakes, nosewheels, digital anti-skid and a brake temperature monitor. The brakes will be made of ABSC's 6000-series carbon composite heatsink material.
All FlightSafety maintenance training courses are now approved for Inspection Authorization renewals. The approval covers the requirements of FAR Part 65.93.93 (a)(4), and IA approval codes, acceptable at any FAA office worldwide, will be issued with course completion records for the more than 330 maintenance training courses conducted at any of FSI's 40 learning centers.
Icarus Instrument and Iridium Satellite announced their contender in the market for relatively low-cost satcom systems for private and corporate aircraft. SatTalk II is a voice and data system available from Iridium service partners for about $6,000. This system uses a fixed satellite antenna to link aircraft to the satellite constellation. Like all satcoms, it operates in flight or on the ground, requiring only a clear line of sight to a satellite. The crew interface makes use of the pilots' headsets so they can monitor ATC during calls.
GE Aircraft Engines issued a letter concerning ``Adverse Weather Conditions'' relating to CJ610/CF700 engines on November 8, 1990. The letter stated the following: ``In April 1990, a CJ610-powered Learjet took off at night into one of the worst storms of the year and lost power on both engines, could not relight either engine and made a ``dead stick'' landing. Fortunately, no one on board was injured.
If you're considering LASIK eye surgery, your first step is to learn all you can about the procedure, and then find a doctor who will tell you if refractive surgery is right for you. Good information for patients from the American Academy of Ophthalmology can be found on the Web at www.medem.com. Enter ``refractive surgery'' in the search box. The data is not biased and doesn't endorse any specific group or doctor.
Worldwide Aviation's Securealog offers aircraft owners and operators a ``central records repository'' designed to securely store and protect an aircraft's logbooks and records from loss, theft, destruction and/or foul play. The service uses licensed airframe and powerplant technicians to organize all of the information, certify, notarize and scan it into the database, with three forms of separate backup. A full set of the original records is then provided to the aircraft owner on their choice of CD-ROM or paper copy.
GE Engine Services has signed a 16-year agreement with Skywest Airlines to perform engine maintenance on the regional carrier's fleet of Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ) manufactured by Bombardier. The deal, which GE valued at $1 billion over the life of the contract, covers Skywest's 40 CF34-3A1 and -3B1 powered CRJs, along with another 100 CRJs on firm order that will be delivered through 2004. Maintenance and overhaul work on the engines will be performed at GE's Strother Field facility near Winfield, Kan.
Edited by David RimmerMike Vines, at London-Luton Airport, England
Signature Aircraft Charter has added a Dassault Falcon 2000 to its fleet, making it the only aircraft of its type available for charter in the United Kingdom.
Midway Airlines, which abruptly terminated all service on September 12, 2001, is using $10.1 million in federal aid to help it resume service. Citing the ``calamitous drop in air traffic,'' a soft economy, low-fare competition and rising fuel prices, the North Carolina carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in mid-August. Midway slashed 700 employees, eliminated flights to nine cities, reduced frequencies to its 19 remaining destinations and grounded half its fleet.
Agusta/Bell's AB 319 is now well into its flight-test program with a third aircraft added in October 2001 and JAR/FAR certification targeted for late this year. The company claims more than 40 orders and plans to offer a VIP version of the five-blade twin-engine helicopter.
Despite reports to the contrary, the bottom is not falling out of the U.S. aerospace industry as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said John Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, in mid-December during the organization's Year End Review and Forecast luncheon.
Avolar announced orders and options for as many as 82 additional aircraft, increasing to 309 aircraft the fledgling fractional ownership program has ordered. The UAL Corp. division has signed letters of intent for 15 Beechjet 400As, with options for 10 additional aircraft as well as "up to 57" Learjet 45s and 60s. The Raytheon order has a potential value of $150 million, while the Bombardier order is worth as much as $632 million.
``Those who can pay the manifold multiples of first-class fare necessary to amortize the cost of a corporate jet can see airplanes as the miracles of freedom they originally were.'' From the book Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel by James Fallows ``I'd like to be a philosopher, and a fighter pilot.'' New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on ABC-TV's ``20/20''
Gulfstream Aerospace won a contract valued at $100 million to provide two Gulfstream V aircraft to the Japan Coast Guard. The contract, awarded with its Japanese partner Marubeni Aerospace, also includes engineering support for modification of the aircraft and integration of mission systems. The aircraft, which will be used for ocean surveillance and rescue missions, will be equipped with airborne surveillance radar, forward-looking infrared system and other search and rescue equipment.
The Do328 was originally designed for the FAR Part 121 environment, and the Envoy 3 Corporate Shuttle takes advantage of its commercial lineage, which includes economic line maintainability. ``Admittedly, the platform was created with airline customers in mind,'' said Clayton Calihan, Fairchild Dornier's communications director. ``Yet, with no design alterations needed to step into the corporate marketplace, the Envoy 3 operates for less per hour than any airplane anywhere near its size and capability, with more reliability and greater comfort.''
Ten years after the end of the Cold War, the door to Russian airspace was fully opened with the inauguration last February of four Polar Routes linking North America and Asia. Flying these routes, however, requires extremely careful planning, as they take aircraft across some of the world's most forbidding and inhospitable terrain, the High Arctic. There is no ATC radar, there are no ground-based navaids, and GPS signals are unreliable above 75N.
The National Air Transportation Association, working with high-tech companies including Lockheed Martin and Microsoft, is developing biometrically encoded identification cards for passengers and employees of aviation businesses. The program includes the ``SkyD'' card for ``trusted travelers'' on commercial and GA aircraft; and the ``SkyGuard'' card for flight crews, aviation employees and student pilots. Both programs would use plastic ``smart cards,'' containing digital certificates and signed biometric template information.
Jet Aviation West Palm Beach will be an Embraer Legacy service center. According to Jet Aviation Vice President for Maintenance and Outfitting William Stuck, Jet will be getting in on ``the ground floor'' of the Embraer's corporate jet venture. The corporate-configured Legacy will carry 10-18 passengers 3,200 nm.
CAE added a second Fairchild Dornier 328JET and a Boeing 737NG simulator at its Dallas training center. The four-bay facility also has a Fairchild Dornier 328 turboprop simulator. CAE built both the simulators and their visual systems. They will be certified to FAA Level D. The company has four other training centers worldwide.
