August 21: The right main landing gear of a Beech 99 collapsed on landing in Monterrey, Calif., causing substantial damage. The Redding Aero Enterprises aircraft was operating an on-demand cargo flight at the time of the mishap. The two pilots were uninjured.
CMC Electronics said it had successfully completed a series of developmental flight trials of its Infrared Enhanced Vision System. The Canadian company said the tests proved the effectiveness of the system in seeing the runway, approach and runway lights, runway surface markings and ground vehicles in a variety of weather conditions. The system sensor is scheduled to begin its certification process in fourth quarter 2002.
Rockwell Collins and Universal Weather have entered into an agreement to provide data and operational management services through e-flight, a new Collins system. Designed to improve situational awareness, e-flight will be integrated through the Pro Line 21, Pro Line 21 Continuum and Pro Line 21 CNS avionics systems. The new system provides flight crews with map overlays, Controller Pilot Data Link Communications and graphical weather displays. For passengers, it delivers high-speed e-mail and Internet access.
Jeppesen has added a Windows interface and lots of graphic tools to its JetPlan flight planning engine, now dubbed JetPlanner, and is targeting small to midsize airlines and flight departments. It features the capabilities of JetPlan plus some tricks of its own, such as a ``rubber-banding'' function to manipulate planned routings.
More than one year after British and French aviation officials lifted Concorde's certification, the aging supersonic aircraft was, again, cleared to fly in early September. The approval is subject to compliance with airworthiness directives, and as a result, re-certification will actually occur on an aircraft-by-aircraft basis, as modifications are completed.
AirCell has $12.8 million in new financing for system expansion and upgrades. AirCell is the only airborne system authorized by the FCC to connect with the existing cellular infrastructure. With network enhancements and a new data center in Colorado, AirCell will be able to offer better airborne access to services such as NEXRAD maps, e-mail and the Internet.
Piedmont Hawthorne is preparing a Saab SF340A corporate shuttle demonstrator as a result of its recent alliance with Saab Aircraft Leasing Inc (SAL). Michael Magnusson, president and CEO of SAL, said, ``We are targeting the corporate shuttle market, as this sector is growing fast both in the U.S. and Europe, but we are not aiming these refurbished aircraft at the VIP market.''
The September 11 highjackings and attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon caught the nation, the world by surprise. The long-term ramifications are unknown, but its effect on business aviation was immediate and, except for lifeguard flights, for three days left the industry grounded and wondering aloud. Here are some of the voices from that time:
Two senior FAA executives depart for greener and perhaps more peaceful pastures. Nick Lacey, long-time head of Flight Standards until a recent reassignment prompted him to resign from the FAA, report for duty at the Washington consulting firm of Morton, Beyer and Agnew in early September. His former boss, Tom McSweeny, associate administrator for regulation and certification, and the senior safety, certification and enforcement officer, will end his 28-year FAA career and join Boeing's Washington, D.C., office.
Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. (PHI) Chairman Carroll Suggs retired in mid-September after selling her 52-percent interest in the company for about $30 million. Oil and gas industry veteran Al A. Gonsoulin, a 4,000-hour fixed wing pilot who acquired the majority of the stock from Suggs, is now Chairman of the PHI board of directors.
Larry Ginocchio, a Cessna sales manager and son of Peter Peter Ginocchio, Dassault Falcon Jet's retired senior vice president of Customer Support, was killed September 5 in a hunting accident in northern Quebec. After graduating from the University of South Carolina in 1992, Ginocchio worked for Simuflight Training International and later was involved in sales at Galaxy Aerospace. He joined Cessna in 1999 and handled CJ and Bravo sales in South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee.
Photograph: Gulfstream VSP Town officials in Islip, N.Y., have approved a $50,000 fee for aircraft using Long Island-MacArthur Airport (ISP) between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. The ``noise surcharge,'' is to ``compensate the town and its citizens for the cost of dealing with serious community concerns'' over the flights, which it has deemed loud, disturbing, unnecessary, and ``detrimental to the life, health, welfare, safety and good order.'' The fee is applicable to all aircraft, regardless of size.
After conducting air charters under other operators' certificates for the past several years, Rifton Aviation Services has finally gotten its own FAR Part 135 certificate. The Newburgh, N.Y.-based (SWF) operator is now authorized to conduct worldwide charters with 10 or more passengers using its current fleet of three company-owned aircraft: an eight-passenger Dassault Falcon 2000, an 11-seat Gulfstream IV and an eight-passenger Cessna Citation Excel.
The NBAA Maintenance Committee has created guidelines to provide maintenance training standards for business aircraft manufacturers and training companies. IBM's Jim Janaitis, chairman of the training subcommittee, said his group has been working on the standards since October 1999. The document is based on the Air Transport Association (ATA) standards and it further clarifies several aspects specific to business aircraft operations. Due to the varying needs and types of operations, the NBAA has kept the content of the guidelines general.
Transport category aircraft, as defined under FAR Part 25, are designed to ``survive'' encounters with birds, at least to the extent that most catastrophic consequences can be avoided and the aircraft can return safely for landing. The design criteria apply primarily to three major components: the empennage structure, windshields and windows, and engines.
Are you looking for another project to tackle in your flight department? Consider heading up the hotel selection committee. When you check on hotel amenities, inquire if they have a dedicated exercise room. Ask what equipment is available and if it all works (it's frustrating to arrive at the end of a long day and find out the only treadmill is inoperative, or the exercise room has been converted to a file storage room, or the pool is closed).
Helicopters do their best work in tight, tough situations. And often those tight, tough operational situations are made more difficult by darkness, marginal weather and urgency -- the latter almost always the case with emergency medical services and law enforcement.
August 30 -- The flight attendant on an Embraer ERJ-135ER suffered a broken leg when the aircraft encountered severe turbulence near Richmond, Va. According to crew statements to the NTSB, the aircraft was flying at 15,000 feet, vectoring between storm cells at the time of the encounter. The cells were between 15 and 25 miles from the aircraft, when it suddenly pitched up and rolled 20 degrees to the left and right. The remaining two crewmembers and 28 passengers were uninjured. No damage to the aircraft was reported.
As part of the carrier's ``proactive'' cost-cutting measures, Mesa Air Group Chairman/CEO Jonathan Ornstein and President Mike Lotz are taking 50-percent base pay cuts, while pay for other senior management is being reduced by 20 percent. Ornstein and Lotz's former compensation was $200,000 and $175,000, respectively. The carrier is also following the lead of most major airlines with a 20-percent flight reduction at its CCAir and Air Midwest subsidiaries.
September 12 -- A Let L410 crashed on takeoff from Chichen Itza, Mexico, killing all three crewmembers and 16 passengers on board. Officials suspect engine failure in the accident, adding that the crash was followed by an intense fire that hampered rescue and recovery efforts. Registered to Mexican air tour operator Aero Ferinco, the Czech-made turboprop was returning to Cozumel where the passengers were to rejoin a cruise ship bound for Miami.
