Edited By Paul RichfieldMike Vines, in Birmingham, England
An AgustaWestland EH101 helicopter variant operated by Britain's Royal Navy crashed off the coast of Scotland on October 27, 2000; its five crewmembers were rescued. The Merlin HM Mk.1 was conducting a sonar-dipping exercise at approximately 100 feet when it suffered a power loss and fire in its Number Two engine, according to a company spokesman, who said the helicopter rolled inverted before hitting the water.
Computer reservation service Worldspan is now offering travel agents the ability to price and book air charters online on the company's Worldspan Go! system. Worldspan has signed an alliance with CharterHub, an online provider of real-time charter availability and booking. The new service is available for charters in the United States and Canada.
Australian air safety officials are crafting new rules that mandate personal flotation devices (PFDs) on commercial aircraft that fly even short distances over water. The move comes six months after a Wyhalla Airlines Piper Chieftain crashed into the Spencer Gulf along Australia's southern coast, killing all eight aboard. Current rules require PFDs only on flights that operate at least 50 nm from land.
The Vance&Engles aircraft brokerage has opened a new East European office in Prague. Tomas Chlumecky will head the new office, in addition to his current efforts as area sales representative for Cessna.
Good morning, Houston, Falcon 750 Hotel, flight level 430'' Captain Laura Carr reported, as we leveled off in Honeywell's Falcon 50 Dash 40 retrofit demonstrator and began to accelerate towards 0.80 Mach cruise. Climbing directly to FL 410, or higher, and then cruising at 459 KTAS, or better, is routine for operators of the $20 million Falcon 50EX because it's fitted with TFE731-40 turbofans that produce 24 percent more cruise thrust, according to Honeywell officials.
Honeywell's new 905 gas generator, potentially the core of a new 3,000- to 6,000-pound thrust turbofan family slated to replace the venerable TFE731, made its first test-cell run in Phoenix on November 29, 2000. Launched last February 2000, the 905's first test-cell run originally was scheduled for the end of 2000. Honeywell says the 905 program is part of a plan to develop new families of engines to complement the 6,500- to 8,000-plus-pound thrust AS907.
AviationTracker has announced the release of its Web-based maintenance forecasting, tracking and scheduling system for aircraft record keeping. The software is designed to allow companies to carry out maintenance and inventory procedures over the Internet with access to real-time information. AviationTracker's system combines all technical data functions, including technical records, inventory control, maintenance planning, purchasing, inspection document management, maintenance production control, component reliability and technical logbooks.
BFGoodrich says it will sell its Performance Materials business and acquire Raytheon's electro-optical systems division. Chairman David L. Burner says the moves are aimed at completing BFGoodrich's transformation into an aerospace and industrial products company.
The prime rule of aviation training is: Train the way you fly and fly the way you train. The rule, taken at face value, seems to be self-evident. Who could disagree? Yet many of the accidents that befall operators of turbine aircraft provide evidence that we don't always fly the way we train. Indeed, the circumstances of some accidents suggest we often spend a great deal of time training for the wrong mission, or training for unlikely events, or training to the wrong set of standards.
I would like to add a few observations to Richard Aarons' excellent coverage and analysis of the U.S. Air Force C-130 accident at Jackson Hole (Cause&Circumstance, December 2000, page 86). Once again, the mishap crews were ``highly qualified'' and ``well respected,'' etc., which begs the question, Then why did they make the mistakes that killed them? It raises another question that doesn't get asked often enough in accident investigations: What would similarly experienced Air Force crews have done in this situation?
As an occupational medicine specialist and senior aviation medical examiner, I read with great interest the article by David Carlisle (``The Pilot's Lower Back,'' November 2000, page 83). This excellent article was well-written and contained an abundance of useful information.
Edited By Paul RichfieldPaul Richfield, in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Dan Catalano says he hates the lasers most of all, because they make his corneas sting. Kids buy them at the mall or through ads in the backs of magazines, and zap him from cars, apartment windows and speeding motorcycles as if he was a flying monster in the video arcade.
If your screwdriver can't remove a damaged screw, the X-OUT screw remover may be a solution. According to the manufacturer, the X-OUT plows into the head of the screw and turns it out with the aid of a hand drill. The bit is chucked into a standard 3/8-inch variable-speed drill set for reverse and is placed on the center of the damaged fastener. It can also be chucked into a 1/4-inch quick bit holder (not provided). The kit contains three bits designed to remove fasteners ranging from No. 6 to No.
It is a simple question of social policy: If a pilot or mechanic makes a mistake that results in an accident, is it better to find out the truth of what happened and why, or is it more important to inflict criminal consequences on those at fault?
Bombardier has appointed Execujet Australia, at Kingsford-Smith Airport, Sydney, as a Learjet Authorized Service Facility. Under this agreement, Execujet will provide maintenance for all of the Learjet models as well as sales support for the entire Bombardier line of aircraft.
What happened is pretty clear -- half the world watched the drama of Sunjet's Learjet 35 unfold on CNN on October 25, 1999. Why this routine business charter, carrying golfer Payne Stewart, ended up the way it did is entirely unclear. Nevertheless, the NTSB believes lessons can be learned from its investigation into the matter.
Commander Aircraft President and CEO Dean M. Thomas has died unexpectedly at the age of 47. The former Piper executive joined Commander as sales and marketing chief in 1995, before being tapped to lead the Bethany, Okla., aircraft manufacturer. Calling Thomas a close personal friend, Wirt D. Walker III, chairman of Commander parent company Aviation General, said he was ``universally well-liked and admired'' and had a ``profound effect'' on the company. Walker will oversee Commander until a successor is named.
The U.K.'s Civil Airworthiness Authority has certified Eurocopter's EC 135 for Single Pilot IFR (SPIFR) operations. The certified aircraft are fitted with Thales (the former Sextant) MEGHAS avionics glass cockpits. Eurocopter boasted that single-pilot certification was unavailable on the aircraft's two direct competitors.
BBA Group plc, the parent company of Signature Flight Support, has agreed to acquire Ranger Aerospace Co. and its associated Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG) for $152 million with assumption of all bonds and debts. The transaction is expected to close this quarter and under that agreement Signature will hold the Ranger stock.
Westchester Air, White Plains, N.Y., has named Bob Tidler as director of operations/chief pilot and Reed Vander Schel as director of maintenance services.
Edited By Paul RichfieldPaul Richfield, in Long Beach, Calif.
After more than 10 years of starts and stops, Advanced Aerodynamics&Structures, Inc. (AASI) says its Jetcruzer pusher-canard turboprop could achieve FAA type certification as early as this June. A non-conforming, non-pressurized prototype (S/N 002) has accrued around 400 flight hours, the Long Beach, Calif.-based company says, and a conforming, pressurized (but unfinished) version of the $1.395 million aircraft ``should fly [this month].''
