DON FOSTER has joined Sandel Avionics as HTAWS fleet sales manager. Foster will be responsible for Sandel’s new HeliTAWS terrain safety system, along with other helicopter products. He has 20 years of sales, marketing and project management experience, previously serving with Avidyne and Ryan International. Foster is based in Columbus, Ohio.
U.S.-Registered Business Jet and Turboprop Accident/Incidents1st 9 months, 2010 vs. 2009 U.S.-Registered Business Jet and Turboprop Accident/Incidents 1st 9 months, 2010 vs.
Flying magazine promoted executive editor Robert Goyer to editor in chief, replacing Michael Maya Charles. Goyer joined the magazine in 1994 as associate editor and has helped transition the magazine to evolving digital platforms, magazine executives say. He is a commercial, multi-engine and instrument-rated pilot. Charles joined the magazine in June, replacing longtime former editor J. Mac McClellan. Charles is expected to pursue his interests as an aviation writer and photographer.
The National Transportation Safety Board is hosting a three-day course, “Transportation Disaster Response - A Course for Emergency Responders,” at the NTSB Training Center Nov. 16-18 in Ashburn, Va. The course, which includes the participation of the New Jersey State Police, is designed for local, county, state and federal emergency responders, planners and managers, as well as members of organizations and agencies with accident response roles.
Pan Am International Flight Academy has acquired Aeroservice Aviation Center in Miami. The agreement included all of Aeroservice’s training and simulator assets. Pan Am plans to integrate Aeroservice simulators into its training system, saying they will be positioned “where they most effectively serve its customer base.” The Aeroservice Miami center will become Pan Am’s seventh training facility and will operate under Pan Am’s Part 142 certificate.
BOMBARDIER Regional Jet Series 700, 701, 702, 705 and 900 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0438; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-265-AD; Amendment 39-16450; AD 2010-20-15] – Measure the inrush current of the angle of attack (AOA) transducers, per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 670BA-27-053, Rev. B (dated Jan. 12, 2010). If an AOA transducer has an inrush current equal to or more than 1.60 amps, repeat the measurement at specified intervals. If a transducer is found to have an inrush current less than 1.60 amps, replace it before further flight.
The number of “serious” runway incursions at U.S. airports dropped by 50% in 2010, marking a second consecutive year the number was cut in half, Transportation Department officials say. This drop comes despite an increase in the overall number of incursions (see chart on right). But incursions classified as serious declined to six, from 12 in Fiscal 2009 and from 67 in Fiscal 2000. Of the six, three involved commercial aircraft.
Five business aviation executives have created the Sky Hope Network, a new non-profit organization designed to offer emergency support to the industry.
COLLEEN ATHANS was named vice president and general manager of assembly, test and overhaul for GE Aviation. Athans joined GE in 1983 and has held technical, quality and management roles at the company’s facilities in Lynn, Mass.; Cincinnati; and Durham, N.C. Most recently, she was general manager of the CF6 commercial engines and services.
BOMBARDIER Regional Jet Series 100 and 440 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0276; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-144-AD; Amendment 39-16452; AD 2010-20-17] – Revise the “Airworthiness Limitations” section of the “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness” to include information regarding replacement of the bulkhead check valves at intervals not to exceed 3,000 flight hr.
ExecuJet Europe and Advanced Air Support have announced plans to launch a joint fixed-base operation (FBO) at Le Bourget Airport in Paris. The FBO has undergone a full refurbishment and will incorporate the branding of both companies. It is the third in the European network for ExecuJet and the company’s seventh worldwide, with further plans for expansion expected.
BOMBARDIER Regional Jet Series 100, 440, 700, 701, 702, 705 and 900 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0550; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-124-AD; Amendment 39-16454; AD 2010-20-19] – Conduct fluorescent-penetrant inspections of the air-driven generator (ADG) strut to detect cracks, per the instructions of Bombardier Alert Service Bulletin A601R-24-120, Rev. C or A670BA-24-020, Rev. C (both dated April 20, 2009), as applicable.
JetBlue founder David Neeleman and Acadia Woods Partners LLC have bought Los Angeles-based private jet operator JetSuite for an undisclosed sum. JetSuite was founded in 2008 by current CEO Alex Wilcox, a former JetBlue executive who worked with Neeleman to create that airline back in 2000. “We were raising capital in order to take delivery of five more aircraft,” Wilcox says. JetSuite currently has seven Embraer Phenom 100s.
The number of accidents involving U.S. business jets held steady through the first three quarters of the year, but turboprop accidents were up slightly over the same period in 2009, according to the latest statistics released by Robert E. Breiling Associates, Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla.
BILL COLLERAN was appointed director, technical information services for Gulfstream Aerospace. Colleran will oversee Gulfstream’s technical publications, Computerized Maintenance Program (CMP) and reliability/maintainability organizations. He previously was senior site manager, contractor logistics support (CLS) for Gulfstream at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. He has spent 17 years with CLS, executing several maintenance contracts in support of U.S. government Special Air Missions. Colleran also spent 12 years in the U.S.
Garmin has developed a G1000 retrofit program for the King Air 300 and 350 twin-turboprop airplanes. The supplemental type certificate for the installation is anticipated in mid-2011. Once complete, King Air owners will be able to install the system at any Garmin-authorized G1000 retrofit dealer. The G1000 also is available as a retrofit package for select King Air C90, 200, B200, 300, 350, and Cessna CitationJet aircraft. “We have received a tremendous response to our G1000 retrofit programs,” says Gary Kelley, Garmin’s vice president of marketing.
The Kansas economy is expected to continue its sluggish employment rebound over the remainder of 2010, according to a new report from Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research. The report forecasts that in 2011, employment will rebound, picking up some of the losses from the recession, but full employment recovery is not expected to be achieved until after 2012.
Palm Springs, Calif.-based charter operator Desert Jet has added a 2008 Beechcraft King Air B200GT to its fleet. The King Air, which will be used for operations out of Long Beach and Bermuda Dunes Airports, can cruise 40-kt. faster than earlier King Air 200s and has a 1,600-mi. range. The aircraft joins a Cessna Citation V and a Citation Encore in the Desert Jet fleet.
On-demand charter operator Desert Jet has added a Hawker 1000 to its operations. The aircraft joins the company’s existing fleet – a Citation Encore, a Citation V and a King Air B200GT.
President Obama has signed the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010, which included an extension of the provision for bonus depreciation (BA, Sept. 27/3). Bonus depreciation was originally included in the federal stimulus act, and now extends accelerated depreciation to strategic business assets, including aircraft purchased this year and placed into service before the end of 2011.
BOMBARDIER Regional Jet Series 100, 440, 700, 701, 702, 705 and 900 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0375; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-014-AD; Amendment 39-16443; AD 2010-20-09] – Replace certain balance washer screws installed in the air-driven generators (ADGs) with new screws. This AD, which resulted from an MCAI originated by Transport Canada, was prompted by five reported cases of balance washer screw failures because of metallographic non-conformity on similar aircraft types.
Daher-Socata handed over the first Polish-registered TBM 850 to Sat Film, a television cable and communications operator that provides services in Lodz, the third largest city in Poland. Robert Kowalczyk, the Sat Film owner and pilot, ordered the aircraft to help his effort to extend his operations throughout Europe.
Hawker Beechcraft, Inc. plans to add a new company director with the recent resignation of Nigel Wright. Wright was the leader of the Onex/Goldman Sachs team that bought the aircraft manufacturer from Raytheon in 2007. He is leaving to become chief of staff for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
SCOTT PLUMB was appointed vice president, Hawker jet sales for Hawker Beechcraft in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has more than 20 years of aerospace sales and marketing management experience, including with Gulfstream Aerospace, Airbus and British Aerospace. Most recently he was with VistaJet Aviation Services, where he was chief commercial officer and a board member.
