FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION issued special certification conditions for the fire extinguishing system on the Adam Aircraft Model A700's Williams FJ33-4A engines, which are mounted on the aft fuselage. FAA said current Part 23 requirements do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards to cover fire protection for the aft mounted engines. Part 23 addresses fire protection through prevention, identification and containment.
Model SN-601 (Corvette) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-28259; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-024-AD; Amendment 39-15154; AD 2007-16-15] - Requires repetitive inspections of the left-hand and right-hand hinge fitting for cracks and replacement, if necessary. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) from the aviation authority of France. The MCAI stemmed from reports of cracks on the nose landing gear left-hand and right-hand hinge fittings due to stress corrosion on in-service aircraft.
Five of the nine people aboard a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft were killed Thursday when the aircraft crashed near Traitors Cove about 25 miles from Ketchikan, Alaska. Officials said several of the survivors sustained burns and other injuries. The aircraft was operated by SeaWind Aviation, an air tour provider. Five people were killed last month in another small airplane crash near Ketchikan while on a sightseeing flight in the Misty Fjords area.
OCEAN TAXI AEREO LTDA (Ocean Air) based in Sao Paulo, Brazil was named an authorized service facility for all Bombardier business jets. Bombardier appointed Ocean Air an authorized service facility for Learjet in 2005. The company has since expanded its service capabilities to include Challenger and Global aircraft models. Ocean Air will offer aircraft-on-ground, maintenance and other services. Bombardier said the appointment helps build its support network in Latin America, where 320 operators fly Bombardier business jets.
Special conditions for a FADEC in the Cirrus SR22 have been published by the FAA. Centex Aerospace Inc. is installing in the light plane a Teledyne Continental Motors IOF-550-N powerplant, which features a full-authority digital engine control (FADEC).
TSA also made a few changes last week to the Twelve-Five Standard Security Program (TFSSP) that were designed to iron out some ongoing concerns that operators have had with the program. National Air Transportation Association officials late last month met with TSA officials to discuss longstanding concerns about interpretation and compliance with the program. TSA officials committed to addressing all six of the concerns that the association had raised.
WHILE ADAM AIRCRAFT is focused on obtaining certification for its Very Light Jet A700, the company also is keeping an eye on new possibilities for the product line, said John Wolf, who succeeded Rick Adam as chief executive. Wolf said expanding the product line is one of four steps the company is concentrating on as it moves from a development company into a "world-class producer" of aircraft. See article below.
Models IO-550-N, TSIO-520-BE, TSIO-550-A, TSIO-550-B, TSIO-550-C, TSIO-550-E, and TSIO-550-G engines [Docket No. FAA-2007-28863; Directorate Identifier 2007-NE-33-AD; Amendment 39-15149; AD 2007-16-10] - Remove before further flight certain Kelly Aerospace Power Systems turbochargers. This AD, which resulted from four incidents of the turbine rotor separating from the shaft of the turbocharger, has been issued to prevent this condition from occurring again, which could result in full engine power loss, loss of engine lubricant or smoke in the airplane cabin.
SA226 and SA227 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25927; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-52-AD; Amendment 39-15142; AD 2007-16-03] - Establish life limits on certain pitch-trim actuators and replace those components with an improved actuator to terminate Airplane Flight Manual limitations and reduce the repetitive inspection and repetitive replacement requirements of earlier ADs.
CHANGES TO FLIGHT LIMITS AT LAGUARDIA proposed by the FAA would not affect unscheduled operations, according to a notice published recently by the agency. FAA, which is working on a long-term plan to manage congestion at the New York City airport, said it needs to amend the Dec. 12, 2006, order that placed temporary limitations on air carrier flights there. The LaGuardia rule allows 75 scheduled operations and six unscheduled flights per hour from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT CORP. received certification authority for the Beechcraft Premier 1A from Transport Canada. MBE Jet Ltd. of Calgary, Canada recently took delivery of its first Premier 1A and has a second on order.
AIRCRAFT ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION scheduled a series of regulatory and technical training sessions in the fall. The sessions will cover regulatory updates from FAA headquarters and the field, repair station training program auditing, light sport aircraft maintenance, aviation technician training, and training on a number of systems from AirCell, Garmin, Chelton and other manufacturers. The sessions will take place during the AEA Regional Meetings Sept. 13-14 in St. Louis, Mo.; Oct. 25-26 in Irvine, Calif.; and Nov. 8-9 in Orlando, Fla.
LAWMAKERS on Capitol Hill have adopted their latest versions of internal ethics laws, and once again have highlighted the use of private aircraft for election campaigns. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, S.1, requires that senators who fly on private aircraft reimburse the owner at a rate equivalent to the fair market value of a similar charter flight. Senators previously were required to pay at a rate that is equivalent to a first-class ticket.
A GULFSTREAM G150 set three new city-pair speed records on a trip between Los Angeles, Maui, Hawaii, Las Vegas and Savannah. Michael Jarrett, Gulfstream international demonstration captain, and Chip King, Gulfstream senior production test pilot, flew the aircraft between Los Angeles and Maui in 5 hours and 24 minutes, averaging a cruise speed of .79 Mach into headwinds of 50 knots during the 2,024-nm trip. The pilots then flew the aircraft 2,396 nm from Maui to Las Vegas in 5 hours and 26 minutes, averaging a speed of .79 Mach.
A Beechcraft King Air 90 on an air ambulance mission crashed in New Mexico Aug. 5, killing all five people aboard including a 15-month-old patient. The aircraft, N369CD, crashed into mountainous terrain shortly after taking off at about 10:40 p.m. from Ruidoso Airport in New Mexico. The aircraft was operated by Southwest Medevac, which provides medical flights in Southern New Mexico and Texas. Aboard the aircraft were the crew - Ricky Byers, Brian Miller and Deanna Palmer - the patient, Lilly Smith, and her mother, Tracy Smith.
Model TBM 700 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-28645; Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-059-AD] - This proposed AD would require checking for proper operation of the locking handle for the upper access door and modification of the adjacent window trim panel in accordance with instructions contained in EADS Socata's Mandatory Service Bulletin TBM Aircraft SB 70-150 (dated May 2007).
EMBRAER recently broke ground on a business jets service center that will be built at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn. The groundbreaking came three weeks after the Brazilian plane-maker held a groundbreaking ceremony for a facility at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz. (BA, July 9/14). The Windsor Locks facility, which will service the Phenom and Legacy business jet lines, will be completed in mid-2008. The 45,000-square-foot Embraer facility will include a hangar, workshops and office space. Embraer is planning a third facility at Ft.
Hawker Beechcraft Acquisition Co. LLC (HBC) posted a second-quarter loss and lower sales, but a strong surge in orders for new aircraft dramatically increased the company's backlog.
EAGLEPICHER TECHNOLOGIES, which produces batteries and other energy producing devices for commercial, defense and space industries, achieved AS9100 at its facilities in Joplin and Seneca, Mo., and Pittsburg, Kan. Established by the International Aerospace Quality Group, the standard recognizes achievement, quality and safety for suppliers in the aerospace industry.
RTI International Metals reported higher earnings and revenues for the quarter and first half of 2007, but said it took a $3.4 million charge for the quarter to establish a reserve in case the firm has to return import duty reimbursements it received earlier. Those reimbursements are the subject of an investigation by federal officials.
TRIUMPH GROUP plans to sell off two of its manufacturing units. Effective June 30, Triumph said it designated as discontinued operations Triumph Precision Castings and Triumph Precision, a build-to-specification manufacturer and supplier of high-precision machined components and assemblies. Triumph expects to complete the sale of those two units by the end of September. For the three months ended June 30, the discontinued operations posted a loss of $3.9 million.
Air Methods Corporation, the largest U.S. provider of air medical transport services for hospitals with a fleet of more than 200 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, plans to complete by Oct. 31 its acquisition of all the outstanding common stock of FSS Airholdings, Inc., the parent company of CJ Systems Aviation Group, Inc. CJ, headquartered near Pittsburgh, is one of the larger private U.S.
XL INSURANCE is offering a new pollution insurance program specifically designed to protect fixed-base operators. "General liability insurance offers businesses very limited, if any, protection against an environmental incident such as a fuel oil spill," said Richard Corbett, chief environmental underwriter for XL Insurance's Global Environmental unit. The company's pollution policy offers coverage for loss, remediation expense and legal defense at covered airport locations. XL Insurance is part of XL Capital Ltd. of Exton, Pa.
Cessna Aircraft's Citation XLS+ flight testing is continuing in Wichita, following the successful first flight of the business jet on Aug. 2 at Rockwell Collins' facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The first flight, which lasted one hour and 30 minutes, went as planned, with the aircraft "performing as expected," according to Cessna Citation XLS+ Program Manager Kevin Steinert.
