FAA is the first federal agency to take advantage of a major streamlining provision in the 1993 Clean Air Act Amendments for general conformity. Under the Presumed to Conform (PTC) provision, the agency can now develop a list of exempted airport projects that cause few if any emissions. With the new list, FAA can eliminate unnecessary analysis and paperwork for many small airport development projects subject to the act's General Conformity Rule.
CONGRESS late last month approved the Implementing Recommendations of the 9-11 Commission Act of 2007, H.R. 1, which includes a number of provisions affecting aviation security. The act calls for screening of cargo carried on board passenger aircraft and directs the Transportation Security Administration to develop a threat and vulnerability assessment program for general aviation airports.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT appointed Jet Aviation in Dusseldorf, Germany as an authorized service center for Hawker 800 series aircraft. The Jet Aviation facility was previously approved to service Beechcraft King Air, Beechjet and Premier aircraft. The Dusseldorf facility has 66,100 square feet of hangar space and provides a range of maintenance, repair, overhaul, avionics, refurbishment and fixed-base operation services. Founded in 1975, Jet Aviation Dusseldorf is Jet Aviation's German headquarters. Jet Aviation also operates facilities in Hannover and Kassel.
BALDWIN AVIATION SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE is developing a new interactive mentoring program to help both start-up and existing flight departments establish effective business systems to manage all aspects of their operations. Baldwin founder Don Baldwin, former head of both the Texaco and Coca Cola flight departments and former chairman of the National Business Aviation Association, plans to discuss specifics of the mentoring program at this year's NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention in Atlanta.
Named vice president, customer experience and support services for Eclipse Aviation. Ricciardelli has 23 years of customer support and program management experience with Honeywell and Bell Helicopter-Textron. He was executive director of commercial development programs and participated on the team that won the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program. He also established a support network for various turbofan engines at Honeywell and earned his Six Sigma Black Belt Certification.
Federal Aviation Administration is expected to issue an airworthiness directive soon requiring inspection of Kelly Aerospace turbochargers on Teledyne Continental engines that power recently built Cirrus Design SR22 airplanes. Failure of a turbine wheel in those turbochargers has resulted in three forced landings of low-time SR22s since April. See related article below.
CARMANAH TECHNOLOGIES CORP. introduced five models of a new product line, EverGEN solar engines, ranging from 10 to 80 watts in power. The solar engines are designed for use where grid-supplied electricity is unavailable or impractical and can be used for powering a wide range of technologies, including lights, sensors and cameras.
Barbara Barrett, a former member of the Civil Aeronautics Board who also served as FAA Deputy Administrator during the Reagan Administration, is said to be under serious consideration by the White House for nomination as FAA Administrator. Current Administrator Marion Blakey is scheduled to step down Sept. 13 at the conclusion of her five-year term in that post. Barrett, who also was a Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, is married to Craig Barrett, the chairman of Intel Corp.
Both House and Senate Appropriations Committees have expressed serious reservations about FAA's user fee proposal. In their respective fiscal 2008 transportation appropriations funding bills, the committees included language expressing concern that the FAA proposal would reduce their oversight since the user fees could be used to bypass the traditional appropriations process.
HOUSE AND SENATE lawmakers recently cleared measures to boost the Federal Aviation Administration's funding in fiscal 2008. The full House late last month approved a $14.9 billion budget for FAA in fiscal 2008, up from the fiscal 2007 level of $14.5 billion and from the White House proposal for $14.1 billion. The Senate Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, approved its version of the fiscal 2008 appropriations bill, which provides $14.8 billion.
Model F-28, F-28A, F-28C, F-28C-2, F-28C-2R, F-28F, F-28F-R, 280, 280C, 280F, 280FX, TH-28, 480 and 480B Helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2007-28813; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-09-AD; Amendment 39-15140; AD 2007-16-01] - Before further flight, visually check to determine if a certain serial-numbered main rotor blade retention pin is installed, and replace that affected retention pin with an airworthy one.
JETCRAFT AVIATION, a Brisbane, Australia charter, freight and regional operator, added the first of two ATR 42-300s to its fleet. The ATR aircraft will be used for freight operations in the South Pacific region on a network that links Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. The sale of the ATR comes as ATR has expanded its presence in the South Pacific, recently opening a regional sales office in Sydney and a regional spare parts center in Auckland, New Zealand.
CHELTON FLIGHT SYSTEMS secured FAA technical standard order and supplemental type certificate approvals for a new combined digital air data and strap-down solid-state attitude/heading reference system (ADAHRS). The new unit is one-tenth the size and one-eighth the weight of the two separate units that the ADAHRS replaces. The ADAHRS is designed for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. The STC covers more than 500 aircraft models, and Chelton said more certifications are in process.
House transportation leaders last week urged their colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee to keep aviation excise taxes in place, saying the current funding system will cover the needs of the next generation air traffic control system. Four senior members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee made that appeal Wednesday during a hearing on aviation taxes before the Ways and Means subcommittee on select revenue measures. Rep.
Model PC-6 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-28157 Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-046-AD; Amendment 39-15138; AD 2007-15-09] - Conduct a one-time inspection of the wing-strut fittings and replace damaged wing-strut fittings with new ones. Also, examine the spherical bearings installed in the wing strut fittings and replace bearings that do not pass the examination criteria.
JET AVIATION in Dusseldorf, Germany was appointed an authorized service center for Hawker 800-series aircraft by Beechcraft Hawker Corp. The German facility was previously approved to work on King Air, Beechjet and Premier aircraft.
Hooper Harris, who headed the Commuter, On-Demand and Training (CODT) Center Branch in FAA's Flight Services division, will become manager of the agency's Accident Investigation Division, effective today (Aug. 6). In his former post, Harris oversaw supervision and enforcement of Part 135 operators and the implementation of A008, the new operations specifications requirements for Part 135 operators (BA, June 11/261).
Officials of Landmark Aviation's network of 33 North American fixed-base operations are in the final stages of fine-tuning the sales process for that network, an opportunity that has generated intense interest from prospective buyers.
DANTA, the ground handling arm of Dubai's Emirates Group, signed a joint venture agreement with China West Airport Group (CWAG) to provide airport ground handling services in Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XXIA). Danta will hold a 45 percent stake in Xi'an Dnata Aviation Services Co. Ltd., while the remaining 55 percent will be owned by CWAG. The airport currently has about 117,000 flights carrying nearly 11 million passengers annually. Those totals are expected to grow significantly in coming years.
Named vice president, aerospace products for PPG Industries. Gillespie formerly served as president, actuation systems for Smiths Aerospace until it was acquired by General Electric. Before that he was vice president and general manager for various Eaton Corp. aerospace businesses, including electro-mechanical systems, actuator and controls and hydraulics. Gillespie also previously worked for AlliedSignal.
AMETEK B&S AIRCRAFT PARTS & ACCESSORIES, in Overland Park, Kan., achieved International Organization for Standardization ISO AS9110 registration, the quality standard for aerospace repair stations. Ametek B&S partnered with Mid-America Manufacturing Center (MAMTC), a nonprofit organization also in Overland Park, to apply for the ISO registration. MAMTC provides expertise in Lean Enterprise, product development and testing, quality management/ISO, and Six Sigma.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE delivered the first Learjet 60 XR business jet to Cloud Nine Aviation of Los Angeles, Calif. The new model, which has a typically equipped price of $13.3 million, features a Pro Line 21 avionics system and restyled passenger cabin.
RUNWAY 16 at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y. was shut down for nearly three hours Friday morning after the crew of an Avantair Piaggio P180 turboprop was forced to make a gear-up landing after experiencing difficulty getting the landing gear to properly deploy. The two-member crew was positioning the aircraft from the Teterboro, N.J. Airport (TEB) to HPN when the incident occurred about 0820 Aug. 3. There was very minimal damage to the aircraft according to Airport Manager Steve Ferguson, who said the pilot "did a real good job."
Named assistant vice president for communications and marketing at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. Minor will head up the communication and marketing efforts for ERAU's Daytona Beach and Prescott, Ariz. campuses. Minor comes from Penn State University, where he was senior director for that school's outreach activities, particularly continuing and distance education programs. Minor also has more than 20 years of experience in the advertising business, having worked for a number of the country's largest advertising agencies.
