EMBRAER selected Component Control's Quantum Control Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to manage the company's maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services network. The selection of the software will support the company's efforts to expand the number of aircraft maintenance service centers worldwide, Embraer said. The software will be implemented at Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services in Nashville, Tenn.
THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION is "currently reviewing the process by which standard security programs are developed and implemented in the future." TSA made that statement in response to a letter from the National Air Transportation Association, which expressed concern with how the agency has handled the Twelve-Five Standard Security Program (TFSSP) for Part 135 operators. NATA had urged TSA Assistant Administrator John Sammon "to intervene in the management of the TFSSP to eliminate unnecessary and burdensome revisions" (BA, May 21/227).
ADMINISTRATOR BLAKEY told senior staff members recently she was encouraged by the quality of applicants who are seeking the post of chief operating office of FAA's Air Traffic Organization and said she planned to begin interviewing candidates soon. FAA Deputy Administrator Bobby Sturgell has been serving as acting head of the ATO since former ATO head Russ Chew left the agency earlier this year to join Jet Blue (BA, Feb. 26/99).
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2008 NASA budget bill that includes a total of $17.46 billion, an increase of $150 million over what the Bush Administration had requested for the agency. The total approved by the Appropriations Committee is $1.175 billion above the amount Congress provided for NASA in fiscal 2007. The bill includes $5.655 billion for science, $554 million for aeronautics research and $3.972 billion for exploration systems.
Aircraft Model CAP 10 B airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27530 Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-019-AD; Amendment 39-15118; AD 2007-13-14] - Conduct repetitive inspections for cracks to the rudder lower support. If cracks are found, remove the cracked part and replace it with an airworthy one before further flight. This AD, which is based on an MCAI originated by a foreign aviation authority, was prompted by two reported cases of cracked rudder lower supports. The AD goes into effect Aug. 3. FAA estimates that this AD will affect 31 aircraft on the U.S. Registry, costing U.S.
IRIDIUM SATELLITE released a Request for Information (RFI) to potential partners interested in participating in the development of a next-generation satellite communications network. Iridium said release of the RFI is the company's first official step in the design, development and deployment of the Iridium NEXT system. The Iridium constellation provides mobile satellite communications coverage worldwide for voice and data services.
THALES received a contract to provide airport navigational aids for Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan. The contract includes the Thales Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance and Control System, which will connect with the Terma X-Band radar and will provide the "basic building block" for an ADS-B system. Thales also will supply two instrument landing systems (ILS 420) with the distance measuring system (DME 415) and one Doppler VHF Omnirange (DVOR 432) with the DME 435.
Was promoted to technical representative for Cessna Citation business jets for Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek, Mich. Merkling, who earned a bachelor's degree in aviation maintenance technology from Western Michigan University, has been a member of the Citation maintenance team at Duncan for a number of years. DAVID (GUNNER) WILES was named manager of operations for the Salina, Kan. Airport.
Model P-180 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27723 Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-029-AD; Amendment 39-15116; AD 2007-13-12] - Replace the outboard flap track forward bushing and the outboard flap track forward support in accordance with the instructions of Part A of Piaggio Aero Industries S.p.A. Mandatory Service Bulletin (SB) No. 80-0210, Rev. 4 (dated July 19, 2006).
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION plans to assemble an industry-based rulemaking group to develop recommendations for addressing safe runway landing distance margins, James Ballough, director of the FAA's Flight Standards Service, said at NATA's Air Charter Summit. The runway landing distance issue got a lot of attention after the Southwest Airlines runway overrun at Midway Airport in December 2005 in which a 737 slid off a snowy runway and struck two vehicles on a nearby road, killing a 6-year-old child.
ERJ 170 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27508; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-252-AD; Amendment 39-15117; AD 2007-13-13] - Install a debris strainer at the cargo compartment fire extinguisher system drier metering unit (DMU) inlet according to the detailed instructions described in Embraer Service Bulletin 170-26-0002 (dated Nov. 11, 2005). This AD results from an MCAI issued by the airworthiness authority of Brazil and is designed to prevent the DMU from being obstructed and thereby preventing the fire extinguishing system from operating properly.
GKN AEROSPACE completed the acquisition of aircraft engine systems supplier Teleflex Aerospace Manufacturing Group (TAMG). TAMG produces structural components in the engine, blisk/integral bladed rotors, outlet guide vanes, combustor cases, compressor and turbine blades. The company specializes in electro-chemical machining, which removes material from hard and soft metals. GKN Aerospace CEO Marcus Bryson called the acquisition "an excellent strategic fit for us" with a complementary product line.
Bruce R. Kennedy, 68, a longtime executive with Alaska Airlines and the chairman of startup manufacturer Quest Aircraft, was killed late last month when his Cessna 182 crashed during a landing attempt at the Cashmere, Wash. airport. An initial FAA report said Kennedy's plane, N735KP, clipped a tree on final approach to the 1,800-by-50-foot asphalt runway and was destroyed by the impact and post-crash fire. The accident occurred late on the evening of June 28. Weather does not appear to have been a factor in the accident.
Was promoted to manager of the FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach, Fla., where he succeeds Dick Skovgaard, who is retiring. Jhagroo joined FlightSafety International in 1998 and held a number of positions with increasing responsibility at the Academy since then. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and is a certified flight instructor. Jhagroo has flown corporate and commercial aircraft and had flight instruction and management posts with aviation training organizations and operators in Florida, Guyana, Turks and Caicos and Trinidad.
Was promoted to vice president for research and institutional effectiveness and was named a professor of human factors and systems at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. In her new role, Frederick-Recascino will lead efforts to increase ERAU's funded research activities, graduate enrollments and graduate programs. She also will oversee strategic planning and the university's development of a 77-acre research and technology park focused on aviation and aerospace.
PILATUS recently celebrated a milestone by one if its top distributors, Aviation Sales, Inc., which last week delivered its 100th PC-12 aircraft. Based at Centennial Airport in Denver, Colo., Aviation Sales has been selling and servicing aircraft since 1971. The company became an authorized Pilatus dealer and service center in 1994, and was the first PC-12 distributor in the U.S. Aviation Sales is responsible for sales in the Southwest, including Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California. More than 700 total PC-12s have been delivered worldwide.
Joined the Aerospace Industries Association as director of legislative affairs. Elson was previously associate director of governmental affairs in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation where he served as a liaison to congressional offices on matters dealing with FAA and the Office of Aviation and International Affairs, including the Next Generation Air Transportation System program. Before joining DOT, Elson worked for an aviation management consulting group in Colorado and on political campaigns.
ARINC, Inc., the Maryland-based firm that has been providing communications for the scheduled airlines and other users for more than 75 years, is being purchased by The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, the two companies announced late Thursday. Financial details were not disclosed.
Operators of U.S. business and corporate turbine-powered aircraft were involved in 25 accidents during the first six months of the year, down slightly from the 29 accidents in the same period in 2006, according to information compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Fla. The eight fatal accidents through June resulted in 21 passenger and crew fatalities. That compares with nine fatal accidents that claimed 22 lives during the first half of 2006.
The National Air Transportation Association is urging the Federal Aviation Administration to clarify that Safety Alerts for Operators (SAFOs) are voluntary. NATA said it supports the use of SAFOs to distribute important safety information, which usually include recommended - but not required - actions.
THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE will hold a hearing this week to discuss aviation taxes and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey is one of four witnesses on the schedule for Thursday with other witnesses including Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag, Government Accountability Office Director of Civil Aviation Issues Gerald Dillingham and Mark Hansen, professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
FIRSTFLIGHT, an aviation services company based at Elmira/Corning Regional Airport in New York, added a Gulfstream G200 and Beechjet 400A to its fleet. The G200 is based in Elmira, and will be used for charters to and from the New York metropolitan area and throughout the Northeast. The Beechjet is based in Stuart, Fla. and will be used for FirstFlight's growing client base in Florida as well as for connections to the Northeast. The G200 and Beechjet follow the recent addition of a Learjet 60 and Hawker 1000 to the company's fleet.
Joined Shadin Avionics as regional sales manager, Western U.S. Griffitts has more than 15 years of sales and marketing experience, most recently as marketing communications manager with Chelton Flight Systems. She also served as MARCOM manager for Oce Groupware, a print management software company, and was an account supervisor for Creative Source International, a marketing firm.
