Manufacturers of a wide range of in-service, turbine-powered aircraft would be required to conduct a series of "high-power, high-altitude sudden engine shutdowns and determine the minimum airspeed to maintain core rotation" to ensure successful in-flight engine restarts under a recommendation the National Transportation Safety Board made to FAA last week. That recommendation and several others stem from the board's investigation of the Oct. 14, 2004 fatal crash of a Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jet near Jefferson City, Mo. See article below.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey will be the speaker at Tuesday's (Nov. 28) luncheon of the Aero Club of Washington. Also at Tuesday's event, the Aero Club will present its Donald D. Engen Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence to the family of former test pilot Scott Crossfield. The award, named after the former Navy vice admiral who later served as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, FAA Administrator and director of the National Air and Space Museum, is given to an individual, team or organization for a lifetime of achievement in aviation.
The international aviation community is continuing to speak out in support of the release of two ExcelAire corporate pilots who are being kept from leaving Brazil following a midair collision at the end of September. At the same time, the pilots, Capt. Joseph Lepore and First Officer Jan Paladino, are preparing for another court hearing this week on their request to have their U.S. passports returned.
Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC) Tuesday finally secured type certification for its Hawker 4000 super-midsize business jet. The approval comes almost two years after RAC secured provisional type certification and nearly a decade after the aircraft was first unveiled. RAC announced the aircraft - originally called the Hawker Horizon - during the 1996 NBAA convention and had hoped to achieve certification and begin deliveries in the spring of 2001.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey signed an agreement with Praful Patel, India's minister for civil aviation, for the U.S. and India to work together to develop and modernize India's civil aviation infrastructure. The two nations will collaborate on a host of issues, from air traffic control training and procedures to aviation safety standards and regulations. India's domestic aviation market, the third-fastest-growing in the world, is forecast to grow 20 percent a year through 2009.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators are focusing their attention on problems manifested by the No. 1 engine of a Cessna 421B Golden Eagle that crashed shortly after takeoff his month in California.
Brazilian officials investigating the September collision of an Excelaire Legacy jet and a GOL Boeing 737 plan to examine Traffic Collision Avoidance System gear and other comm/nav equipment. Releasing a preliminary report Thursday, Brazilian officials confirmed that the traffic collision avoidance systems did not issue any traffic warning alerts or instructions for evasive action in either aircraft. The report also indicates that the Excelaire pilots and controllers were not able to maintain radio contact in the minutes before the collision.
Model BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25388; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-086-AD; Amendment 39-14824; AD 2006-23-12] - Requires inspecting the hydraulic accumulators to identify certain serial numbers, and replacing any affected accumulator with a new or serviceable accumulator. Operators may delay doing the replacement by performing repetitive inspections of the affected hydraulic accumulators for signs of failure (leaking or cracking), and replacing any failed accumulator with a new or serviceable unit.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association named John Grisik, a veteran General Electric and Goodrich Corp. executive, to chair its board of directors. Grisik succeeds Jack Pelton, the chairman, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft, who has chaired the GAMA board for the past year.
R321/4-82-F/8; R324/4-82-F/9; R333/4-82-F/12; and R334/4-82-F/13 propellers [Docket No. FAA-2006-26220; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-40-AD; Amendment 39-14822; AD 2006-23-10] - Requires (1) Before next flight after the effective date of this directive, identifying the propeller blades that have a S/N listed in the applicability section of this directive and inspecting the affected blades in accordance with the instructions contained in Dowty Propellers Alert Service Bulletin (ASB) No. 61-A1133, dated October 17, 2006, and ASB No. 61-A1134, dated Oct.
Model DA 40 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26165; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-57-AD; Amendment 39-14816; AD 2006-23-04] - Requires, before further flight, unless already done, inspecting engine fuel system for possible contamination of fuel per Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH Mandatory Service Bulletin No. MSB 40-048/2, Revision 2, dated Sept. 26, 2006; and Work Instruction WI-MSB-40.048/2, Revision 2, dated Sept. 26, 2006. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
BOMBARDIER delivered the first executive-configured Challenger 850 to a Russian customer. The aircraft also was the first Challenger 850 completed by Lufthansa Technik of Hamburg, Germany. Bombardier in November 2005 signed a contract for Lufthansa Technik to complete up to 17 Challenger 850s. Delivery of the first Challenger 850 executive aircraft followed the delivery of the first Challenger 850 corporate shuttle in March. The Challenger 850 is a derivative of the CRJ 200 regional jet.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION Air Safety Foundation was recognized with the Federal Aviation Administration's new Thomas H. Wardleigh Award. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey presented the award to Executive Director Bruce Landsberg during the AOPA Expo in Palm Springs, Calif. The award was created to honor an individual or organization that has made a significant impact on aviation safety; created innovative training, equipment or other improvements to safety and shown leadership in aviation safety.
Model AT-602 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2004-20007; Directorate Identifier 2004-CE-50-AD; Amendment 39-14798; AD 2006-23-01] - Requires repetitive inspections (using the eddy current method) of the wing center splice joint two outboard fastener holes on both of the wing main spar lower caps for fatigue cracking; repair or replacement of any wing main spar lower cap where fatigue cracking is found; and reporting any fatigue cracking found. This AD results from fatigue cracking at the wing center splice joint outboard fastener hole in one of the wing main spar lower caps.
THE AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION believes the federal government has taken a "step in the right direction" by setting aside $17 million to reimburse businesses at four airports and one heliport in the Washington, D.C. area for losses stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (BA, Nov. 13/221). But the association believes that the $17 million should only be the beginning.
The Timken Company, which has been investing in manufacturing facilities in China for more than a decade, announced plans to open another bearing manufacturing facility in that country.
Was promoted to director of project management for FlightSafety International. McRae joined FSI in 1996 and has held instructor and project and quality management positions. Most recently he was manager of FSI's facility in Toronto, Ontario. He will continue to manage that facility on an interim basis. Before joining FSI, McRae managed capital projects for the offshore petroleum industry and held aircraft maintenance management and technical support positions with Canadian Airlines.
SHARP DETAILS relocated its corporate headquarters to a new facility at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). Sharp Details will be based at Dulles Jet Center, which recently opened on the north side of the airport. The new address for Sharp Details is 23800 Wind Sock Drive, Suite 100, Dulles, Va., 20166; telephone (800) 836-5204. Sharp Details provides aircraft cleaning and support services at airports along the East Coast from Virginia to Massachusetts.
INTELLIGENCE EXPERTS continue to worry about the potential role a general aviation aircraft could play in a terrorist plot, Michael Jackson, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told business aviation leaders last week.
ZURICH UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES WITERTHUR is collaborating with Swiss AviationTraining (SAT) on a new bachelor's degree curriculum in aviation. The curriculum includes training toward a pilot's license at SAT. Enrollment began this fall with 83 students. Zurich University said the curriculum is the only one of its kind in Switzerland and the border regions. Students have the opportunity to select from operations and management or technical and engineering specialties.
ECLIPSE AVIATION outlined a couple of hardware problems last week with the Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet, telling the company's customers it is addressing the situation as officials continue to seek an FAA Production Certificate and firm up a production schedule. See article on page 233.
ELLIOTT AVIATION won approval to provide non-destructive testing at its fixed-base operation at the Des Moines, Iowa International Airport (DSM). The Des Moines facility provides Level II eddy-current and fluorescent dye-penetrant inspections. The facility also was certified as a Cessna authorized independent non-destructive inspection facility to perform eddy-current and liquid penetrant inspections on all Citation aircraft.
December 4-6 - National Agricultural Aviation Association Convention, Orlando, Fla. Contact: Peggy Knizer (202) 546-5726. December 15 - Aero Club of Washington, 2006 Wright Memorial Dinner, honoring Norman Mineta, former Member of Congress and Transportation Secretary. Contact: Nancy Hackett, Executive Director, Aero Club of Washington, (703) 327-7082 January 7-11, 2007 - American Association of Airport Executives, 21st Annual Aviation Issues Conference, Kauai, Hawaii. Contact AAAE at (703) 824-0500.
GULF OF MEXICO helicopter operator PHI, Inc. said it received a written statement from its pilot union's leadership, confirming, as the company had requested, that "the pilot strike against the company has ended and the return to work offer was, in fact, authorized and validly ratified by the union membership." PHI said it was "in the process of reviewing the details and implications of the union's offer" and will respond formally in due course.
