A LEARJET 35 Friday afternoon crashed into the Long Island Sound about one-half mile short of the runway at Groton-New London Airport. It was unclear how many people were aboard the aircraft late Friday, but three people were rescued.
NxAERO LLC, a Beverly, Mass.-based management and charter company, bought Groton, Conn.-based air taxi Columbia Air LLC. The acquisition follows a partnership in which the two companies operated the TBM-700 for on-demand services. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The House Appropriations Committee this week is expected to consider a $15.2 billion budget for the Federal Aviation Administration in fiscal 2007 in a bill that would provide $2.4 billion more for the agency than the Bush Administration requested and ignore the Administration's plans to slash airport funding. The budget was part of a $67.8 billion fiscal transportation, treasury, housing and urban development bill that passed out of subcommittee late last month.
Address: Comments may be submitted via the Web: http://dms.dot.gov; by fax: (202) 493-2251; or by mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street S.W., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, Washington, D.C. 20590-001. Identify docket number. Petitions for Exemption Docket No.: 2006-24848 Petitioner: Roger Stundahl Section of 14 CFR Affected: 21.190(b)(2) Description of Relief Sought: To allow the transfer of one airplane to the Special Light Sport Aircraft category.
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION commissioned a study to show the economic benefits that general aviation brings to states and communities across the country. The association is expected to provide details of the project and findings later this month.
The Customs and Border Protection's unmanned Predator B aircraft that crashed April 25 was downed by an apparent combination of pilot error and technical glitches, according to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report.
Appointed airport manager for Ontario International Airport in California. Romo has worked for the City of Los Angeles for 17 years, and spent eight of those years as property manager at Los Angeles International, Ontario and Van Nuys Airport.
Appointed international territorial sales director for Dallas Airmotive. Holloway will be responsible for the company's sales team covering much of Europe and North Africa. He spent 14 years with Dallas Airmotive affiliate H+S Aviation, most recently as program manager for the Rolls-Royce Model 250.
AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA completed commissioning an enhanced version of The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAATS) that includes a fully integrated Automatic Dependant Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system. Thales delivered the software enhancements to provide the ADS-B capability. AirServices Australia has deployed an ADS-B ground station in Bundaberg and soon will add four new sites - Longreach, Bourke, Woomera and Esperance. Plans call for a total of 28 stations to be integrated in the next year.
Avionics manufacturer Rockwell Collins completed the acquisition of the simulation assets of Evans & Sutherland, a leading providers of visual simulation products for military and commercial airlines. The purchase, for $71.5 million in cash, includes Evans & Sutherland facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah, Orlando, Fla. and the United Kingdom. Approximately 200 former Evans & Sutherland employees have joined Collins.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY, already years behind schedule in getting the Hawker 4000 certificated and to market, now faces new requirements from FAA because the process has taken so long. See article on Page 253.
Model EMB-135 and EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-23673; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-233-AD] - Withdraws a proposed AD that would have required inspections to determine the part number of the ailerons. For airplanes with affected aileron part numbers, the proposed AD would have required reworking the aileron damper fitting, and for certain airplanes, replacing the rod end of the aileron damper assembly with an improved rod end.
MU-2B series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-23884; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-13-AD] - Proposes to require flight checks of the rigging of the engine and propeller systems. This proposed AD results from a recent safety evaluation that used a data-driven approach to evaluate the design, operation, and maintenance of the MU-2B series airplanes in order to determine their safety and define what steps, if any, are necessary for their safe operation.
THE TETERBORO AIRPORT working group has been developing a timeline for implementing many of the recommendations it crafted to improve safety, security and community relations at the New Jersey airport (BA, April 24/185). The working group still has not publicly rolled out those recommendations, and members have continued to meet with officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as well as local politicians to discuss the proposals. While the PANYNJ has appeared upbeat about the recommendations, local politicians have given them a lukewarm reception.
U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS officials last week arrested five Cessna Aircraft workers for immigration violations. Cessna management notified the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office of possible documentation discrepancies, and ICE said it determined that the documents were fraudulent and that the workers were illegally living and working in the U.S. "Cessna management followed proper procedures," said Pete Baird, assistant special agent-in-charge of ICE Office of Investigations in Kansas City, Mo., in a statement.
A Chinese manufacturer already producing components for the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter may become a second source for S-76 airframes under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by representatives of the two firms last week.
JET SUPPORT SERVICES, INC. (JSSI) developed Tip-to-Tail hourly maintenance cost guarantee programs for the Adam A500 twin-piston and A700 AdamJet aircraft. The programs, developed in concert with the Colorado-based airframe manufacturer, mark the first JSSI cost-guaranteed product for a very light jet as well as the first hourly maintenance program to include complete airframe and engine coverage for a twin-engine piston aircraft. The programs will be offered in three- and five-year increments.
ARINC won a contract from Atlantic Southeast Airlines to provide air/ground communications services. ARINC will provide digital data link service through the ARINC GLOBALink/VHF network using the VDLM2 protocol. ARINC will manage ASA's air/ground and ground/ground operational messages through a Web-based OpCenter. The contract also calls for ARINC to integrate several paperless data applications, including ground maintenance data collection and weight-and-balance applications.
The Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association formally asked FAA last month to let its airline members continue using Mode C transponders in their aircraft until next-generation ADS-B units become available at reduced prices.
Appointed outside sales representative in the Southeast region for Greenville, S.C. air taxi SATSair. Sterrett previously served with two companies he helped found - InCounter, LLC and InFlx LLC.
MILLION AIR TETERBORO has renamed itself Meridian as part of an ongoing effort to consolidate its operations at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The fixed-base operation changed its name, effective June 1, to Meridian Teterboro and the aircraft maintenance division became Meridian Jet Center. The company also is adding new logos and signage. The rebranding comes as the company moves into its new 33,000-square-foot headquarters and FBO facility. A new 40,000-square-foot hangar and maintenance shop are slated for completion in October.
ATR handed over the first of seven new ATR 42-500 aircraft to Pakistan International Airlines under a contract valued at $100 million (U.S.) that was announced in November. PIA, the flag carrier of Pakistan, will take delivery of the next two aircraft in November and December and the remaining four early next year. The regional turboprop aircraft will replace PIA's aging F-27 aircraft fleet.
Named manager of public relations for American Eurocopter LLC. Prickett will oversee internal/employee communications, media relations, writing, community relations, and special events promotions/publicity. He formerly served as manager of public relations for Promotional Products Association International in Irving, Texas. He held similar positions with Meeting Professionals International and Consumer Credit Counseling Services.
Model MD900 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2006-24631; Directorate Identifier 2005-SW-01-AD] - Proposes superseding an existing AD that currently requires reducing the life limit of certain Notar fan system tension-torsion (TT) straps. That AD also requires, at a specified time interval, removing each affected TT strap from the helicopter, doing a visual and X-ray inspection, and replacing any unairworthy part before further flight.
