Heli-Dyne Systems, Inc. was awarded a contract by the Westchester County, N.Y. Police Department to supply a Bell 407 helicopter equipped with special mission equipment that includes a FLIR 8500RTX with laser pointer, Breeze external hoist, Bambi Bucket provisions, Avalex moving map, digital recorder and monitors, BMS microwave downlink system and the Spectrolab SX16 Nightsun external spotlight.
The Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which supplies most of FAA's funding, stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars if Congress does not repeal a new tax law that requires certain jet fuel to be taxed at the higher diesel highway fuel rate or if IRS does not simplify the requirements for obtaining reimbursements for those taxes, business aviation advocates fear.
Promoted to territorial sales director for Scandinavia and sub-Saharan Africa for Dallas Airmotive. Clarke has served with Dallas Airmotive for 15 years. He is a licensed A&P mechanic with experience on small and large airframes and engines. He is fluent in Swedish, Greek and English.
General aviation accidents rose from 1,617 in 2004 to 1,669 in 2005, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday. There were 321 fatal accidents last year, an increase of seven over 2004, and the number of fatalities was up four, to 562. The results boosted the GA accident rate from 6.49 per 100,000 flight hours in 2004 to 6.83 last year, NTSB said, while the fatal accident rate rose from 1.26 per 100,000 hours to 1.31 last year.
ConocoPhillips has launched a multibillion-dollar effort to upgrade and expand its U.S. refinery capacity, and the company's aviation marketing officials are counting on getting their share of that increased refinery output to meet growing demand for aviation fuel.
National Business Aviation Association late last week ratcheted up its lobbying efforts to quash an airline push for adoption of an aviation user fee system to fund FAA (BA, March 13/113). NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen e-mailed association members Thursday warning that they are "under attack," citing commercial airline efforts to see $2 billion in user fees imposed on business aviation. "As absurd as the airline proposal sounds, the Department of Transportation has not explicitly rejected it," Bolen said.
General Dynamics, parent company of Gulfstream Aerospace, declared a two-for-one split of the company's common stock, which will be distributed in the form of a stock dividend, payable March 24 to shareholders of record March 13. As a result, the number of outstanding shares of GE common stock will increase to about 400 million. The GD board also raised the regular quarterly dividend from 20 cents per share to 23 cents per share.
The National Transportation Safety Board last week urged FAA to require installation of terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) aboard turbine helicopters that can carry six or more passengers. When FAA originally mandated TAWS for airplanes with six or more passengers in 2000, "the technology had not been developed for the unique characteristics of helicopter flight," the safety board said. "However, technology is now available for helicopter flight and should be required."
Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) took the opportunity at last week's hearing to reiterate his desire to see operations cut by 25 percent at Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey. Rothman told FAA and DOT officials that if the government would not help the airport achieve this goal he would work through Congress to get it done. Industry groups, meanwhile, met at TEB Tuesday to address industry and community concerns regarding noise and safety.
DANA BROWN, chief of staff of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), was named head of the agency. Brown joined FAMS in 2003 after 25 years with the U.S. Secret Service. He succeeds Tom Quinn, who announced his retirement in January after leading FAMS for four years. Quinn oversaw the dramatic expansion of the agency from 33 air marshals on Sept. 11, 2001 to the estimated thousands of air marshals now flying on domestic and international flights.
ARINC and Landmark Aviation signed an agreement for Landmark to distribute ARINC Direct's SKYLink broadband communications system for business aircraft. Landmark will sell and install SKYLink in large-cabin corporate jets in the North American aftermarket. SKYLink uses a high-speed Ku-band connectivity to provide access to Internet, e-mail, virtual private networks, and Voice over IP and Fax over IP services. SKYLink is available across North America, and ARINC anticipates expanding service to Europe, the Middle East and North Atlantic this year.
March 20-23 - National Business Aviation Association International Operators Conference, Tampa, Fla., (202) 783-9000 March 22-23 - Federal Aviation Administration General Aviation Summit, Doubletree Hotel, Overland Park, Kan., (816) 329-4117 March 23-25 - 17th Annual International Women in Aviation Conference, Opryland Hotel, Nashville, Tenn., (937) 839-4647
Federal Aviation Administration has blocked access to the transcript of the January 18 public hearing on the Washington Air Defense Identification Zone because of security concerns raised by officials at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). See article below.
Transporation Secretary Norman Mineta briefly raised some hopes last week that the Bush Administration might be backing away from proposing user fees on general aviation, but those hopes were quickly dashed. Responding to a question from Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) during a hearing before a House Appropriations panel, Mineta expressed concern that charging fees on GA could lead pilots to decide against filing flight plans with Flight Service Stations, which could lead to reducing air safety.
Named vice president of FBO operations for Landmark Aviation. Hopkins will be based in Winston Salem, N.C. He began his career at Landmark predecessor company Piedmont Aviation in Roanoke, Va., as a flight instructor and charter pilot. He later was general manager of the Roanoke and Norfolk, Va. FBOs and vice president of charter. Most recently Hopkins was vice president, large fleets and government contracts.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT is consolidating its hold on the business aviation market at Le Bourget Airport in Paris. Signature purchased Le Terminal, formerly a private aviation facility at the airport. The acquisition includes a six-story office building, two adjoining hangars and about three acres of aircraft parking ramp. Late last year Signature bought the PrivatAir FBO at Le Bourget.
Bombardier Aerospace received an order from National Air Support of Adelaide, Australia for three Bombardier Q300 Maritime Patrol Aircraft for the Surveillance Australia Coastwatch program. Bombardier valued the order at $53 million (U.S.). Surveillance Australia has operated Bombardier turboprops since 1996 and currently operates five Dash 8/Q200s. The aircraft, which have amassed some 70,000 hours of surveillance time, are used to search for illegal fishing and immigration, quarantine and environmental hazards, drug smuggling and missing vessels.
Both pilots aboard an Aero Vodochody L39 were killed in California late last month when their airplane crashed while they were performing maneuvers to be used in a movie.
David Mandell, chief of staff to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, is leaving the agency at the end of this week to pursue a business opportunity. He will be replaced by Mike O'Malley, who has been deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy at the Transportation Department.
Gulfstream Aerospace officials unveiled a seven-year, $300 million expansion program for the company's headquarters and principal manufacturing facility in Savannah, Ga. last week (BA, March 6/101).
