Dassault Aviation named Jacques Pellas corporate secretary and Guy Piras executive vice president for industrial operations, procurement and purchasing. Pellas and Piras succeed Christian Decaix, executive vice president of operations, and Jean-Marc Grillet, senior vice president for industrial operations, both of whom retired. Pellas, most recently senior vice president for information systems, will oversee general organization matters, information system strategy, personnel management, and operating budgets.
Elliott Aviation completed flight testing and is approaching certification for group reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) supplemental type certificates for King Air 200, 300 and 350 series aircraft. With the STCs, Elliott will be able to seek RVSM approval for King Airs equipped with Collins, Honeywell and Bendix/King autopilots. Elliott will schedule RVSM installation beginning next month. For more information, contact Dan Frahmat at (800) 447-6711.
The board of directors of DeCrane Aircraft Holdings met Friday to discuss a new top executive for the company, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, following the death late last month of R. Jack DeCrane, 59, president and founder. Senior officials declined to discuss the board's decision Friday, but said an announcement is expected this week.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-1A11 (CL-600), CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), and CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3A and CL-601-3R) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22627; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-156-AD; Amendment 39-14425; AD 2005-26-04] - requires measuring to detect migration of the lower gimbal pin and inspecting for other discrepancies of the horizontal stabilizer trim actuator (HSTA). This AD also requires replacing or modifying the HSTA, as applicable. This AD results from reports of failure of the lower gimbal pin of the HSTA.
Kathryn O'Leary Higgins was sworn in Jan. 3 as the newest member of the National Transportation Safety Board after she was confirmed by the Senate last month. The nomination of Higgins to fill the seat vacated by Carol Carmody generated controversy last summer with some safety advocates complaining about her lack of background in transportation safety. The Air Line Pilots Association was particularly disappointed because it had been pushing for Paul McCarthy, a former naval aviator and 32-year Delta Air Lines pilot, for the slot (BA, Aug. 15/65).
W.W. (Bill) Boisture, the well-traveled aviation executive, resigned last week as president of NetJets, the world's largest fractional aircraft service provider. Boisture joined Columbus, Ohio-based NetJets just over two years ago after nine years in top executive posts with Gulfstream Aerospace in Savannah, Ga. (BA, Oct. 6, 2003/145).
MAX-VIZ won a contract to supply its EVS-1000 enhanced vision systems to Montreal-based Canadian Helicopters, which operates a variety of helicopters in emergency medical service, forestry, utility, mining, construction, police and filming missions. Canadian Helicopters selected the EVS after a 90-day trial that involved a variety of missions.
Steve Gross was promoted to director of worldwide sales for FlightSafety International. Gross has 25 years of aviation sales experience and joined FlightSafety in 1996. Most recently he was regional marketing director, working with FSI customers in the Northeast U.S. He also has held technical support and sales positions with British Aerospace.
Business aviation service provider Jet Aviation named John Langevin senior vice president and general manager of the company's fixed-base operation at the Teterboro, N.J. Airport (TEB). Langevin, a 20-year veteran of the aviation industry, began his career with Aero Services. Before his promotion he had been serving as director of FBO Services at TEB for Jet Aviation. Langevin succeeds Michael Szczechowski, who was previously named senior vice president and general manager of the company's aircraft management services in the U.S.
SHADIN ADC-2000 air data computers [Docket No. FAA-2005-21787; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-34-AD; Amendment 39-14401; AD 2005-25-08] - requires replacing affected ADC-2000 units with a modified unit. This AD results from reports that certain ADC-2000 units display incorrect altitude information on the Electronic Flight Information System (EFIS) to the pilot. FAA is issuing this AD to prevent ADC-2000 units, Part Numbers (P/Ns) 962830A-1-S-8, 962830A-2-S-8, and 962830A-3-S-8, configurations B, C, and D, from displaying incorrect altitude information.
Raytheon Company purchased the remaining shares of fractional jet operations provider Flight Options from Flight Options International. Raytheon had been slowly building up its ownership in Flight Options, and had a 97.6 percent stake in the Cleveland, Ohio-based fractional ownership company until the latest agreement (BA, Aug. 22/79). Terms of the transaction, under which Flight Options becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Company, were not disclosed.
Israel's Civil Aviation Authority certificated the Flight Guard anti-missile protection system for installation on commercial aircraft. Flight Guard is designed to protect commercial aircraft from heat-seeking missiles. It was designed by Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Systems Group for use on military aircraft, but won CAA approval for use on civilian aircraft after a series of tests using a Boeing 767 airliner. The Israeli government decided in 2002 to adopt Flight Guard to protect the nation's civilian passenger aircraft.
DASSAULT Model Falcon 2000 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22633; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-155-AD; Amendment 39-14422; AD 2005-26-01] - requires an inspection for the presence of fail-safe pins, nuts, and washers on each engine, and replacement of the fail-safe fastener assembly with a new assembly if necessary. This AD results from a report of a missing pin of a fail-safe fastener.
Piaggio handed over its first P.180 Avanti II to a customer late last month. The aircraft, S/N 105, was delivered to a Swiss customer, who will operate the twin pusher-prop for corporate and private flights from Lugano Agno Airport in southeast Switzerland. Piaggio in October 2005 won European Aviation Safety Agency certification for the Avanti II, which incorporates the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics with three ten- by eight-inch liquid crystal adaptive flight displays, an FMS 3000 flight management system and the AHS 3000 attitude heading reference system.
Dassault Aviation logged record sales of more than 100 Falcon business jets last year, Dassault Falcon President and CEO John Rosanvallon said. Dassault's performance in 2005 outpaced the company's previous record sales of 98 aircraft in 1997. The difference was that Dassault sales last year did not include any large orders from fractional jet operators. In 1997, the French plane-maker sold 24 aircraft to NetJets.
Lycoming Engines says it will pick up most of the estimated $6 million cost associated with another round of crankshaft failures in its engines. See news item below.
January 8-12 - American Association of Airport Executives Aviation Issues Conference, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, Kona, Hawaii, (703) 824-0504, www.airportnet.org January 25-27 - National Business Aviation Association Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, San Antonio, Texas, (202) 783-9000 February 26-28 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2006 Annual Convention and Exposition, Dallas, Texas, (703) 683-4646
Federal Aviation Administration late last month warned air carriers against operating in heavy snow or when ice is adhering to critical surfaces. "It has come to the attention of the Air Transportation Division that a number of air carrier operators are continuing to dispatch in ice pellet conditions," the agency told operators in a Dec. 21 notice. FAA warned that such operations are contrary to its guidance for Part 121 and 135 operations.
Both pilots aboard a Canadian-registered MU-2B-36 turboprop were killed Dec. 20 when the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff. The airplane, C-FTWO, was departing from the Terrace, British Columbia Airport when it hit terrain shortly after takeoff. The commercial courier flight was being operated by Nav Air Charter, Inc. and was en route to Vancouver International Airport. The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
Embraer Model EMB-135BJ, -135ER, -135KE, -135KL, and -135LR Airplanes; and Model EMB-145, 145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP Airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22525; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-149-AD; Amendment 39-14410; AD 2005-25-17] - requires modifying the drain system of the auxiliary power unit (APU) by installing a scavenge pump and, for certain airplanes, replacing the APU exhaust assembly.
FlightSafety International's Paris/LeBourget learning center won Type Rating Training Organization (TRTO) approval from La Direction Generale de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC) of France, representing the European Joint Aviation Authorities. The three-year approval followed an extensive audit of FSI's programs and advanced technology training devices at the Le Bourget training center. The Paris training facility houses 13 full-flight simulators offering training for aircraft built by Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer, Fokker and Raytheon.
