Iridium Satellite received a contract from Jakarta-based charter operator PT Travira Air to provide satellite communications for the carrier's fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. PT Travira will equip its aircraft with Sky Connect's TRACKER communication systems, which will monitor fleet movements via air-to-ground data links using Iridium's constellation of 66 low-earth-orbiting satellites. PT Travira Air also will use the system for cockpit voice communications.
NEW HANDBOOK BULLETIN AIMED AT RESOLVING PROBLEMS FOR PART 135 OPERATORS - The Federal Aviation Administration, after months of working with Part 135 operators and trade associations, issued a new Handbook Bulletin at the end of June to help resolve some controversial enforcement issues regarding maintenance requirements under Section 135.411 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. A key point is whether aircraft operated under Part 135 are certificated for nine or fewer passenger seats or for 10 or more.
National Business Aviation Association's Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition, scheduled for Aug. 9-11 in Shanghai, China, will host a number of informational sessions for the Asian business aviation community covering topics including navigation and airport infrastructure, airport handling and support, and airspace and air traffic. Don Spruston, director general of the International Business Aviation Council, will moderate a session on the safety culture of business aviation.
Last month's incident involving a 20-year-old student pilot accused of stealing a Cessna 172 in Danbury, Conn. and flying the aircraft for five hours before landing - intoxicated and at night - in White Plains, N.Y. has captured the attention of Washington senators. Sens.
STAGE 4 NOISE STANDARD TAKES EFFECT IN 2006 - Federal Aviation Administration published new aircraft noise certification requirements that meet the international standard for Stage 4, but rebuffed calls by many groups to further restrict Stage 2 business jets. The rule, published in Tuesday's Federal Register, requires that aircraft certified after Jan. 1, 2006 meet the Stage 4 standard incorporated in the International Civil Aviation Organization Annex 16. ICAO adopted Chapter 4 of Annex 16 in June 2001 after lengthy international negotiations (BA, Jan. 22, 2001/43).
Jon Tonko joined Banyan Air Service in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. as line service manager. Tonko has more than 13 years of aviation experience, most recently with eight years at ASI Jet in Minneapolis, Minn. as a line manager. Before that he was a shift supervisor for Valley Aviation in Fargo, N.D. In his new position, Tonko will be responsible for the operation and training of 30 line technicians.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT USING BIODIESEL FUEL IN TRUCK FLEET - Wichita's Raytheon Aircraft Company recently began using a diesel fuel/vegetable oil blend of fuel to operate a fleet of 20 trucks and tractors, part of a widespread effort by the manufacturer to focus on pollution prevention and more environmentally friendly processes.
FAA TAKING THREE-STEP APPROACH TO INTEGRATION OF UAVs - FAA is taking three major steps to integrate unmanned aircraft into the U.S. airspace system, according to a top agency official.
A House measure that would effectively unravel the Federal Aviation Administration's contract for Lockheed Martin to take over operation of federally operated flight service stations (FSS) has drawn cheers from the agency's FSS workers but a veto threat from the Bush Administration, which said the House measure would undermine its effort to better manage government resources. The National Association of Air Traffic Specialists called the amendment "critical to the nation's airspace system and national security."
NATCA BLASTS FAA DECISION TO KILL CONTROLLER LIAISON PROGRAM - Federal Aviation Administration will end this month a program that assigned controllers full-time to agency headquarters to provide a controller liaison and feedback on modernization programs. The agency told the last nine liaison controllers assigned to headquarters that they will return to air traffic control duties as of July 29, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said. The number of controllers in the program has steadily decreased this year, NATCA said.
Marcus Oates was named avionics regional sales manager for Raytheon Aircraft's aircraft servicing facility in Atlanta. Oates will provide avionics support to customers in the Eastern region of the U.S. He has 15 years of aircraft and avionics experience, most recently with Gulfstream Aerospace.
Craig Steidle was named vice president of international affairs for the Aerospace Industries Association. Steidle most recently was the associate administrator for the Office of Exploration Systems at NASA. He retired from the U.S. Navy as a rear admiral in 2000. In the Navy, Steidle directed the Defense Department's Joint Advanced Strike Technology Office and the Joint Strike Fighter Program. He was trained as an attack pilot and flew night combat missions in North Vietnam. He also directed the Navy's A-3 weapon system program.
Mayo Aviation added a Hawker 800 to its charter fleet. The aircraft can seat up to eight passengers and has a stand-up cabin, in-flight entertainment system and enclosed aft lavatory. Mayo, based at Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colo., has provided aircraft charter, aircraft management, maintenance, parts and emergency medical transport for 27 years. The latest addition expands the company's charter fleet to 14 aircraft.
VETERAN AIRLINE, MILITARY PILOT NAMED NGATS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR -- Dale G. Goodrich, a commercial airline pilot and an Air Force reservist, was chosen to serve as the first executive director of the Next Generation Air Transportation System Institute. Goodrich, 46, is a United Airlines pilot and an Air Force Reserve
Aviall registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to $100 million in debt securities, preferred stock, common stock and warrants. The filing also includes the potential for The Carlyle Group to sell 3.8 million share of Aviall common stock. The latest registration comes in addition to a previous shelf registration statement announcing Aviall's plans to offer up to $200 million in stock and securities.
AGUSTA Model AB412 series helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2005-21589; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-44-AD; Amendment 39-14154; AD 2005-13-17] - requires inspecting each affected tail rotor blade forward tip weight retention block and the aft tip closure for adhesive bond voids, and removing any blade with an excessive void from service. This AD also requires modifying certain blades by installing shear pins and tip closure rivets on all affected blades.
The Bush Administration expressed concern that the House "did not accept a number of major savings proposals" in the fiscal 2006 transportation appropriations bill. The House recommended an FAA budget that would be $1.7 billion more than the Administration proposed, and called for the general fund to pay for a far greater portion of FAA's budget than the administration wanted.
The Santa Monica, Calif. Airport Commission is among a number of communities nationwide closely following the Naples, Fla. battle to impose a Stage 2 aircraft ban. Naples recently won a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals, which deemed the ban lawful (BA, June 13/261). Naples underwent a Part 161 process to obtain FAA approval, but the agency called the ban discriminatory and revoked the airport's federal grant authority.
Pilatus Models PC-6, PC-6-H1, PC-6-H2, PC-6/350, PC-6/350-H1, PC-6/350-H2, PC-6/A, PC-6/A-H1, PC-6/A-H2, PC-6/B-H2, PC-6/B1-H2, PC-6/B2-H2, PC-6/B2-H4, PC-6/C-H2, and PC-6/C1-H2 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20515; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-09-AD] - proposes to revise an earlier proposed AD that would have required repetitively inspecting the stabilizer-trim attachment and structural components for cracks, corrosion, and discrepancies and replacing any defective part with a new part.
CORPORATE KING AIR 350 LATEST TO RAISE ALARM IN D.C. - A Beech King Air 350 twin turboprop triggered a brief evacuation of some government buildings on Capitol Hill Wednesday evening when the aircraft inadvertently strayed into restricted airspace surrounding Washington, D.C.
Cessna Models 401, 401A, 401B, 402, 402A, 402B, 402C, 404, 411, 411A, 414, 414A, 421, 421A, 421B, 421C, 425, and 441 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-21173; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-22-AD] - proposes to require, for airplanes equipped with certain avionics bus circuit breaker switches, inspection of the avionics bus circuit breaker switch to determine the date code and replacement of any without a date code. This proposed AD also would impose a 1,000-hour safe life limit on avionics bus circuit breaker switches with a date code earlier than 0434.
Thales' Radio Interface and Control Equipment (RICE) system was commissioned in the United Kingdom. The system enables remote monitoring and control of the air traffic control area radio system. RICE is operated from the London Area Control Center in Swanwick, Hampshire and from the Scottish Oceanic Area Control Center in Prestwick, Ayreshire. RICE controls 180 radio channels through 33 radio stations, Thales said.
Carl Coffelt was appointed Pilatus PC-12 technical representative for Western Aircraft. Coffelt has worked for Western Aircraft for more than 16 years. He has been with the PC-12 program since 1997 and won the PC-12 Product Support Award in 2001. Coffelt also is a factory-trained technician on the PC-7 and PC-6.
