The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington policy think tank, last week acknowledged it has a number of research efforts under way studying homeland security, including "transportation systems," but said it has not yet drawn any conclusions about the vulnerability of general aviation.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
The fate of FAA's controversial proposed air tour safety rulemaking is less clear. FAA's National Air Tour Safety Standard has attracted thousands of comments, mostly in opposition, because the proposal would impose more stringent standards on all "air tours," including charity, warbird and other similar flights. After hearing the outpouring of opposition, FAA now must decide how to proceed with the proposal.
Virgina Gov. Mark Warner named Randall Burdette of Stafford County to serve as director of the Virginia Department of Aviation. Burdette succeeds Charles S. Macfarlane, who resigned to pursue personal business interests. The governor's office said Burdette has a strong background in general and military aviation. He has been a pilot for 28 years, having logged more than 2,000 flight hours, and spent more than 24 years supporting and commanding U.S. Army helicopter units.
Federal officials this month seized three Learjets they alleged were used in an international drug ring that smuggled cocaine into Teterboro Airport from Texas and Arizona, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced. Seven individuals allegedly involved with the drug-smuggling operations, including accused ringleader Jesus Frias-Cisneros, were arrested and the DEA seized the aircraft, 64 kilograms of cocaine, one AK-47 assault rifle, two handguns and about $700,000 in cash. The DEA estimated the value of the Learjets at $5 million.
Rockwell Collins won FAA approval for a dual integrated flight information system (IFIS) on a Falcon 50. The IFIS is integrated with the Collins Pro Line 21 avionics system retrofit package for the Falcon 50. The IFIS enables electronic charting, graphical weather and enhanced map overlay capabilities, among others. The IFIS also provides level-three electronic flight bag. "Collins IFIS provides enhanced safety and cockpit management through the use of a fully integrated EFB," said Denny Helgeson, vice president and general manager of Business and Regional Systems.
FAA TO HOST INTERNATIONAL SAFETY FORUM - Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and FAA Administrator Marion Blakey next month will help kick off a new FAA safety forum that will delve into a spectrum of safety-related topics. Regulation of new technologies, data collection and the benefits of the wide area augmentation system are a few of several panels scheduled during the First Annual FAA International Safety Forum Sept. 22-23 in Chantilly, Va. Senior agency officials will join industry leaders to participate in panel discussions.
Federal Aviation Administration last week withdrew its proposed new requirement for airline operators to include FAA-approved corrosion prevention and control programs (CPCP) in their maintenance inspection programs, saying most of the aircraft covered by the requirements either already have a CPCP in place or would not be in operation by the time the regulations would take effect. "The FAA's safety objectives are being met without this rulemaking," FAA said, noting that it already had issued a series of airworthiness directives on individual aircraft.
Jet Aviation Palm Beach earned FAA approval to do inspection, maintenance, replacements and modification work on the Gulfstream V, the Embraer Legacy and most Cessna Citation models. The center already was authorized to support a range of Bombardier, Dassault Falcon Jet, Gulfstream and Raytheon Aircraft. Jet Aviation officials added factory-trained technicians and inspectors to handle increased activity.
HONEYWELL'S UCZEKAJ TAKES COO POSITION AT NORDAM - John Uczekaj, the 18-year Honeywell veteran who most recently headed the company's business and general aviation electronics business, will take over as chief operating officer of The NORDAM Group next month. Uczekaj rounds out the NORDAM senior management team, NORDAM said, bringing a strong background in engineering, program management, new product development, sales and marketing, customer relationships and executive leadership.
FlightSafety International (FSI) is incorporating Falcon 900EX EASy and 2000EX EASy maintenance technician training through FSI's recently introduced Dassault quality assurance program. FSI instructors at Little Rock, Ark., Paris/Le Bourget and Teterboro, N.J. earned Dassault Falcon authorization to provide the training. While the initial training focuses on the Falcon 900EX EASy and the 2000EX EASy, FSI plans to expand the training to include other Falcon aircraft. FSI is the factory-authorized training organization for Falcon pilots and maintenance technicians.
Pilot hiring among the fractional aircraft operators has picked up in 2004, according to aviation employment specialist AIR, Inc. According to AIR Inc.'s latest pilot hiring report for 2004 through July, the four major fractional aircraft operators had hired 236 pilots, compared with 198 during the same period in 2003. Nearly 28 percent of the fractional hires in 2004 came during July - 66 pilots were placed. AIR Inc. noted that, counting air carrier and helicopter operators, more than 940 pilots were hired in July, making it the second busiest month of the year.
Adam Aircraft added nine orders to the backlog for its A500 centerline twin-piston aircraft and A700 jet aircraft during EAA AirVenture 2004 last month in Oshkosh, Wis. Adam has accrued more than 60 orders for the A500, which is expected to win certification by the end of the year. The aircraft has completed 98 percent of its conformity testing, 94 percent of its structural testing and 66 percent of the system testing. Adam expects to receive type inspection authorization (TIA) by the end of the month and then win initial type certification 12 weeks following TIA.
CIRRUS EYES UNTAPPED MARKET WITH PRODUCTION BOOST - Cirrus Design Corp., which last quarter surpassed all other general aviation manufacturers in terms of unit shipments, is continuing to increase production, and company president and co-founder Alan Klapmeier believes that may be only the beginning for the Duluth, Minn. plane-maker. Cirrus announced it would boost production to 12 aircraft per week, about a 10 percent increase from the current rate and almost a 30 percent increase from the rate in 2003, when the company manufactured 469 aircraft.
EMBRAER NET SALES SOAR IN SECOND QUARTER - Brazilian plane-maker Embraer reported second quarter 2004 net sales of $924.3 million (U.S.), the highest in the company's history and a 63 percent increase over net sales in the second quarter of 2003. The increase comes as Embraer boosted commercial deliveries. The company handed over 43 aircraft in the second quarter of 2004, up from 28 in the second quarter of 2003. Embraer also credited the increase to higher average sales prices with the Embraer 170 regional jet entering the product mix.
James R.O. McIntyre, the Montreal-based communications executive, was named to the board of directors of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. McIntyre is president of Romeo Oscar, Inc., the aerospace marketing and advertising firm. McIntyre was introduced to the aviation industry as a child, as his father spent several years as an engineer with de Havilland Aircraft of Canada. McIntyre began his career with Canadair in 1975 as part of the team that was launching the Challenger business jet program. He later spent nearly 10 years with Innotech Aviation.
Washington Dulles International Airport reopened its third runway last week, ahead of schedule, although operations on the runway are limited while more work is completed. The airport began reconstruction of Runway 12-30 April 19 and was scheduled to reopen the runway by Aug. 30. The airport, however, was concerned about capacity constraints that the runway closure could cause and asked Lane Construction Corp. of Meriden, Conn., to expedite work. The runway now is used only for departures while Lane completes the projects.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association urged European officials to consolidate aviation regulatory authority under the newly formed European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), saying the current patchwork of state regulations has proved complicated and unnecessarily costly for both commercial and non-commercial operators. GAMA made those comments in response to EASA's Notice of Proposed Amendment NPA 2/2004, one of the earliest rulemakings out of the agency designed to facilitate the transition of oversight from the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) to EASA.
Eclipse Aviation's highly touted friction stir welding process, used to assemble many parts of the Eclipse 500 fuselage, is capturing the attention of other aircraft manufacturers as well as the Federal Aviation Administration. The four major aircraft manufacturers in Wichita - Cessna, Bombardier, Raytheon and Boeing - along with FAA are funding research into processes such as friction stir welding to replace the use of rivets.
FAA EASES SPECIAL ISSUANCE MEDICAL PROCESS - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association called a move by the Federal Aviation Administration to simplify the reissuance of certain first- and second-class special issuance medicals a modest step that will help ease the special issuance medical process. FAA last week announced it would expand its program to allow aviation medical examiners to renew certain first- and second-class special issuance medicals provided FAA initially reviews and issues the medical.
Raytheon Aircraft received orders for 44 Beechcraft Bonanzas and Barons following the company's recent announcement that the Garmin G1000 integrated avionics system will be standard on the two models beginning with the 2006 product line. The dual-display G1000 system will be integrated with Garmin's GFC 700 autopilot. In addition, the twin-engine Baron will be equipped with Garmin's new GWX 68 weather radar system. RAC said it received deposits on 34 Garmin-equipped Bonanzas and 10 Barons.
