National Transportation Safety Board Chair Ellen Engleman Conners asked NATA to serve as a resource during Part 135 accident investigations. The NTSB chair met with NATA President James Coyne and Byer last week to discuss Part 135 safety issues. The NATA officials agreed to form a closer relationship with the board and to collaborate during pertinent board investigations. Engleman Conners also said she wants to hold a forum on ground safety, highlighting the association's Safety First line and ramp safety program.
Aviation & Space Center Of The Rockies named Greg Anderson president and chief executive. Anderson previously spent 21 years with the Experimental Aircraft Association, including serving as executive vice president with oversight of the Young Eagles Programs and AirVenture Museum.
JET AVIATION BREAKS GROUND ON NEW DUBAI FACILITY - Jet Aviation, teamed with the Dubai-based Al Mulla Business Group, broke ground for a new full-service fixed-base operation in Dubai. The facility is slated for completion by January 2005. Jet Aviation retained Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall and Higgs & Hill LLC for construction of the new facility, which will be Jet Aviation's third in the region. "We are honored to be the first private executive aviation company in Dubai with a global network," said Jet Aviation CEO Heinz Kohli.
Aircraft Owners And Pilots Association upgraded its free online instrument approach chart service, permitting faster downloads and offering higher resolution. The service provides instrument approaches and terminal procedures published by FAA's National Aeronautical Charting Agency. AOPA President Phil Boyer said the online service has been "hugely popular with our members since first introduced in 2001."
Richard Heckman, 43, a founding officer and executive vice president at Flight Options, died June 12 following a two and one-half year battle with brain cancer. Flight Options credited him with helping develop the company from start-up to one that generated more than $600 million in sales. He also served with Raytheon Aircraft and helped launch the TravelAir fractional ownership program. "He was an inspiration, innovator and true leader," Flight Options said. He is survived by his wife, Barbie, and two children.
National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will discuss means to mitigate the threat of volcanic ash at its second International Conference on Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety to be held today (June 21) in Alexandria, Va. James Mahoney, assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, and NOAA deputy administrator; Steve Brown, FAA vice president of operations and planning; and Charles Groat, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, are among the scheduled speakers.
Iridium Satellite LLC said the Federal Communications Commission expanded its spectrum with access to an additional 3.1 MHz, increasing the company's ability to provide satellite voice and data services. FCC previously had provided temporary authority for operating in the additional segment of the band on an emergency basis. The FCC's latest action formalizes Iridium's access to the band.
NBAA CHAIRMAN BALDWIN NO LONGER SEEKING PRESIDENCY - National Business Aviation Association Chairman Donald Baldwin, who had indicated two weeks ago he planned to seek the job of president of the association, has reversed course again.
IBIS Aerospace selected the Honeywell KFC 325 digital flight control system for the Ae270 single-turboprop aircraft. The three-axis flight control system includes altitude hold, heading select, approach, back course, control wheel steering, indicated airspeed and yaw damper features. The system, available for deliveries in 2005, includes autopilot, electronic attitude indicator, electronic horizontal situation indicator, symbol generators and control panels.
June 21-23 - Canadian Business Aircraft Association, Annual Convention and Trade Show, Toronto, Ontario, (613) 236-5611 June 21-24 - American Association of Airport Executives, 76th Annual Conference and Exposition, Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, 703-824-0504, fax 703-820-1395, www.airportnet.org June 24 - National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Regional Forum, Chicago, Ill., (202) 783-9000
FAA SEEKS TO FIX FAULTY REPAIRS ON PROPELLERS - FAA is proposing repairs on some 1,000 Hartzell, McCauley and Sensenich propellers serviced by a former Southern California repair shop. The proposal formalizes a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin the agency released in 2001 warning of faulty propeller repairs conducted by Southern California Propeller Service of Inglewood, Calif.
ARINC opened a new regional office in Oberrohrdorf, Switzerland to support services to customers in Central and Eastern Europe. ARINC has eight European offices. The new office will support customers and expand its base among aviation companies in Switzerland, Austria, the Balkans, Romania and Bulgaria. The new office is located at Zweigniederlassung, Oberrohrdorf Brunnengaessli 4, CH-5452 Oberrohrdorf, Switzerland; phone: +41 564 96 8289.
Bombardier Aerospace won approval from FAA to begin delivering Honeywell TFE732-20BR-equipped Model 45 XR business jets. Bombardier also plans to issue a service bulletin this month to permit current Learjet 45 operators to upgrade their aircraft with the more powerful 20BR engines.
Cessna Aircraft plans to begin delivering Garmin 1000-equipped single-engine airplanes this week, following FAA certification of the new avionics package in the 182T Skylane. See article below.
FORMER BBJ PRESIDENT BORGE BOESKOV DIES - Borge Boeskov, the long-time Boeing sales executive who formerly served as president of Boeing Business Jets, died June 9 after a long battle with cancer. Boeskov died the day before his 69th birthday.
National Air Transportation Association last week was pleased that the Environmental Protection Agency extended the deadlines for compliance with new Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations governing fuel storage. EPA last week extended the deadline for requiring a compliance plan from Aug. 17, 2004 to Aug. 17, 2005 and implementation of that plan until Feb. 18, 2006 (BA, May 10/213). NATA and several other aviation groups pushed for the extension after the EPA was unable to clear up confusion surrounding the rules.
The Federal Aviation Administration, facing a "bow wave" of controller retirements over the next decade, needs to develop a detailed cost plan for hiring new controllers as well as a plan for making the process of hiring and training new controllers more efficient, government watchdogs told a congressional panel last week.
Gil Wolin, the former publisher of Business & Commercial Aviation magazine, will join TAG Aviation USA this week as vice president-corporate communications. Wolin, who will have overall responsibility for the company's internal and external communications, will be based at TAG Aviation's office in White Plains, N.Y. In addition to his communications duties, Wolin will serve as a client responsible officer in the Northeast U.S. working with customers to support TAG's continued growth. He will report directly to Jake Cartwright, president and CEO.
The Air Group, the Van Nuys, Calif.-based aircraft management company, added three new jets to its nationwide fleet - a Hawker 800 and a Challenger 604, both in Van Nuys, and a Falcon 2000EX based in Oxford, Conn. The Air Group has eight offices throughout the U.S. and operates a range of aircraft, including most Learjet, Citation, Westwind, Hawker, Gulfstream, Challenger and Global Express models.
