Keith Wolken was named president of Prime Flight Aviation Services, which provides a range of landside and airside services such as ramp services, cabin cleaning and skycap for airlines at more than 60 airports. Wolken previously was chief operating officer of PrimeFlight parent SMS Holdings. Wolken has served with SMS since 1991 and has overseen facility services, aviation services and strategic planning.
KING AIR TRANSPONDER PROBLEMS LED TO CAPITOL HILL EVACUATION - Thousands of people, including members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers, reporters and visitors were abruptly ordered to evacuate the Capitol and nearby office buildings Wednesday afternoon after security officials issued a warning because a King Air 100 operated by the state of Kentucky showed up as an unidentified aircraft in the restricted airspace surrounding the Washington, D.C., area. The evacuation order came just after 4:30 p.m.
FLIGHT OPTIONS NAMES GULFSTREAM VETERAN TO HEAD SALES - Flight Options, the Cleveland, Ohio fractional aircraft provider, named James Guerin senior vice president of sales. He will be responsible for "leading the Flight Options sales force and developing strategic sales programs for the organization," the company said.
New Piper Aircraft, Inc. named Senate Aviation Limited in Dorset, England as an authorized sales and service representative in Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Romeo Oscar Inc., the marketing communications firm headed by James R.O. (Jamie) McIntyre, is moving from downtown Montreal after 15 years there to a building on Trudeau International Airport. The new address is: Romeo Oscar, Inc., P.E. Trudeau International Airport, 9501 Ryan Ave., Suite 201, Dorval, Quebec H9P 1A2. The new telephone number is (514) 780-8525 and the fax line is (514) 780-8535. The company's Web site address is www.RomeoOscar.com. The move will be effective June 14.
Jet Aviation has a graphic example on its Web site of why pilots are taught to avoid hailstorms. The site shows the tattered and dented nose of a Citation II after a 15-second encounter with tennis-ball sized hailstones while flying at 10,000 feet at a speed of 250 knots. After field repairs, the aircraft was flown to Jet Aviation's Saarbrucken, Germany facility where the Citation underwent 3,000 hours of repairs over a six-month period. Viewers should click on the "Latest News" section at www.jetaviation.com.
Cirrus Design Corp. received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for its SR20 single-engine model. Cirrus said the SR20 certification is the "first of its kind awarded by the new agency." European certification was formerly administered by the Joint Aviation Authorities for aircraft imported into the European Union.
IRISH COMPANY PICKED TO ESTABLISH INTERNATIONAL AIRCRAFT REGISTRY - Aviareto of Ireland was selected by the International Civil Aviation Organization to establish the International Registry for the Cape Town Convention, an international treaty on financing and leasing of aircraft signed during a diplomatic conference in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2001. Aviareto will act as registrar once the treaty goes into effect following ratification by eight states. To date, four states have signed on.
ATR TAPS EUROFIGHTER EXECUTIVE AS CEO - ATR appointed Filippo Bagnato, formerly chief executive officer of Eurofighter GmbH, to become the new chief executive of the Franco-Italian airframe consortium. Bagnato succeeds Jean-Michel Leonard, who stepped down in May after his three-year term expired.
Others with insight into the search process say the committee has narrowed the list of candidates to fewer than a dozen individuals. Officials would like to make a final selection by the end of June or early July. The NBAA board is scheduled to meet late next week, but a final decision is not expected that soon.
BAE Jetstream Model 4101 airplanes (Docket No. 2002-NM-58-AD; Amendment 39-13607; AD 2004-09-18) - requires repetitively inspecting the seat rails in the passenger cabin for evidence of damage and corrosion, repairing any damage or corrosion, and replacing any floor panels found to be "soft" due to ingress of moisture. This action is necessary to detect and correct corrosion on the seat rails of the passenger seats, which could reduce structural integrity of the passenger seats, causing the seats to detach from the seat rails and injury to passengers.
NORAD MARKS SHIFT TO NEW AIRCRAFT TRACKING SYSTEM - North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on May 27 marked the shift from the obsolete Granite Sentry aircraft tracking system to the new Air Migration Evolution (AME) system. "We actually had the cutoff on the 19th of May, but today [May 27] was the ceremony," said Maj. Dave Patterson, spokesman for Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station.
House Ways And Means Committee Thursday is scheduled to vote on its version of a tax bill, The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, H.R.4520, which includes an extension of the 50 percent bonus depreciation tax benefit for business aircraft purchasers. The measure contains language similar to that passed in the Senate last month that extends the deadline for placing aircraft in service from Dec. 31, 2004 to Dec. 31, 2005 to qualify for bonus depreciation.
DAVID COPELAND was appointed vice president of sales and marketing for Mooney Airplane Company. Copeland has 26 years of aviation industry experience, holding positions with Piper, Rockwell, Grumman, Cessna and Hawker. Most recently he was vice president of worldwide sales for Beechcraft. He graduated from Wichita State University and is an airline transport-rated pilot with more than 4,900 hours.
MOONEY PRODUCTION WILL CONTINUE IN WAKE OF OWNERSHIP CHANGE, MANAGEMENT SAYS - Mooney Airplane Company (MAC) will continue producing its line of single-engine, piston-powered aircraft following the sale of the company to an investment group, MAC management said.
Cessna Aircraft Wednesday won full type certification for its latest model, the Citation Sovereign, a milestone that comes almost six years after Cessna introduced the aircraft to the public. Cessna secured a provisional TC for its newest aircraft in December, but it did not cover many of the aircraft's systems or permit Cessna to deliver aircraft to customers. Delivery of the first Model 680 Sovereign is expected in the second half of the year.
The General Accounting Office has been taking an in-depth look at general aviation security, particularly at small airports, and is expected to release a report on the topic in mid-September. The GAO report apparently stems from a much broader request by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) on aviation security needs.
BURBANK PURSUES NOISE CONTROL AFTER CURFEW SETBACK - FAA rejected Bob Hope Airport's effort to adopt a ban on nighttime aircraft operations, saying it would be inconsistent with legal requirements that aviation restrictions be "reasonable, non-arbitrary, and nondiscriminatory." The decision is part of a Part 161 process started in the summer of 2000, and the airport is working on other methods to control nighttime flights.
