CAE received a contract from FAA for a Boeing 737-800 CAE Simfinity integrated procedures trainer (IPT), virtual simulator (VSIM) and other hardware to be installed and used for research at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. FAA exercised an option it took last March as part of a contract that included a full-flight Boeing 737-800 simulator. The latest contract, valued at $3 million (Canadian) also covers daily maintenance. The IPT and VSIM will be operational in the fall.
TSA READIES RFP, PROTOTYPE FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKER ID CARD - The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans in the next few weeks to issue a request for proposals for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) to boost security in the U.S. transportation system, according to TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser. The TWIC program, which is designed to provide a high-tech credential that verifies workers' identities, is now in the third of four phases after a technical evaluation last October.
LEGISLATION WOULD SPEED FAA CERTIFICATION OF AIRLINER ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEMS - Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House March 30 would speed the deployment of countermeasures to defend commercial airplanes against shoulder-fired missiles, according to the bill's supporters. The Commercial Aviation MANPADS Defense Act (H.R.4056) would require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to "expedite" the certification process for plane-mounted systems designed to defend against man-portable air defense systems, known as MANPADS.
Kenneth E. Gazzola, executive vice president/publisher of the Aviation Week Group of McGraw-Hill Companies, was elected president of The Wings Club. Gazzola has served on the organization's board of governors for seven years.
AOPA URGES CONGRESS TO STEP UP HEAT OVER WASHINGTON ADIZ - The Federal Aviation Administration has failed to comply with a congressional mandate to provide a report within 30 days justifying the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) around Washington, D.C. and should be held accountable for that and other actions taken that are harming general aviation businesses in the area, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association told House aviation subcommittee leaders.
Rockwell Collins was awarded FAA supplemental type certification and parts manufacturing approval for its Airshow 4000 moving map and flight information system. The certification work was completed on a Gulfstream G400 business jet. Airshow 4000 can display video, text and graphics on the aircraft's cabin and flight deck monitors. The system processes real-time flight information from the aircraft's navigation and air data systems and displays appropriate map and flight information. The system also provides real-time news, stock information, sports and weather.
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.
ARINC, which teamed with AeroMech of Everett, Wash. to develop reduced vertical separation minimum upgrades for business jets, will provide upgrade services beginning in the second quarter for Cessna C650, Beechjet 400/Mitsubishi 300 and Hawker 700 models. The packages can include group certification supplemental type certificates, avionics STCs, the necessary hardware and installation. The ARINC upgrades include instrumentation from Innovative Solutions and Support, Rockwell Collins, Honeywell and Thommen Aircraft.
ATR delivered a seventh ATR 72-500 aircraft to Italian regional carrier Air Dolomiti, a Lufthansa Regional carrier. Along with seven ATR 72-500s, the operator flies nine ATR 42-500 regional turboprops. The most recent aircraft was delivered with a 64-seat configuration.
FAA Administraton Marion Blakey appointed Ramesh Punwani as the agency's chief financial officer. Punwani will steer the agency's $14 billion budget and the development and implementation of cost accounting systems. He formerly was senior vice president for global strategy for Cendant Corp. and has more than three decades of aviation and travel industry experience, including financial and executive positions with Pan American World Airways, Tower Air and Trans World Airlines. He also was executive vice president and chief financial officer for Travelocity.com.
Cessna delivered its 5,000th single-engine piston aircraft since the restart of production in Independence, Kan. in 1997. The 5,000th aircraft, a Skylane, was delivered to Karl Fillip of Alliance Equipment Leasing. Hill Aircraft and Leasing Corporation, a Cessna Sales Team Authorized Representative in Atlanta, facilitated the sale.
Hundreds Of Rolls-Royce Tay turbofan engines installed on Gulfstream IV business jets and Fokker F-28s must be inspected and modified if necessary under the provisions of an airworthiness directive issued this month by FAA. The action, which is addressed in a series of service bulletins from the engine manufacturer, resulted from an incident early this year in which a Fokker lost power in flight after encountering severe ice buildup.
ARINC Direct was named a distributor and factory service representative for Swiss manufacturer Thommen. ARINC will sell and service the full line of Thommen aircraft instruments, including the AD-32 system designed to bring aircraft into compliance with reduced vertical separation minimum standards. The AD-32 includes a Thommen digital air data computer and air data display unit. FAA recently awarded the RVSM equipment technical standard order approval.
Part 135 operators urged the Federal Aviation Administration to further extend the comment period on its proposed 180-minute threshold for extended operations (ETOPS), saying they have no way to judge how the proposed regulations would affect them until they get more information from the agency on certain requirements and more specific data from the manufacturers on aircraft performance.
AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGIES of Australia Models N22B, N22S, and N24A airplanes (Docket No. 2003-CE-37-AD; Amendment 39-13494; AD 2004-05-02) - requires repetitively inspecting wing fittings for fatigue defects, replacing or correcting defective wing fittings, and replacing the stub wing front spar assembly and wing fitting when fatigue life limits are reached. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for Australia.
NTSB: GA, AIR TAXI RATES CLIMB IN 2003 - The National Transportation Safety Board last week reported slight increases in the accident rates for general aviation and air taxi operators, but the agency noted it questions the air taxi rates "due to a lack of precision in the flight activity estimates provided by the FAA." U.S. GA aircraft were involved in 1,732 accidents in 2003, 19 more than in 2002. The number of fatal accidents increased by six in 2003 to 351.
Jet Aviation Singapore won approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) to maintain and repair Gulfstream aircraft registered in China. With CAAC approval, Jet Aviation received an Air China maintenance contract to provide scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on the charter's G-IV aircraft. Established in 1995, Jet Aviation Singapore has more than 50,000 square feet of hangar, office, workshop and office space. The facility is authorized to service Gulfstream, Cessna and Bombardier aircraft.
Groundbreakings for new production facilities are becoming the norm for participants in the US 101 team that is competing to win the VXX presidential helicopter contract from the Naval Air Systems Command and trying to emphasize the U.S. content of its offering. Early this month AgustaWestland held a ceremony in Philadelphia, Pa. to mark the beginning of construction of an expansion of its facility there, and last week Lockheed Martin executives, along with New York Gov.
FlightSafety International earned FAA Level D approval for a Bombardier Global Express full flight simulator stationed at the company's learning center in the Philadelphia/Wilmington area. The simulator, which includes a panoramic VITAL 9 visual system surrounding the cockpit, is equipped with a head-up display and EVAS. It also has an interactive SimVu debriefing system.
Title V -- AVIATION SAFETY Section 501. Directs the Federal Aviation Administration to deny a certificate to a person whose certificate was previously revoked for counterfeit or fraudulent aviation part activities Section 502. Runway Safety Standards * Ensures that owners/operators of airports in Alaska will not be required to reduce the length of a runway or declare the length to be less than the length of the actual pavement to meet FAA runway safety area standards
Naples, Fla. Municipal Airport Executive Director Theodore Soliday last week defended the airport's anti-noise efforts including its controversial ban on Stage 2 aircraft, saying the ban is necessary to save the airport. Soliday said airports must remember they are serving the community, and Naples lies within a "noise-sensitive" community. The airport was once endangered, he said, and lost its commercial service. Certain community members had used political channels to bar the airport from hiring marketing staff to attract service to it.
NetJets has begun a five-year program to retire and replace some of the aircraft in its fleet as they reach 10 years of age, a development "that will be a dynamic in the marketplace," NetJets President Bill Boisture told Friday's general aviation panel at the Forecast Conference.
