MICHAEL (MICKEY) COHEN was named vice president of operations and engineering at AAR. Cohen, who has more than 29 years of experience in commercial aviation and the aerospace industry, was most recently senior vice president of maintenance and engineering for Alaska Airlines. Based in Wood Dale, Ill., AAR provides aftermarket support for the aerospace industry.
VETERAN ENGINE EXECUTIVE JOINS DALLAS AIRMOTIVE - Brian P. Sill, who has held executive posts with two engine manufacturers, has joined Dallas Airmotive in the newly created position of vice president-business operations.
General Dynamics Canada introduced the 4WARN Sentry, an advanced, portable, real-time biological agent detection system based on what the company said is "field-proven, fluorescence particle detection technology. The 4WARN Sentry has the ability to detect all aerosolized biological agents extremely rapidly, typically in less than 20 seconds," GD Canada said. The Sentry units can be networked or operated on a stand-alone basis. The systems are produced at GD Canada's Calgary, Alberta plant.
NEW FAA CFO HAS EXPERIENCE IN PRIVATE SECTOR, GOVERNMENT - Thomas R. Bloom, named chief financial officer of the Federal Aviation Administration last week, brings an impressive history of financial management jobs in both the government and private sector. Most recently, Bloom was with the Department of Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), where he served as director and chief executive officer since 1999. DFAS is described as "the largest and most complex accounting organization in the world, with 15,500 people and revenues of $1.6 billion."
A 1965 Beech T-34 crashed in Texas last week, killing two. Don Wylie, 64, the owner of Aviation Safety Training, was teaching a lesson in upset recovery to William Eisenhauer of Centerville, Ohio when the wing separated from the aircraft. Wylie, who had logged 8,500 hours of instruction since 1990, was a former fighter pilot in Vietnam and the recipient of the Silver Star and a Distinguished Flying Cross.
With less than a year before the 2004 Olympics get under way in Greece, aviation officials in that country are trying to determine how many private aircraft they may have to deal with. The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority and Athens International Airport management have asked the National Business Aviation Association to help them estimate the number of U.S. business aviation operators planning to fly their aircraft to Greece during the period July 15-Sept. 30. The Olympic Games are scheduled for Aug. 13-Aug. 24.
MEETING AT FAA HEADQUARTERS ADDRESSES UAV ISSUES - The Federal Aviation Administration's Joint Planning Office held a meeting Thursday to brief government and industry officials on the Access Five plan, a scenario under which operations of unmanned aerial vehicles would be routinely authorized in the National Airspace System.
Cessna's second production CJ3 CitationJet, Serial Number 002, took first flight earlier this month in Wichita, Kan. The company said all three of the CJ3 aircraft dedicated to certification flight testing now are flying. The aircraft have logged more than 340 hours and 200 flights. The CJ3 prototype, used for development flight tests, logged 262.8 hours. The first production CJ3, Serial Number 001, is being used for flight training simulator data collection, and S/N 002 will be used mostly for avionics development and post certification service tests, Cessna said.
Senate Democrats who have been threatening to block passage of FAA reauthorization legislation by staging a filibuster were waiting for a response from the White House late last week on a deal that could resolve the impasse and permit passage of the bill, which is supported by nearly all elements of the aviation community. See article below.
An end might be in sight for passage of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill as the Senate late last week scheduled a cloture vote to be taken this evening (Nov. 17). No details were available as to what version of the bill would be up for the vote. Senate Republicans last week were considering a proposal from Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), banning air traffic control privatization for one year.
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. to consider the nomination of Transportation Security Administration chief James Loy as the new deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. The hearing will be held in Room 342 of the Senate Dirksen Bldg. on Capitol Hill.
Ballistic Recovery Systems' vice president of sales and marketing, Dan Johnson, resigned last week. He will continue to work with BRS as an independent contractor, providing marketing, advertising and public relations services. Johnson, who has worked at the South St. Paul, Minn.-based company for 17 years, also will continue to represent BRS on industry boards and panels. While BRS looks for a new vice president of sales and marketing, Stewart D.
Northrop Grumman officials are trying to interest government officials and potential civil customers in a laser-based system that was developed to protect military airplanes and helicopters from attacks by terrorists or other groups using shoulder-fired missiles or MANPADS (man-portable air defense systems).
Jet Aviation West Palm Beach is installing a reduced vertical separation minimum system into a Falcon 10 - its fifth RVSM retrofit on a Falcon since obtaining an FAA supplemental type certificate earlier this year. With the January 2005 RVSM implementation date nearing, Jet Aviation is expecting a "rush to compliance" and the company has recently hired extra staff to handle the overflow, said Brian Wilson, avionics manager.
ENGINE PROBLEMS FOCUS OF SKYVAN FATAL CRASH - A Short Brothers Skyvan SC7 operated by an air carrier crashed shortly after takeoff Nov. 8, killing a flight attendant and one passenger and injuring the pilots and three other passengers.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) has asked the General Accounting Office to conduct a full-blown study of general aviation security. Officials from GAO's Atlanta and Washington offices are working on the project, which is expected to include input from a number of aviation trade organizations.
The Senate November 12 approved the fiscal 2004 Defense Department authorization conference report by a 95-3 vote. The legislation, which passed the House Nov. 7, now heads to President Bush for his expected signature. The $401 billion measure authorizes $74 billion for procurement and $63 billion for research and development. The legislation contains a provision permitting the Air Force to acquire 100 new Boeing KC-767A tanker aircraft by leasing 20 and buying the remainder.
The Federal Aviation Administration proposed a new rule last week to govern extended operations (ETOPS) for flights conducted under Parts 25, 33, 121 and 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, attempting for the first time to codify informal procedures that have been in place since the mid-1980s. The notice of proposed rulemaking "implements existing policy, industry best practices and recommendations, and international standards to ensure that long-range flights will operate safely," FAA said.
Russell Chew, the chief operating officer of FAA's Air Traffic Organization, has briefed Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and key members of Congress on his plans to transform the nation's air traffic control system into a performance-based organization. Chew is expected to go public with these plans tomorrow (Nov. 18). Details are being closely held, but one insider used the "B" word - Bold - to describe Chew's approach to making ATO a PBO. Chew also is expected to discuss his plans Nov.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-1A11 (CL-600), CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), and CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, and CL-604) series airplanes (Docket No. 2002-NM-157-AD; Amendment 39-13360; AD 2003-22-12) - adopts a new AD that requires revising the airplane flight manual to provide the flightcrew with procedures and limitations for operating the airplane with out-of-tolerance angle of attack (AOA) transducers.
AOPA ASKS FOR MEETING WITH FAA ON AIR TOUR REGULATIONS - The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to hold public meetings to discuss the proposed changes to national air tour operational standards, saying that the agency "has failed to consider the true impacts of this proposal."
