SJ30-2 PLANE SHOWED ANOMALIES DAY BEFORE CRASH - Sino-Swearingen's SJ30-2 Serial Number 002 test aircraft demonstrated certain abnormalities including an uncommanded roll during flutter tests the day before the aircraft crashed on April 26, killing veteran test pilot Carroll Beeler, the National Transportation Safety Board reported (BA, May 5/203). The aircraft was undergoing a second day of flutter tests when it entered a "barrel-roll type maneuver" to the right, continuing a roll until it crashed near Loma Alta, Texas, NTSB said.
Boeing named Yves Galland to the new position of president of Boeing France. Boeing is establishing its French headquarters in Paris this year. Galland will help to bridge the gap between Boeing and its French customers by strengthening local market presence and pursuing revenue-growth opportunities. He was most recently chairman of Europ Assistance and has an extensive public service background, having served as the vice president of the European Parliament and an adviser to the mayor of Paris.
THE POSSIBILITY of adding more commercial slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was hotly debated at the House aviation subcommittee's consideration of the FAA reauthorization bill last week, with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) leading the argument against extra positions, saying that they would add more chaos to the airport. Some GA groups also oppose such a move, fearing it could further prevent general aviation from returning to the airport. Norton has been a leading advocate on Capitol Hill of allowing GA operators to use the airport.
World Fuel Services Corporation reported net income of $5.3 million for the first quarter, ended March 31, an 18 percent increase from $4.5 million in the same quarter last year. Revenues jumped 87.3 percent to $658 million from $351.3 million in the prior period. The Miami, Fla.-based company also reported "significant increases in business volumes in the aviation segment and higher fuel prices for both the marine and aviation segments." Paul Stebbins, chairman and CEO, said, "We are very pleased with these results, which validate our business model."
US Airways embarked on its major growth plan not quite two months after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, splitting firm orders for 170 regional jets between rivals Bombardier and Embraer. The carrier ordered 60 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 and 25 new 75-seat Bombardier CRJ700 Series 705 aircraft. It also ordered 85 Embraer 170s.
FAA'S Part 135/125 review formally kicks off next month with meetings June 10-12 in the Washington, D.C.-area that will include all of the approximately 140 members of the review's various committees and subcommittees. Similar sessions involving the entire group are planned for Aug. 19-21 and Nov. 18-20.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT has reached agreement with Sabreliner Corp. to acquire the Midcoast Aviation fixed-base operation at Lambert Field in St. Louis, one of most venerable business aviation FBO locations in the nation. A formal announcement of the deal is expected soon, and the transaction could be concluded next month. Sabreliner also recently sold its Premier Turbines business to engine overhauler Dallas Airmotive, an affiliate company of Signature.
MAX-VIZ, INC. of Portland, Ore. sold an EVS-1000 enhanced vision system to a European Bombardier Challenger operator. Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland is installing the system, which recently won FAA certification on the Challenger. The EVS allows pilots to see ground vehicles, equipments, obstacles and other aircraft during poor visibility.
May 17-21 - NBAA Maintenance Management Conference, Charlotte, N.C., (202) 783-9000 May 18-21 - Regional Airline Association Annual Convention, Phoenix, Ariz., (202) 367-1170 June 5 - National Business Aviation Association Forum and Static Display, Republic Airport, Farmingdale, N.Y., (202) 783-9000 June 15-22 - 45th Paris Air Show, Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France, +33 1 532 33333 June 27-28 - NBAA 8th Annual Flight Attendants Conference, Philadelphia, Pa., (202) 783-9000
With more than a year to go until its newly selected Pratt & Whitney engines are delivered, Eclipse restarted flight testing on the Eclipse 500 with interim Teledyne engines last week in Albuquerque, N.M. nearly nine months after the aircraft's only previous flight on Aug. 26, 2002. The aircraft, equipped with Teledyne 382-10E engines, took off from Albuquerque Sunport for a 26-minute flight during which it successfully completed all maneuvers in the practice area, Eclipse said.
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration call for immediate inspections of all propeller parts and assemblies that were either overhauled or inspected by T&W Propellers in Chino, Calif. FAA also should require the overhaul of all Hartzell Z-shank propellers every 2,000 hours or five years according to the manufacturer's recommendations, the safety board said.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is installing equipment on more than 100 aircraft that is compatible with the Federal Aviation Administration's Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) technology in a move that continues the expansion of the agency's Safe Flight 21 program beyond Alaska. FAA will build ground stations near Embry-Riddle's Prescott, Ariz. and Daytona Beach, Fla. campuses early next year that will transmit weather and traffic information via the global positioning system to properly equipped Embry-Riddle aircraft.
THE 15TH ANNUAL GREATER WASHINGTON AVIATION OPEN broke a fundraising record, raising more than $105,000 earlier this month to support the Corporate Angel Network. The golf and tennis tournament, held at the Indian Spring Country Club in Silver Spring, Md., is a major fundraiser for CAN, which arranges free transportation for cancer patients in corporate jets for access to specialized treatments.
EBACE2003, the joint National Business Aviation Association/European Business Aviation Association convention held this month in Geneva, Switzerland, drew 5,984 attendees, a 24 percent jump from EBACE2002, which attracted 4,824. Nearly 250 exhibitors bought 615 three-by-three-meter booth spaces at Geneva Palexpo, a 13.2 percent increase, and 25 aircraft were on static display, NBAA officials said.
MICHELMAN, INC. of Cincinnati, Ohio introduced RustBan, a new treatment for corrosion-resistant packaging of iron metal parts. The product, an alternative to VCI bags and containers, can be applied directly to solid fibers, cardboard and other forms of packaging. RustBan is nitrite-free, repulpable and recyclable, the company said.
MEGADATA CORP., Greenwich, Conn., signed a contract with Westchester County, N.Y. Airport to supply the company's PASSUR AirportMonitor, an Internet flight tracking and information system. Westchester County is the eighth airport to launch AirportMonitor nationwide.
Raytheon Aircraft Services is selling its fixed-base operation at Greater Rockford, Ill., Airport to Emery Air, Inc. Terms of the sale are pending, and the deal is expected to be finalized in the next 30 days. Emery, which owns the FBO property, will retain most of the operation's 43 employees, and the business will remain an authorized service center for Beechcraft Premier I, King Air, Baron, Bonanza, Hawker 400XP, Beechjet and Diamond aircraft.
