Federal Aviation Administration last week extended the comment period until Feb. 5 on an advisory circular that provides guidance on compliance with the agency's new rules governing Part 145 repair stations (BA, Nov. 18/225). The extension came at the urging of both the Aircraft Electronics Association and National Air Transportation Association, which complained that the original 15-day comment period did not provide enough time to adequately respond to the AC, 145-MAN, Guide for Developing and Evaluating Repair Station and Quality Control Manuals.
Regional cargo carrier Alpine Air Express launched a program designed to help companies either expand or start up cargo operations under Alpine's Part 135 certificate. Under the program, Alpine Air would work with Raytheon Aircraft to sell used Beech 1900s or 99s to prospective owners. The aircraft would operate under Alpine Air's Part 135 certificate, and Alpine Air would provide operational assistance, training, and maintenance programs for the new owners.
Kaiserair opened a NiCad battery service shop at its location at Oakland North Airport in California. The shop can service as many as 12 batteries at one time and is equipped with an Aviall analyzer load bank and Aviall Data Acquisition System (ADAS) to provide customers with an analysis and guaranteed performance check. Two technicians, qualified by Aviall, will work in the shop, one of two in California with the capability to service jet aircraft NiCad batteries.
Just three months after its initial board meeting in mid-August, the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA) has more than doubled its membership and is gearing up to represent that segment of the industry in FAA's upcoming review of Part 135 (BA, Nov. 18/225), the head of the association said.
Japanese manufacturer Toyota, which has been quietly doing development work on a new single-engine aircraft for at least a decade, is now conducting a survey of aviation professionals to determine what the market outlook for such a new product offering might be.
A soft regional jet market led Brazilian plane-maker Embraer to report nearly a 22 percent drop in sales and a 27 percent decrease in net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The company had net sales of $580.6 million (U.S.) in the third quarter, compared with $734.4 million in the third quarter of 2001.
Presidential Air Corporation acquired Los Angeles, Calif.-based ground maintenance provider Certified Aviation Services. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The completion of the deal follows a letter of intent the companies signed in September. "We are confident that our new alignment with Presidential Air coupled with our contacts in the aviation industry and long history working with most of the major airlines...
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD is investigating fatal accidents that occurred the evening of Nov. 8 involving a Cessna 208 Caravan, N514DB, and an 1124 Westwind, N61RS. The Caravan had departed Las Vegas, Nev. with four persons on board enroute to Flagstaff, Ariz. It crashed near that Arizona city under unknown circumstances. The Westwind also departed Las Vegas and was enroute to Taos, N.M. with two persons on board. Both were killed when the business jet crashed near Taos.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey filled four key slots at her new agency with former colleagues from the National Transportation Safety Board. Robert Sturgell, who served as Blakey's primary advisor at NTSB and coordinated the safety board's recommendations, was appointed senior counsel to the FAA Administrator. Before joining NTSB, he was a flight operations supervisor and a line pilot for United Airlines and has served as an aviation attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm Shaw Pittman.
FAA ORDERS LYCOMING ENGINE BOLTS REPLACED WITHIN 10 HOURS - The Federal Aviation Administration issued yet another airworthiness directive on Textron Lycoming 540 engines last week, ordering operators to replace certain zinc-plated crankshaft gear retaining bolts within the next 10 hours time-in-service or seven days after Nov. 19.
The House and Senate moved to transfer the Transportation Security Administration out of the Department of Transportation, arm airline pilots, extend airline war risk insurance protection and extend explosive detection system deadlines, but steered clear of other major aviation security initiatives in their compromise Homeland Security Act of 2002.
Docket No.: FAA-2002-12168 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 135.251, 135.255, 135.353, and Appendices I and J to Part 121 Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit West Bend to conduct local sightseeing flights without complying with certain anti-drug and alcohol misuse prevention requirements of Part 135. Denial, May 31, 2002, Exemption No. 7786
Comair Aviation Academy teamed with Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts to offer the academy's airline training curriculum to Bridgewater's Aviation Program students. Students who graduate from the program would have a guaranteed job interview with Delta Connection carrier Comair. "Comair's plans for 2003 call for the continued expansion of its fleet, flight operations and the hiring of additional pilots to support that growth," said Susan Burrell, President of Comair Aviation Academy.
Bombardier Aerospace's recent Safety Standdown drew more than 200 pilots and crewmembers representing 94 different business aircraft operators. The event, held late last month in Wichita Kan., covered recurrent and update training with hands-on training simulations and presentations on fatigue countermeasures, aviation psychology, applied aerodynamics and professional airmanship.
S2R series and Model 600 S2D airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-37-AD) - proposes to supersede AD 2000-11-16, which currently applies to certain Quality Aerospace S2R series and Model 600 S2D airplanes. AD 2000-11-16 requires repetitive inspection of the 1/4-inch and 5/16-inch bolt hole areas on the lower spar caps for fatigue cracking; replacement or repair of any lower spar cap where fatigue cracking is found; and reporting any fatigue cracking found.
National Business Aviation Association said its Nov. 14 business aviation forum and static display at Meacham Field in Ft. Worth, Texas drew some 1,500 attendees for a day of seminars and the opportunity to view 27 business aircraft on static display. Officials said they received "a lot of positive feedback" from registrants and representatives of more than 50 exhibiting companies about the one-day event. NBAA staged a similar event earlier this year in the Chicago area.
Docket No.: FAA-2001-9687 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 135.152(a) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Pacific Helicopter Tours to operate its two Bell 212 helicopters and four Sikorsky S-61N helicopters without those helicopters being equipped with an approved digital flight data recorder. Grant, May 31, 2002, Exemption No. 7257C
FAA is expected to release by month's end a notice formally inviting participation in an aviation rulemaking committee that will take a thorough look at Part 135 and Part 125 regulations to determine whether substantial changes are necessary. The notice is expected to invite 15 industry participants who would represent a broad cross-section of Part 135 and 125 operators. FAA wants to keep the ARC relatively small, but include participants who can speak for a large number of people.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association, as expected, added four non-U.S. manufacturers at the organization's board meeting this month in Palm Springs, Calif. The addition of Bombardier Aerospace of Canada, Dassault Falcon Jet of France, Embraer of Brazil and Piaggio of Italy follows a decision by GAMA's board of directors to overturn a long-standing restriction that limited GAMA membership to U.S. aircraft and component manufacturers (BA, Sept. 23/139).
February 9-11, 2003 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2003, Dallas, Texas, (703) 683-4646 April 23-27, 2003 - National Aircraft Resale Association Annual Meeting, Westin Regina Resort, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico May 13-15, 2003 - AS 3/GSE Aviation Services and Suppliers Supershow, National Air Transportation Association/Professional Aviation Maintenance Association, Las Vegas, Nev., (703) 845-9000 or (202) 730-0260.
Jeff Stahl was named regional sales manager, southeast region, covering Florida, Georgia and South Carolina for CAE SimuFlite. He was most recently senior account manager at Comark Technologies. Stahl, who holds an ATP license, will be based in Orlando, Fla.
National Transportation Safety Board is investigating fatal accidents that occurred the evening of Nov. 8 involving a Cessna 208 Caravan, N514DB, and an 1124 Westwind, N61RS. The Caravan had departed Las Vegas, Nev. with four persons on board enroute to Flagstaff, Ariz. It crashed near that Arizona city under unknown circumstances. The Westwind also departed Las Vegas and was enroute to Taos, N.M. with two persons on board. Both were killed when the business jet crashed near Taos.
FMC-4200, FMC-5000, and FMC-6000 flight management computers (Docket No. 2000-CE-13-AD; Amendment 39-12939; AD 2002-22-13) - requires removal of the affected FMC unit and replacement with a new FMC unit or an FMC unit that has been modified to correct a problem with the flight management system accepting new information when an existing procedure or flight plan is changed. This AD is the result of a report that an aircraft proceeded beyond the published altitude constraint on an arrival procedure.
Dyncorp named Lt. Gen. Charles J. Cunningham, Jr. USAF (ret.) as director of Air Force Strategic Programs. Cunningham spent 33 years in the Air Force. From 1987 to 1999 Cunningham held executive positions at the Mowell Financial Group and Reflectone, Inc.
Pilatus Business Aircraft promoted Piotr (Pete) Wolak to the newly created position of vice president of customer service and Mike Rector to manager of production. Wolak, formerly vice president of customer programs, will oversee customer support, logistics, and programs. Wolak helped develop and implement programs to support the PC-12 fleet, including the Planetrax, Planeworx, and Diagnostix PC-12 support systems announced during the National Business Aviation convention in September. Before joining Pilatus, Wolak spent 14 years with Continental Airlines.
