Model CL-600-2B19 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-250-AD) - revises an earlier AD that would have required replacement of the existing smoke detectors in the cargo compartment with new, improved smoke detectors. This new action revises the proposed rule by specifying compliance per corrected service information. The actions specified by this new proposed AD are intended to prevent false smoke warnings from the smoke detectors in the cargo compartment.
CESSNA hopes to continue to penetrate the Latin American market with plans for expanding its Cessna Pilot Centers (CPCs) into Mexico, Brazil and other key areas, the company said. It recently added CPCs in Mexico, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.
BORGE BOESKOV, the veteran Boeing executive who most recently served as president of Boeing Business Jets, officially retired from the aircraft manufacturer last week. Boeskov, who joined Boeing in 1965 and held a variety of senior posts in sales and marketing, was named president of Boeing Business Jets in July 1996. The company announced last year that Lee Monson had been selected to succeed him when Boeskov retired (BA, June 25/295).
Federal Aviation Administration proposed a series of civil penalties totaling more than $250,000 against the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group for allegedly failing to maintain its quality control system in accordance with approved data and procedures in its production certificate.
DON EHLER was named manager of sales for Thunder Aviation. He was previously a marketing and sales executive for Alliance Systems and Programming, Inc.
All four people aboard a Cessna 340 were killed March 24 when the pilot encountered problems while attempting to land at Centennial Airport (APA) in Englewood, Colo. The aircraft, N341DM, was being operated by Lear 171 Inc. of Billings, Mont. under Part 91 of the FARs. The flight had departed Gunnison, Colo. at 1540 local time under an instrument flight plan and about 50 minutes later was cleared to land on Runway 35R at APA. The local controller said that about 90 seconds after receiving landing clearance the pilot reported he had lost an engine.
A Gulfstream V operated by the NetJets fractional program was slightly damaged last week at New York's La Guardia Airport. FAA said the airplane, N509QS, "was on a non-movement area making a right turn when wingtip struck a fence."
Salvage crews recovered a recently restored Boeing 307 Stratoliner from Elliott Bay in Seattle last week after the crew ditched the vintage airliner when they encountered power problems during a test and training flight a few days earlier. The airplane, one of only 10 of its type built and the last remaining, is owned by the National Air & Space Museum and is destined to be housed in the museum's new facility at Dulles International Airport. It had been restored by a 30-member team of Boeing volunteers over the past six years.
A group of workers under threat of losing their jobs at Raytheon Aircraft banded with management to find ways to cut costs and improve productivity, and their efforts have proved so successful that the initiative is being expanded into other areas of the company. Raytheon Aircraft Chairman and CEO James Schuster warned employees several months ago that the company was considering outsourcing its wire harness work to Mexico to cut costs. Such a move put 320 jobs at risk.
MICHAEL MCCONNELL was appointed vice president of customer and product support at Eclipse Aviation. He was most recently senior vice president of strategic planning for Mooney Aircraft. McConnell also worked for Dell Computer Corporation for 12 years with positions in marketing and management.
AVFUEL CORPORATION added Brownwood Regional Airport in Texas (BWD) to its network of dealers. The company has more than 800 Avfuel-branded dealers in the nation.
THE EUROPEAN UNION Parliament last week adopted a new noise rule that effectively repeals a controversial ban on hushkitted aircraft. That ban was the subject of an international dispute that culminated in the U.S.
GENE CARPENTER was named market and business development director for AirLiance Materials. He will be responsible for developing and managing the company's growth strategy in existing and new markets. Carpenter was most recently vice president of marketing and sales for AAR engine component services and has more than 30 years of aviation management experience.
JOSEPH J. LHOTA will join the board of directors of First Aviation Services this week. Lhota, the former deputy mayor of operations in New York City, currently is the executive vice president, corporate administration of Cablevision Systems Corporation. He also has served as the budget director for New York City, managing its $36 billion operating budget and $45 billion capital improvement program.
KAISERAIR of Oakland, Calif. received FAA certification to install Terrain Awareness Warning Systems on Gulfstream GIIB and GIII aircraft. TAWS is required on turbine aircraft by 2005.
Widespread concern about the possible impact of new security regulations being considered by the nascent Transportation Security Administration and the impact those rules will have on general aviation and corporate operators and the businesses that cater to them dominated conversation among attendees at last week's National Air Transportation Association convention in Indianapolis, Ind. Those fears were not allayed by TSA representatives at the NATA convention who acknowledged they don't know how far-reaching the new security rules might be.
ROCKWELL COLLINS bought Maryland-based Communication Solutions for $23 million and plans to integrate the new business into its government systems division. Communication Solutions, which had $16 million in revenues in 2001, has an "extensive product line" of signals intelligence technology, used in defense and security-related applications, said Rockwell Collins. "This acquisition strengthens our government systems business, which represents 45 percent of our overall business and is continuing to grow," said Clay Jones, Rockwell Collins president and CEO.
STEVENS AVIATION added a Cessna Citation V to its charter certificate. The eight-passenger aircraft is based in Aiken, S.C. Stevens, which has been in the charter business for more than 30 years, has 23 pilots on its charter certificate.
RAYTHEON AEROSPACE CO., Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $23.4 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to provide logistics support for the T-1A aircraft through September 2002. The locations of performance are Rayth eon Aerospace, Madison (57 percent), and Pratt and Whitney Engine Services, Bridgeport, W. Va., (43 percent). The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting authority.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION awarded MCI WorldCom a sole-source contract, worth up to $604 million, for MCI to continue providing, for up to five more years, telecommunications infrastructure services for air traffic controllers at the 20 en route centers. The MCI systems will enable controllers to communicate by voice and data with each other and with pilots, an FAA spokesman said. MCI's present contract for the Leased Interfacility NAS Communications System (LINCS), competitively awarded in 1992, expires this month.
TDR-94 and TDR-94D Mode S transponders (Docket No. 2000-CE-32-AD; Amendment 39-12683; AD 2002-06-06) - requires, for certain Rockwell Collins TDR-94 and TDR-94D Mode S transponders that derive altitude information from a Gillham (gray code) encoded pressure altitude source and are installed on airplanes, having the unit modified to prevent erroneous altitude reporting.
LANCAIR late last week expected to hand over a new "Spirit of St. Louis" aircraft, a single-engine Columbia 300, to Charles Lindbergh's grandson Erik Lindbergh, who plans to retrace his grandfather's Lone Eagle flights of 1927. Lindbergh will kick off the tour in April in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the historic flights. Lancair modified a Columbia 300 piston-powered aircraft to carry additional fuel for the Lindbergh flights, which will include a solo Atlantic crossing.
RAYMOND SANTA was named sales director, pre-owned aircraft in the southeastern United States, Mexico and South America for Bombardier Aerospace, Business Aircraft. He was most recently marketing manager for Bell Textron's South American division. Santa will be based in Dallas, Tex.
THE AVIATION COMMUNITY is attempting to cope with two serious diseases, "insuranceitis" and "securityitis," National Air Transportation Association President Jim Coyne told his members last week. The first malady is manifested by dramatic increases in insurance premiums, while the second involves "the inflammation of people wearing badges around airports."
