Witness reports of frost or ice on the wing of a Challenger 604, which could have disrupted the air flow over the wing and reduced lift, are being treated by British accident investigators as a key focus of their probe of the Jan. 4 fatal accident (BA, Jan. 7/15).
IN THE SHORT TERM, the new aircraft sales market remains challenging. The Enron scandal and a major restructuring at Ford Motor Co. have dumped half a dozen Gulfstream Vs on the market. That's not a big concern, Gulfstream President and COO Bill Boisture told BA last week, but it bears noting in today's cautious market. The Gulfstream sales organization has been finding new customers and applications for its upper-end business jets, he said, while Fortune 100/Fortune 500 companies, traditionally among Gulfstream's best customers, remain on the sidelines.
JOHN MAGAW, the head of the new Transportation Security Administration, told reporters at a briefing Thursday "there may be a place" for so-called "trusted traveler" cards encrypted with biometric data on the holder. While he believes "there is no question the technology is there" to make such cards a reality, he said the time-saving benefits of such a device may be muted because of the need for security screening of everyone's checked and carry-on baggage.
Britain's Heathrow Airport began using eye recognition software this month to speed up arrivals. Up to 2,000 frequent flyers are involved in the five-month trial using EyeTicket's iris recognition technology in Terminal 3 and 4. Passengers look into a video camera and their identities are verified within seconds.
SINCE THE WINTER OLYMPICS BEGAN in Salt Lake City, there have been seven airspace violations, and several incidents in which pilots were escorted or forced to land, Steve Brown, FAA's associate administrator for air traffic services, said Friday. On one of those occasions, Brown said the pilot mistook a reservation for inspection as permission to reposition his aircraft. Brown said FAA is asking all pilots who intend to operate in that area "to please review current procedures and contact Flight Service for clarification or further information, if necessary."
ECLIPSE AVIATION President Vern Raburn told the U.S. Commission on the Future of the Aerospace Industry last week that the Eclipse 500 entry-level jet is on schedule to make its first flight in less than five months, adding that the first 36 months of production are sold out.
SEVERAL GENERAL AVIATION GROUPS last week visited with Sen. Herb Kohl's (D-Wis.) staff to discuss general aviation and air charter after Kohl called general aviation a "ticking time bomb" during a hearing on aviation security (BA, Feb. 11/69). Kohl is concerned that general aviation is not held to the same standard of security as scheduled air carriers are and plans to pressure FAA and reiterate his concerns as often as he can until he is satisfied that appropriate security programs are in place, a Kohl aide said.
The Transportation Security Administration will work quickly through a transitional period of 30-40 days to acquire new airport security technology and hire new federal employees who will take over airport security responsibilities. Administration officials said at a 90-day milestone briefing since security legislation was enacted that they're close to hiring an initial group of 81 federal security representatives to be placed in high priority airports across the country.
EUROCOPTER Model SE 3130, SE 313B, SA 315B, SE 3160, SA 316B, SA 316C, SA 3180, SA 318B, SA 318C, and SA 319B helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-38-AD; Amendment 39-12625; AD 2002-01-30) - requires inspecting the magnetic plug for magnetic particles at specified intervals in addition to the MGB inspections currently required. This AD also requires, within 50 hours time-in-service, dye- penetrant inspecting the MGB bevel gear for a crack, and if a crack is found, replacing the cracked bevel gear with an airworthy bevel gear before further flight.
The Department of Justice Friday temporarily provided a blanket advance consent for non-U.S. pilots to resume recurrent flight training in the U.S. for aircraft that weigh more than 12,500 pounds. The advance consent is a provisional action until DOJ establishes a set of procedures for flight training applicants to undergo a background review.
Steve Bassett, president of the United States Air Tour Association (USATA) for the past five years, has accepted an offer to join the management team of Air Vegas Airlines, which provides aerial tours of the Grand Canyon.
FAA OUTLINES SPECIAL CONDITIONS FOR ECLIPSE CERTIFICATION - Federal Aviation Administration proposed a series of "special conditions" Eclipse Aviation must meet to win government approval for its new-technology, $837,500 twin-jet, the Eclipse 500. Eclipse cut metal for the jet in September and expects to fly the aircraft in July. Eclipse in the fall of 2000 filed its application for certification of the Eclipse 500 under Part 23 of the Federal Aviation Regulations and hopes to complete the process by early 2004.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD, in conjunction with its ongoing investigation of the Airbus 300 crash in in New York in November after the aircraft's vertical stabilizer and rudder snapped off, recommended that FAA require the manufacturers and operators of all transport-category (Part 25) airplanes to implement training programs that explain the structural certification requirements for the rudder and vertical stabilizer and explain that full rudder deflections in one direction, followed by full rudder deflections in the opposite direction, under certain conditions,
JOHN JUDGE was named executive senior vice president at Cincinnati Machine. He will be responsible for new business opportunities, customer relationship management and developing worldwide partnerships with original equipment manufacturers. Judge has worked at Cincinnati Machine for 33 years and was most recently senior vice president of sales for CM's advanced systems and services business.
Docket No.: FAA-2001-11080 (previous Docket No. 29661) Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 91.319(a)(1) and (2) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit EAA, SAMA, and NAFI members who own certain amateur- and kit-built aircraft certificated in the experimental category to receive compensation for the use of the aircraft for the purpose of conducting aircraft-specific flight training and flight review under 14 CFR 61.56. Grant, Dec. 20, 2001, Exemption No. 7162B
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION officials told BA they had been in contact Friday with senior Treasury Department officials in an effort to resolve problems with the telephone reservation system for securing Part 91 slots into the four gateway airports operators must use if they are flying to Salt Lake City. Pete West, NBAA's senior vice president of government and public affairs, said NBAA members seeking slot reservations had been confronted with telephone holds of an hour or more before being cut off.
AVCARD introduced airPortfolio, its new online account management system. The system allows cardholders to access secure account information on the aviation credit card company's website at www.avcard.com. Customers can view and print monthly management reports and weekly billing registers online.
Export control, and updating the nation's air traffic control (ATC) system, will head the list of discussion topics tomorrow at the next meeting of the 12-member Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry, according to its chairman, former U.S. Rep. Robert Walker. "We are ... going to take the first steps, at the February [12th] meeting ...
Docket No: FAA-2001-11134 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 25.785(j) Description of Relief Sought: To allow Lufthansa Technik to configure the Boeing Model 737-800 airplane for private, not-for-hire use and be exempted, in the configuration of the interior areas specified as the "Private Bedroom'' and the "First Class'' sections, from the requirement for a "firm handhold along each aisle.''
Textron Lycoming issued a service bulletin this month that requires the operators of more than 400 six-cylinder, turbocharged engines to remove those engines from service within the next 10 hours time in service.
MARK LOWDERMILK was named manager of the Airport Support Network at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He will oversee efforts to preserve and protect general aviation airports, supervising more than 1,100 ASN volunteers. Lowdermilk was most recently a technology officer in the West Virginia Governor's Office of Technology. A native of West Virginia, Lowdermilk is a 4,500-hour pilot and holds an airline transport pilot certificate with a Boeing 737 type rating. He is also a certified flight instructor and FAA-designated pilot examiner.
Docket No.: FAA-2001-9942 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 135.411(a)(2) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit McMahon to operate three Sikorsky S-58/T helicopters with passenger seating configurations of 10 to 14 seats (1) without an approved flight recorder installed in each helicopter and (2) without those helicopters being maintained under a maintenance program in Secs. 135.415, 135.416, 135.417, and 135.423 through 135.443. Denial, Jan. 10, 2002, Exemption No. 7690
Docket No.: FAA-2001-11059 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 135.143(c)(2) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit MAS to operate certain aircraft under Part 135 without a TSO-C112 (Mode S) transponder installed in the aircraft. Grant, Dec. 5, 2001, Exemption No. 7674
