ELLEN SMITH was appointed to the newly created position of president, Pratt&Whitney Power Systems. Smith joined Pratt&Whitney in 1999 as senior vice president of commercial aircraft engine programs and previously held key management positions in General Electric's Power Systems business.
PACIFIC AEROSPACE & ELECTRONICS did not make a scheduled $3.6 million interest payment on its outstanding senior subordinated note due Feb. 1. The company has a 30-day grace period to make the interest payment before being in default. "We are working aggressively to obtain a replacement credit facility or other financing so that we will have sufficient cash to make the Feb. 1 payment before the 30-day grace period expires," said Don Wright, president and chief executive.
GREG THOMAS was named material leader for the modifications, completions and avionics center of excellence for Garrett Aviation Services. Thomas has 25 years of materials management experience, spending the past three years as Garrett's parts support leader. He also served with GE Aircraft Engines in Evendale, Ohio and Wilmington, N.C.
JOHN FERNEY was named vice president-customer support for Raytheon Aircraft Company. Ferney will oversee customer relations, technical services, administration, product support, warranty administration and spare parts. He joined Raytheon in 1994 as director of production and materials control and later served as director of enterprise resource planning. He previously spent 28 years with Raytheon's Missile Systems Division.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD added aircraft and human performance teams to its investigation of the Oct. 16 Cessna 335 crash that killed Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, his son Roger and aide, Chris Sifford. The safety board said initial analysis of the right engine vacuum system and pieces of the left engine have been inconclusive. NTSB is continuing to examine the aircraft wiring, cables, hydraulics and cockpit instruments. The board plans to release its final report this summer.
RAYTHEON TRAVEL AIR is adding the Model 601 Challenger business jet to its fractional fleet to fill a niche for customers who need larger-cabin or longer-range aircraft. "With the addition of the Challengers, Raytheon Travel Air will possess one of the broadest and most flexible programs in the fractional ownership industry," said Raytheon Travel Air President Gary Hart. Hart noted that the company received "tremendous interest" from owners in upgrading to the Challengers for certain trips as well as additional shares.
Poor weather, an aircraft that was not equipped for flight in instrument conditions and a VFR flight that continued into instrument meteorological conditions appear to have led to the Jan. 14 fatal crash of a Beech King Air A90 into the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City, Utah. The pilot and all eight passengers were killed (BA, Jan. 22/44). The aircraft, N616F, was owned by Flanagan Enterprises (Nevada), Inc., and operated by William C. Cause, doing business as Skydive Salt Lake.
AN INDUSTRY working group, tasked with developing recommendations for regulating extended-range twin-engine operations (ETOPS) for Part 135 operators, is developing a draft advisory circular to codify best industry practices that must be followed to conduct ETOPS and other long-range operations. The working group continues its study of an appropriate Part 135 ETOPs threshold recommendation for a formal FAA rule (BA, Aug. 28/95), the lack of which was cited by the International Civil Aviation Organization as a deficiency.
DASSAULT FALCON JET promoted Terrance Bacola to president of its Midway Aircraft Instrument Corp. unit. Bacola joined Midway in 1994 as vice president and general manager, and Dassault said he has "played a major role in the 54 percent increase in sales Midway has seen in the past six years." He has more than 27 years of aviation experience, holding management positions with Phillip Morris, Executive Air Fleet, Continental Airlines, The Trump Shuttle and DHL.
DON COX was named vice president of general aviation sales and services for Aerospace Products International. Cox joined API in 1994 after a 20-year career with the U.S. Air Force. While with API, he has served as Piper program manager, director of technical services, managing director of customer relations and senior director of customer relations.
A GROUP OF five industry associations asked FAA to change a proposal for handling life-limited parts. The proposal was issued in response to a congressional mandate, but the associations said it would "preclude some common (and safe) business transactions." The associations asked FAA instead to codify best industry practices. Such an approach "meets the intent of Congress without imposing an undue burden on industry," according to Helicopter Association International - one of the associations commenting on the proposal.
Model DHC-7 series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-272-AD) - proposes to require modification of the pressure hoses to the ground spoiler actuators. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign airworthiness authority. This action is necessary to prevent blockage of pressure hoses to the ground spoiler actuators, leading to uncommanded deployment of the ground spoilers, reducing airplane controllability. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition. FAA estimates that 30 airplanes on the U.S.
FAA ADMINISTRATOR JANE GARVEY signed off Wednesday on a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish a new Subpart K of Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations governing fractional aircraft ownership programs and modify operating rules for Part 135 air taxi companies (BA, Jan. 8/13). The long-awaited proposal was sent to the Department of Transportation, which has 60 days to review it.After DOT is finished, the NPRM will be sent to the Office of Management and Budget, which also will have up to 60 days.
GROWING DISSATISFACTION by passengers with airline service led Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to introduce the Air Travelers' Fair Treatment Act, which would require airlines to give passengers accurate and timely explanations for flight delays and cancellations. A second Reid initiative, the Airline Competition Preservation Bill, would give DOT the authority to intervene in a market and roll back fares if three or fewer airlines account for more than 70 percent of the scheduled air traffic.
EVERGREEN INTERNATIONAL AVIATION tapped Trevor Van Horn as president of Evergreen Air Center, an FAA-certified unlimited repair station in Marana, Ariz. Van Horn has 20 years of management experience, most recently as vice president and general manager at Agrimond L.L.C. He also has served at USA Parking Systems, APCOA, Inc., Western Pacific Airlines, San Bernardino International Airport Authority, Lockheed Air Terminal, PVH Enterprises and Stateswest Airlines.
DAVID L. TAYLOR was named senior vice president and chief operating officer of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. He was previously vice president of the company's commercial space operations business unit.
AERO TWIN, Anchorage, Alaska, won supplemental type certificate approval for installation of folding utility seats and a floor structure modification on the Cessna 206 Caravan. The modifications allow easy installation or removal of the seats and a net useful load increase of 22 pounds. Aero Twin said up to four seats could be installed in a variety of configurations for mission adaptability. Aero Twin, a designated alteration station, has developed and certified more than 25 modifications for utility airplanes.
150, 172, 175, 180, 182, 185, 206, 210, and 336 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-57-AD) - extended the comment period on a proposal to require, on aircraft equipped with 0513166 series plastic control wheels, repetitive inspections of the wheels for cracks, conducting a pull test on these wheels, and replacement of any control wheels that are cracked or that do not pass the pull test. Replacement of the control wheels would be with ones that are FAA-approved and are not 0513166 series plastic control wheels.
NASA is expected to release in the next few weeks an NRA (NASA Research Announcement) requesting proposals from companies and other organizations for participation in its Small Aircraft Transport System (SATS) program. The NRA will seek one-year demonstration projects that advance the goals of SATS, designed to increase availability of low-cost general aviation aircraft and access to small airports. The NRA is expected to draw more than just aviation companies, the states of Florida and Oklahoma, in particular, have expressed substantial interest in participating.
QUALIMETRICS, INC. won a contract from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to provide, install and train local technicians on Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) for two airports in Colombia - San Jose del Guaviare and Puerto Inirida. The AWOS systems provide information on surface weather conditions by measuring and reporting wind speed and wind direction, altimeter setting, barometric pressure, temperature and relative humidity. The systems are to be installed by March.
GLEN GOLDEN was appointed vice president of product services for Aerospace Products International. Golden has served with API since its inception in 1988 and has been operations manager, director of sales, director of inventory and logistics and senior director of product supply.
DUANE DAMIANI was appointed regional sales manager for Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania for Galaxy Aerospace. Damiani most recently was senior sales executive for Gulfstream's completion center in Savannah, Ga., and also spent eight years as the company's regional vice president for Asia and the Pacific. Damiani also has served as a chief of engineering for Hudson Bay Oil & Gas.
German regional carrier Eurowings placed an order for 15 50-seat CRJ200 regional jets plus 30 options. The order is linked to Lufthansa's 24.9 percent investment in the carrier. Eurowings intends to build up a stronger regional presence for Lufthansa in western Germany. Orders by other regional carriers associated with Lufthansa are likely to follow as the aviation concern is currently discussing a revamped regional strategy with its partners. Augsburg Airways expects to make a decision on a jet order within three to six months.
LARRY POWELL was promoted to material leader for the airframes and engines center of excellence for Garrett Aviation Services. Powell has more than 20 years of experience in materials management, previously as the corporate materials manager for Honeywell engines consignment material in the Garrett corporate offices in Tempe, Ariz.
