SINO-SWEARINGEN AIRCRAFT COMPANY officials also were celebrating achievement of a long-awaited milestone last week, the first flight a conforming prototype of the SJ30-2 business jet. See article below.
Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
The United States Air Tour Association, which had charged that FAA plans to implement new air tour routes over the Grand Canyon were dangerous, said it was pleased that the agency has delayed that program for another four months.
Docket No.: FAA-2000-8062 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 25.961(a)(5) Description of Relief Sought: To permit a maximum temperature limitation of 80 deg.F for JP-4 and Jet B fuels for use on the Boeing Model 747-400/-400F equipped with Rolls-Royce RB211-524G-T/H-T engines.
The pilot of a Mitsubishi MH-2000A pre-production prototype was killed and five other Mitsubishi officials on board were seriously injured Nov. 27 when the helicopter crashed after apparently losing part of its tail rotor mechanism. The accident happened during a test flight on a farm in Suzuka City, near Nagoya.
Bombardier Aerospace won an order from Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings for 27 50-passenger CRJ200 regional jets in a deal valued at about $594 million (U.S.). The contract converts conditional orders placed last summer into firm orders. ACA in August ordered three of the CRJ200 aircraft in addition to the conditional orders. Delivery of the aircraft is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2002 and continue through the end of 2003. The latest order continues ACA's dramatic regional jet fleet expansion.
THE AVIATION RULEMAKING ADVISORY COMMITTEE will meet this week to consider harmonization and fatigue issues surrounding transport airplanes and engines. The committee specifically is nearing completion of recommendations for a notice of proposed rulemaking governing widespread fatigue damage as well as electrical and electronic engine control systems. Other topics under consideration include extended-range twin-engine operations, which will affect the Part 135 community. The meetings are scheduled Dec.
BFGoodrich completed its 13-year transition to an aerospace-focused company last week by agreeing to sell its Performance Materials chemical business and announced it will buy the OEA unit of Autoliv Inc. Autoliv's OEA aerospace unit supplies cartridge- and propellant-activated pyrotechnic devices for aircraft, missile and space systems. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. OEA's annual revenue is about $35 million, BFGoodrich said. The Performance Materials chemicals business will be sold to an investor group led by AEA Investors, Inc., for $1.4 billion.
WASHINGTON STATE election officials were expected to complete their vote recount over the weekend to determine the winner in the election for U.S. Senate. Former Rep. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) had a lead of slightly under 2,000 votes over Senate aviation subcommittee Chairman Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), heading into the recount. Washington law mandates a machine recount whenever a state rate is decided by less than one half of one percent. Some two million votes were cast.
Models PA-60-600 (Aerostar 600), PA-60-601 (Aerostar 601), PA-60-601P (Aerostar 601P), PA-60-602P (Aerostar 602P), and PA-60-700P (Aerostar 700P) airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-31-AD) - proposes to require replacement of both of the existing main landing gear lower side brace assemblies with parts of improved design. The proposed AD is the result of several reports of cracking of the main landing gear lower side brace at the upper bolt lug discovered on preflight inspection.
President Clinton named five people with extensive aviation backgrounds to serve as members of the First Flight Centennial Federal Advisory Board. The board, established by Congress two years ago, is to advise the Centennial Flight Commission on matters related to the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight and the achievements of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Those named to the board are:
Docket No.: 29228 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR Secs. 121.433(c)(1)(iii), 121.441(a)(1) and (b), and Appendix F to Part 121 Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit PSA to combine recurrent flight and ground training and proficiency checks for PSA's flight crewmembers into a single annual training and proficiency evaluation program, which is a single-visit training program. Grant, Oct. 2, 2000, Exemption 6821A
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT sold a Beech King Air 350 to China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Corporation for airport systems calibration in China. The aircraft, slated for delivery in spring 2001, will be operated by the Flight Inspection Center of Air Traffic Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Aerodata Group will install the airport calibration equipment and Aerodata Flugmesstechnik GmbH of Braunschweig, Germany will be responsible for aircraft integration and certification. Sierra Data Systems, LC is delivering the flight inspection systems.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Tuesday refused to halt flights between Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass. and LaGuardia Airport in New York. A group of Hanscom Field-area activists named Save Our Heritage filed the motion to block the five roundtrip flights that Shuttle America began operating Nov. 1 to LaGuardia while it appeals the merits of those flights.
Docket No.: FAA-2000-8070 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 25.853 Description of Relief Sought: To permit the exemption of software media holders from the flammability test data requirements on Boeing Model 737, 747, 757, 767, and 777 airplanes.
State aviation officials joined a number of other industry groups who fear that FAA's proposal to raise safety standards at smaller airports will impose unreasonable financial burdens on them. FAA in June proposed that all airports receiving scheduled service by aircraft with 10 or more seats meet Part 139 standards (BA, June 26/297). That proposal drew warnings from both the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the National Air Transportation Association that the proposal is too costly for smaller airports (BA, Nov. 20/237).
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall, using last week's hearing into the Sunjet/Payne Stewart accident as a platform, several times during the four-hour public session called for increased federal oversight of business jets and their operators.
BRIAN WILSON was promoted to avionics manager at Jet Aviation West Palm Beach. Wilson joined Jet Aviation in May 1999 as an avionics supervisor for technical repairs and troubleshooting. He also has served with Raytheon Aircraft Services, Bombardier Aerospace and Midcoast Aviation.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION will hold a meeting Dec. 11 to discuss "public concerns" about reporting requirements of its new final rule on Service Difficulty Reports. The meeting will be in the Third Floor Auditorium at FAA headquarters beginning at 9 a.m. Arrangements for oral statements must be made by Dec. 6.
NEWWORLDAIR HOLDINGS INC., the parent company of Chicago-based business jet carrier Indigo, added three members to its executive board - Rion Needs, a business unit leader at American Express, which owns 11 percent of Indigo; Robert Rogulic founder and chairman of Midwest Freightways; and John Muehlstein, managing partner of the Chicago law firm of Pedersen&Houpt, which specializes in private equity and venture capital.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT has increased security at its fixed-base operation at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y. in the wake of an incident that damaged an Executive Jet Gulfstream IV-SP business jet, N495QS, on Nov. 17. Sources said that when the EJA crew turned on electrical power to the aircraft, fuel began leaking from the engines. The fuel spill was contained relatively quickly, according to an EJA spokeswoman, but the nose gear collapsed while the fuel problem was being addressed.
Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Company made a successful first flight of its first conforming prototype SJ30-2 business jet Thursday morning in San Antonio, Texas, a 45-minute excursion from San Antonio International Airport where the company is based. The flight, commanded by veteran test pilot Carroll Beeler with the assistance of flight engineer Mitch Soth, marks the beginning of the SJ30-2's FAA certification flight test program. Sino-Swearingen expects the flight test effort to last for about one year and include 1,400 flight hours on three airframes.
KELLIE RITTENHOUSE joined the charter sales staff of Automotive Air Charter. Rittenhouse has more than 15 years of aviation experience, most recently as lead crew scheduler for DaimlerChrysler Aviation. She also has served as office manager-flight operations for Volkswagen Aviation, charter sales manager for Apex Flight Services and chief flight coordinator and customer service representative for Clark Aviation.
