THE U.S. COURT OF APPEALS upheld FAA's Dec. 31, 1996 rulemaking establishing a broad range of restrictions on commercial air tour overflights of the Grand Canyon National Park. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit was an expensive loss for air tour operators who spent nearly $500,000 to battle the regulations (BA, Jan. 6/5). The case was argued in early November (BA, Nov. 10/199) and the long delay in issuing a decision gave air tour interests hope the court would rule in their favor.
PAIGE HALL was named regional maintenance marketing manager for FlightSafety International. Hall will be based at FSI's national sales headquarters at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport and cover a 10-state territory. She spent the past four years with Marketing Alternatives.
THE APPEALS COURT upheld the FAA rule, "not because we necessarily believe the rule is 'just right,' but because we defer to the agency's reasonable exercise of its judgment and technical expertise, and because many of the petitioners' attacks are not yet ripe in light of the phased nature of the FAA's proposed solution to the problem of aircraft noise." Those "unripe challenges," the court said, are those that "specifically arise out of the interrelationship between the final rule's flight free zones, and the still-uncertain flight corridors and routes.
AlliedSignal, which has been engaged in component testing of a new engine family for months, officially launched full-scale development of its AS900 program last week at the Farnborough Air Show. The Phoenix-based engine manufacturer did not identify a specific customer or program for the new 4,000- to 9,000-pound-thrust turbofan, but last week's confirmation that the AS900 is a "go" program could presage an application announcement next month at the NBAA convention in Las Vegas where airframers are expected to announced a number of new aircraft development programs.
AIR METHODS CORP., Denver, Colo., added an eighth twin-engine helicopter, a BK117-B2, to subsidiary Mercy Air Service's operations in southern California. The new aircraft will be based in the San Diego area in El Cajon, Calif. Air Methods said that with the new helicopter, Mercy Air is now "the only air medical service provider in southern California certified to respond to an emergency request under instrument meteorological conditions," as the BK117-B2 is equipped for single-pilot operations in instrument meteorological conditions.
ARAPAHOE, COLO. COUNTY PUBLIC AIRPORT AUTHORITY last week decided to request a hearing on FAA's decision under a Part 16 complaint to withhold Airport Improvement Program grants from Centennial Airport unless a ban on scheduled service is reversed (BA, Aug. 31/94). FAA gave the airport authority until Thursday to either request a hearing, appeal the decision or submit a plan that would permit scheduled service. The airport authority, however, is under significant pressure by some local residents to maintain its position.
Summary: 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.
On the heels of an FAA decision that a scheduled service ban at Denver's Centennial Airport is discriminatory, Colorado Senator Wayne Allard (R) Wednesday introduced legislation that would permit the airport to deny Part 380 public charter access. The legislation, S.2435, mirrors a provision included in FAA reauthorization legislation, which cleared the House last month (BA,Aug. 10/65). Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) was the chief sponsor of the House measure (BA, June 29/284).
PAUL EDWARDS was named vice president of strategic development for Smiths Industries Aerospace. Edwards, who will be based in the company's London office, joined Smiths Industries in 1994 from British Aerospace.
MAULE M-4, M-5, M-6, M-7, MX-7, and MXT-7 series airplanes and Models MT-7-235 and M-8-235 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-01-AD; Amdt. 39-10669; AD 98-15-18) - supersedes AD 95-26-18, which requires a one-time inspection of certain wing lift struts for internal corrosion and replacement of corroded struts. That AD stemmed from an accident in which the wing separated from one of the affected airplanes. This AD retains the requirements of AD 95-26-18, but requires the inspections to be repetitive and provides the option of using ultrasonic procedures in the inspections.
Roger McMullin, the veteran executive of Aviation Methods, was named chief executive officer of TAG Aviation Holding, S.A. TAG acquired Aviation Methods, which is headquartered in San Francisco, early this year and the aircraft management company realigned its top management this spring (BA, May 25/231).
TIMOTHY ARCHER was appointed director of sales-piston products for Superior Air Parts. Archer formerly served with Teledyne Continental Motors for more than 20 years, serving as senior director, sales and marketing with concentrated efforts in the international market.
BOMBARDIER named Michael Riegel vice president, sales and marketing and George Ferito director of flight operations in its Flexjet fractional ownership program. Riegel and Ferito will be based in Dallas. Riegel, who reports directly to Dennis Keith, president, Bombardier Aerospace, Flexjet, formerly was vice president of product planning and marketing services for Bombardier Aerospace, Business Aircraft.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL is offering a Maintenance Resource Management Course Oct. 22-23 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. The two-day course, which follows the National Business Aviation Association convention, will focus on how human factors affect aviation maintenance quality and safety. The course has received FAA endorsement for IA renewal. For more information, contact Dawn McMenamy at (800) 676-4969.
Philip C. Botana, a veteran of the fixed-base and business jet operations businesses, joined First Aviation Services and its Memphis, Tenn. Aircraft Parts International subsidiary last month. Botana was named vice president of First Aviation and executive vice president and chief operating officer of API. Jerry Schlesinger, senior vice president of First Aviation and president of Aircraft Parts International, was named chief executive of API.
SAAB Model 2000 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-144-AD) - proposes to require replacing the radio tuning units and associated components with new, improved parts. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
THE BOEING BUSINESS JET made its first flight from Renton, Wash. Friday, a two-hour, two-minute trip that commenced what Boeing said will be an eight week certification and flight testing program. Boeing said that since the BBJ is a derivative of the Boeing 737-700 and -800 models, "much of the flight testing and certification requirements will have been accomplished during the flight test programs of each of those models." The BBJ is scheduled to conduct more than 70 hours of flight tests prior to certification.
Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) completed validation of the MD Explorer helicopter in its 902 configuration and recommended that the JAA's 27 member nations issue amended type certificates for the rotorcraft.
Lynton Group, Inc., the Morristown, N.J.-based aircraft charter and management company, announced its acquisition of 100 percent of the equity in Air Hanson Ltd., from Hanson plc. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Air Hanson is based in a 60,000-square-foot facility at Blackbushe Airport in the U.K. where it provides maintenance, sales and management of corporate turbine helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Air Hanson also is a sales and maintenance facility for Raytheon Aircraft airplanes and Sikorsky helicopters.
PETER WOOLFREY was appointed vice president, civil business development for Smiths Industries Aerospace. Woolfrey has 18 years of aerospace experience, most recently as accounts manager at Dowty Aerospace.
MARY BYERLY was named assistant manager of FlightSafety International's learning center in Greater Philadelphia/Wilmington. She joined the company last year as product marketing manager for the Wilmington Center and flies the Lockheed C-130 transport as pilot-in-command for the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
DASSAULT FALCON JET promoted John Miller to director of interiors engineering at its completion center in Little Rock, Ark. Miller will oversee the design of Falcon interiors and water, air conditioning and oxygen systems. He has 26 years of aviation experience including 21 in the DFJ production, quality control and engineering departments at Little Rock. Most recently he was group leader for Falcon 900 interior design engineering.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Jetstream Models 3101 and 3201 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-28-AD) - proposes to revise an earlier proposed AD that called for removing the ground inhibit time delay and the ground test relay from the stall warning and protection system on J31s equipped with the ground inhibit function (Modification JM7813A - SB 27-JM7813A - or Modification JM7813B). The proposal also would have required rewiring part of the stall warning and protection system to assure that system reliance is maintained after relay removal.
UNITED NATIONAL BANK&TRUST CO. recently acquired Banc One's Aircraft Finance Group, expanding its commercial lending business into aircraft finance. The Aircraft Finance Group is headquartered at Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio and operates regional offices in Sacramento, Calif., Orlando, Fla. and Wichita, Kan.
