MEDAIRE, INC., Phoenix, Ariz., expanded its base of operations into Europe, signing an agreement with Norwegian Air Ambulance, Inc. (NLA). NLA will operate a MedAire sales and marketing office from its base in Oslo, Norway, and MedAire will open an emergency telemedicine center there by the end of the year.
EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY announced an agreement with NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to assess public interest in obtaining digital photographic prints from NASA missions. The trial agreement makes Kodak the supplier of digital photographic prints of Earth available for online purchase. Kodak will establish an online Service Fulfillment site as well as a customer service number to handle orders.
Aviation Methods, Inc. (AMI) the San Francisco-based aircraft management company, announced new titles and duties for a number of its top executives. Duncan C. Higgins, a 20-year veteran of the company who has been president and chief operating officer for the past decade, was named vice chairman, reporting directly to Roger N. McMullin, AMI's chairman and chief executive. AMI was recently acquired by the TAG Group of Geneva, Switzerland (BA, Jan.
FLIGHTSAFETY BOEING's training center in Miami was awarded an FAA Training Center Certificate under FAR Part 142. The new regulation permits increased use of flight simulators and training devices during pilot certification.
Crossair and Lufthansa CityLine, Lufthansa's regional subsidiary, are expected to be launch customers and are considering a total initial order of 120 aircraft and options, with first deliveries scheduled in mid-2001. Their tentative decision enabled Fairchild Dornier to launch its new family formally last week's at the International Aerospace Exhibition '98 (ILA '98) in Berlin, even though firm orders have not been signed.
FIRST Galaxy business jet was flown to Mach .90 during recent flight tests, one of the milestones necessary to achieve certification of the aircraft for its Mach .85 maximum cruise speed.
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOT ASSOCIATIONS will hold its 19th World Assembly in Palm Springs, Calif., Oct. 18-22. The meeting will include discussions on regulatory issues and certification actions, as well as user fee policies. Following the meeting, the delegates will attend the AOPA Expo '98, the AOPA's annual convention and trade show, which begins Oct. 23.
JUST 10 DAYS after FAA took final action approving use of single-engine aircraft in Part 135 passenger-carrying operations under instrument flight rules (BA, May 11/207), a Canadian-registered Pilatus PC-12 with 10 people on board had an engine failure and crashed in Newfoundland. See article below.
AVIATION MANUFACTURERS and other interested parties continue to talk with FAA officials about finding a way to permit marketers, trade associations and publishers to have some form of access to the list of U.S. airmen certificate holders, but no agreement has been reached. FAA Chief Counsel Nicholas Garaufis said release of the names and addresses of airmen certificate holders violates the federal Privacy Act and ruled that as of May 30, FAA will release only names and ratings, not addresses (BA, May 11/207).
AUSTRALIA said it will abolish the Airservices Australia component of the aviation gasoline tax. "The general aviation sector now pays about $17 million per year through the avgas levy to pay for services they do not neces-sarily use. By removing this tax, the government is ensuring that there is a transparency in the charges collected by Airservices Australia," said Mark Vaile, minister for transport and regional development.
LISA SASSE was promoted to national accounts executive for The Air Routing Group. She has been with the Houston-based organization for the past two years, and was instrumental in securing agreements with Bombardier Aircraft to provide supplemental crew training to Canadair Challenger and Bombardier Global Express operators. She also serves on the Flight Safety Foundation's Corporate Advisory Committee.
MEIGS FIELD will host an open house and fly-in on June 13 to highlight the Chicago lakefront airport as a Living Aviation Museum. The Friends of Meigs Field is sponsoring the event to promote the airport as a vital part of the new Museum Campus, a connection of the city's museums, which opens that day.
France took a major step toward consolidation of the French aerospace industry Thursday, announcing a decision to transfer its 46 percent stake of privately controlled Dassault Aviation to state-owned Aerospatiale. The "moving closer" of the two companies is intended to "further the implementation of a concerted strategy for the French aerospace industry in prospect of alliances with the main European manufacturers which seem necessary in the short term," the French Ministry of Defense said.
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.
JACQUES ROUSSARIE was appointed vice president for total quality by Dassault Falcon Jet Corp., Teterboro, N.J. Roussarie will report to President John Rosanvallon and be based at the company's Little Rock, Ark. completion center. He will be responsible for implementing a permanent program of total quality improvements designed to bring Dassault Falcon Jet into compliance with ISO 9001 standards dictated by the International Organization for Standardization.
Orenda Recip Inc. won FAA type certification this month for its 600- horsepower OE-600 reciprocating aero engine and began deliveries of the initial units to Stevens Aviation, which plans to replace the original turboprop engines on King Air C90Bs with the new Canadian powerplants. The OE-600 is a liquid-cooled, aluminum block, V-8 that develops 600 horsepower at takeoff and is "the first new high-output piston engine to be certificated in over 40 years," according to Orenda.
MESA AIR GROUP retained International Airline Support Group (IASG) to advise it on the future need for 41 of Mesa's turboprop aircraft. United Airlines' decision to end its West Coast code-sharing agreement with Mesa unit WestAir dramatically changed Mesa's fleet requirements. IASG will advise Mesa on how best to deal with WestAir's leased fleet of 20 EMB-120 Brasilias and 21 Jetstream 31s. The United Express agreement expires May 31. IASG, headed by Alexius Dyer, is a spare parts supplier and lessor of aircraft and engines.
The latest of the new regional jets rolled out of a factory in Brazil Tuesday as Embraer reported a $19.9 million first-quarter profit for the period ended March 31. It was the third consecutive quarterly profit for the company, which consistently lost money before and after its privatization in 1995. The profit came on revenues for the period of $229.6 million. In the September 1997 quarter, the company made $9.4 million on $199.7 million in revenues and in the December quarter it was $12.8 million on $292.2 million in revenues (BA, April 20/176).
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL is relocating a Model 55 Learjet simulator to its West Palm Beach, Fla. training center, where the company currently provides simulator training for Model 35/36 pilots. The company also said it had received FAA Level D certification for its new Challenger 604 flight simulator at the company training facility in Tucson, Ariz. In addition, the Tucson center houses Challenger 601-3A/3R and Model 31A and Model 60 Learjet simulators, also certificated to Level D standards.
Signature Flight Support started construction of a new terminal hangar and tank farm at Orlando International Airport. The new facility, scheduled to open this fall, will be modeled after Signature facilities in Las Vegas, Nev. and Hartford, Conn. It will include a 10,000-square-foot terminal with a flight planning area, pilot lounge/snooze room and conference facilities; a 23,300-square-foot hangar; and a 90,000-gallon above-ground fuel storage tank system.
Top FAA officials unveiled an ambitious plan last week to radically change the way the agency inspects and oversees the operations of the nation's largest airlines, an effort designed to replace random checks of the carriers with a more systematic and comprehensive approach.
Dallas Airmotive, Inc., acquired Precision Avionics and Instruments (PAI) of Atlanta, Ga. PAI employs 35 technicians who support a wide range of instruments and accessories for both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Ernie Kennemore, president of PAI, will report to George Derby, Dallas Airmotive president.
FRANK COLSON, associate director of civil aviation, U.S. Air Force, and executive director, Defense Department Policy Board on Federal Aviation, will retire, DOD announced. Neil Planzer, director of the Air Traffic Systems Requirements Service at FAA, will succeed him.
Group Aerospatiale Model TBM 700 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-42-AD) - adopts a new AD requiring modifying the airplane's left-hand (LH) front side lower panel. The AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the French airworthiness authority. The actions required are intended to prevent interference between the side trim of the LH front side lower panel and the roll control compass on the LH wheel assembly, which could result in loss of directional control of the airplane.
ED AHRENS, a Garrett Aviation Services veteran, was named senior vice president-aircraft services division with Atlantic Aviation in Wilmington, Del. Ahrens, a 20-year Garrett veteran, had most recently been vice president and general manager of that company's Springfield, Ill. facility. Prior to that, he was vice president and general manager of Garrett's Houston, Tex. operation.
