Kuwait Airways purchased three Gulfstream V aircraft "to provide special capabilities to senior Government of Kuwait officials including worldwide airlift and unprecedented ultra-long-range medical evacuation capabilities," Gulfstream Aerospace said last week. The Savannah, Ga. manufacturer said the order is valued at approximately $115 million, with aircraft deliveries scheduled by the end of 1999. Kuwait Airways has been a Gulfstream customer for nearly 20 years, having purchased Gulfstream II, III and IV model aircraft over the years.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION has nearly finished its review of safety initiatives and expects to release a "focused, doable" agenda in early April, Administrator Jane Garvey said. She said the agenda will have three main areas of concentration - commercial, general aviation and cabin safety. FAA consulted with the "stakeholders" in its review, she said, specifically noting that the agency has worked with general aviation groups over the last several months to set that portion of the agenda.
DESPITE A RULING by a federal judge overturning FAA's contract tower program, an agency official said last week he expects FAA will continue to contract out the operation of low-activity air traffic control towers (BA, March 9/109)."I frankly am confident we will continue to rely on contract towers," John Rodgers, director of aviation policy and plans, told the annual FAA Commercial Aviation Forecast Conference Thursday in Washington.
FOKKER Model F27 Mark 050 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-261-AD; Amdt. 39-10300; AD 98-03-08) - requires modification of the window frames surrounding the windshield windows and installation of reinforcement plates on all window frames of the flight compartment. For certain airplanes, this action requires modification of the window frames surrounding the sliding windows and direct vision windows of the flight compartment. This amendment is prompted by the issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
LUFTHANSA'S SUPERVISORY BOARD Wednesday approved orders placed by its subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine for three additional Canadair Regional Jets. Deliveries are scheduled for the first quarter of 1999 and will boost CityLine's RJ fleet to 34 aircraft from 31. Since beginning service with the RJ in 1992, the German carrier has carried 4.7 million passengers and logged more than 22,000 flying hours with the aircraft. In addition to its 31 RJs, CityLine operates 18 Avro RJ85 airliners.
HONG KONG AIRPORT AUTHORITY (AA) last week stated that it "rejected media claims that minor cracks in the asphalt surface of the Southern Runway were a serious engineering problem that could delay the opening of the new Hong Kong International Airport." Douglas Oakervee, the Airport Authority's project director, said "What we are talking about are hairline cracks that were identified some months ago by the AA during regular quality control checks of the entire runway and taxiways." He said the cracks were found in a small section of the runway extension safety area (RESA
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT received an order from an executive charter service in the People's Republic of China for a Hawker 800XP. Jet Asia, based in Macau, is slated to take delivery of the aircraft this fall.
GARVEY CONTINUES to draw praise for her management style. Wolf commended Garvey for how she responds to criticism of the agency. Garvey noted she was pleased with the GAO, which in the middle of two investigations, notified FAA of its findings and allowed the agency to take corrective actions. Wolf said he appreciated that attitude since a number of past administrators took defensive positions against critical reports rather than expressing an openness to change.
WHEN QUESTIONED about her feelings on an oversight committee comprising the General Accounting Office, the DOT Inspector General, National Transportation Safety Board and NASA, among others, to advise FAA (BA, March 9/105), Garvey said she would "embrace" such a committee.
Hamilton Standard, Windsor Locks, Conn., acquired full ownership of France's Ratier-Figeac from the French industrial company Bertrand Faure. In announcing completion of the acquisition last week, Hamilton Standard said it had held a minority interest in the French company for more than a decade. Ratier-Figeac makes aviation equipment and components for commercial, military and regional markets, including propellers, mechanical flight controls, cockpit controls, hydraulic actuators and ballscrews and helicopter components.
ELLIOTT AVIATION has applied for multiple supplemental type certificates to install AlliedSignal's enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS) in a Raytheon Beechjet 400 and King Air. The Beechjet EGPWS installation, slated to begin this spring, also will involve a host of new avionics including dual Universal UNS-1C flight management systems and Collins MFD-85C multi-function display systems. The King Air STC is expected to cover Model 200 and 300 series with a King Air B200 as the certification aircraft. Work on the King Air is expected to begin in June.
The Clinton Administration "knows the concerns of general aviation" and hopes to structure an aviation user fee plan that does not include that segment of the aviation industry, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey told the House transportation appropriations subcommittee Wednesday. Garvey, testifying on the fiscal 1999 budget, admitted that while the Administration calls for FAA to be user-fee funded through the Transportation Fund For America (BA, Feb. 9/57), it still is working out the details on how the concept would be implemented.
ALLIEDSIGNAL KT 76A air traffic control transponders (Docket No. 97-CE-30-AD) - proposes to require incorporating a modification on affected transponders that consists of replacing two resistor network modules with glass-coated modules. The proposed AD is the result of reports of the transponders transmitting misleading encoding altimeter information to ground-based ATC radar sites and nearby traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS)-equipped aircraft.
MERCURY AIR GROUP named Michael J. Hancock to the newly created post of staff vice president corporate development. Based at Mercury's Miami, Fla. office, Hancock will oversee business development activities for the aviation services company and will report to Seymour Kahn, Mercury's chairman of the board. Prior to joining Mercury in 1995 as regional manager of East Coast operations, Hancock had been vice president of international services at AMR Corp.
RICK BEDARD joined FlightSafety International as assistant manager of the West Palm Beach, Fla. learning center. Bedard, a pilot with more than 2,500 hours, will be responsible for marketing of the center's Sikorsky S- 76 training programs.
DORNIER Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-154-AD; Amdt. 39-10304; AD 98-03-12) - requires a one-time inspection of the date stamp affixed to the wing deicing boots to determine the cure date and replacement of the deicing boot with a new boot, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
BFGOODRICH AVIONICS SYSTEMS won FAA STC approval to mount the directional antenna for its Skywatch traffic advisory system on the bottom side of aircraft, thereby permitting installation on helicopters. Skywatch is an active surveillance traffic advisory system that provides air-to-air and ground-to-air Mode C type interrogations.
BBA Group, the British conglomerate whose holdings include Signature Flight Support and Dallas Airmotive, acquired H+S Aviation, an engine overhaul and repair firm based in Portsmouth, England. BBA Group bought H+S in a cash transaction from Vector Industries for 21.2 million pounds, plus assumption of 7.3 million pounds in debt. H+S reported an operating profit of 3.9 million pounds on sales of 32 million pounds in 1997, and BBA said net assets at completion will be 10.1 million pounds.
THIRD ANNUAL Flight School Operators Conference is scheduled for April 15- 16 in Allentown, Pa. The two-day event will feature presentations by FAA representatives, an update by GA Team 2000 senior officials, marketing and regulatory discussions, and an exhibit of various flight training aircraft including those manufactured by Cessna, Diamond Aircraft, The New Piper Aircraft, Socata and Zenair Canada. For more information, contact: Aviation Council of Pennsylvania, 3111 Arcadia Avenue, Allentown, Pa. 18103; telephone, (610) 797-1133; fax, (610) 797-8283.
ADD SEN. WENDELL FORD (D-Ky.) to the growing list of officials who do not believe Congress will take action this year on proposals by the National Civil Aviation Review Commission and the Clinton Administration to replace aviation excise taxes with new performance-based user fees.
MARSHA BELL was promoted to product marketing director for FlightSafety International. Bell, based at FSI's Raytheon learning center in Wichita, Kan., has served as the center's product marketing manager for eight years.
CITYJET, the Irish carrier that operates scheduled service between Dublin, Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and London City Airport, ordered two Saab 2000 airliners. The first of the 50-seat turboprop aircraft is scheduled for delivery this month, with the second scheduled for April. CityJet also operates four British Aerospace 146s.
AEROSPATIALE Model ATR-72 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-263-AD) - proposes to require a one-time high-frequency eddy current inspection for cracking of the lower fuselage structure and repair, if necessary. This proposal also would require modification of certain fastener holes in the lower fuselage structure. This proposal is prompted by the issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
