Models EMB-110P1 and EMB-110P2 airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-39- AD; Amdt. 39-10256; AD 97-26-13) - requires amending the limitations section of the airplane flight manual to prohibit the positioning of the power levers below the flight idle stop while the airplane is in flight. The airplane flight manual amendment will include a statement of the consequences if the limitation is not followed. This AD results from numerous incidents and five documented accidents involving turboprop airplanes in which the propeller beta was improperly used during flight.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL received Civil Aviation Authority Level 4 certification for its Saab 340 simulator based at Ansett Airlines Training Center near Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne, Australia. The simulator will train pilots flying for Australian and New Zealand regional airlines, including Kendell Airlines, Hazelton Airlines and Air Nelson.
FAA proposed a technical standard order to establish the basic requirements for the design and performance of aircraft portable megaphones. The proposed TSO-C137 primarily is geared for transport category air carrier operation, but is suitable for any aircraft application. Comments on the TSO should be sent before April 24 to Technical Programs and Continued Airworthiness Branch, AIR-120, Aircraft Engineering Division, Aircraft Certification Service - File No. TSO-137, FAA, 800 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20591.
Model F28 Mark 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-290-AD) - proposes to require replacement of certain hinges on the forward, center and aft cargo doors with improved hinges. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
EQ-THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMPANY, Wayne, Mich., was selected by the Salt Lake City Airport Authority to recycle spent deicing fluids at Salt Lake International Airport. EQ said the $500,000 facility will be the only on-site recycling operation in the U.S. that can manage both propylene glycol and ethylene glycol deicing products. The facility, designed to process 1.25 million gallons a year, is scheduled for operation in December.
CARL WOLF joined Avidyne Corp. as director of aftermarket sales and marketing. Wolf spent 20 years with AlliedSignal Commercial Avionics Systems, most recently as director of worldwide aftermarket sales and marketing.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION'S Air Safety Foundation is accepting applications for the 1998 McAllister and Burnside Memorial Scholarships. The $1,000 scholarships are awarded to a college junior or senior enrolled in an aviation-related program. The McAllister Memorial Scholarship, established in 1979, honors Eugene and Dorothy McAllister, California pilots who spent a good portion of their lives involved in pilot training. The Donald Burnside Memorial Scholarship, founded in 1991, honors the co- founder of the Burnside-Ott Flight School in Florida.
THE BFGOODRICH COMPANY promoted Sandra Selby to vice president - strategic planning. Selby has served with BFGoodrich since 1981, originally as a financial analyst. She has held positions of increasing responsibility, including director of planning and analysis, director of strategic planning and vice president of strategic planning for BFGoodrich Aerospace. Most recently Selby was staff vice president - strategic planning.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE last week broke ground for a 123,000-square-foot expansion to its facility in Tucson, Ariz. to support maintenance services for the Global Express and Challenger 604 aircraft and provide space for additional aircraft completions. Bombardier said the additional space will allow Bombardier to increase Challenger completions at Tucson, while its Montreal facility focuses on the Global Express. The new addition is expected to open this summer with employment at the Tucson facility growing from 970 to more than 1,100 over the next 18 to 24 months.
An extended curfew for Stage 2 aircraft departures at Van Nuys, Calif. Airport is scheduled to take effect Feb. 12 following last month's approval by the Los Angeles City Council. City Council adopted a one-hour expansion of the nighttime curfew - from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m. - for Stage 2 aircraft departures. The curfew does not apply to Stage 3 aircraft and provides exemptions for medical emergency, law enforcement, fire or rescue flights as well as military aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration, following a briefing to a DOT official this week, appears close to recommending that the government abandon its policy of establishing the Global Positioning System as a sole- means air navigation system.
BUSINESS AIRCRAFT OPERATORS planning overseas flights may want to check Air Security International's list of "ten of the most dangerous, intriguing and complex locations" in the world during 1997. See article below.
DORNIER Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-103-AD) - proposes to require replacement of electrical relays 15KF and 16KF, which control the auxiliary propeller control feathering system, with relays that have increased load capacity. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuous airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
Aerospatiale will spin off its ATR commuter airplane and Airbus business this year, as part of a British-French-German general restructuring of the European aerospace industry, Chairman Yves Michot said in a press conference last week. Michot, noting decisions made in the past year about restructuring of Europe's civil and military aerospace industry, said, "in 1998, Aerospatiale will be one of the three architects in bringing these decisions to fruition."
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL'S Simulation Systems Division received FAA level D certification for its new Embraer RJ145 flight simulator. The simulator initially will be used at FlightSafety Simulation's base in Tulsa, Okla., but eventually will be moved to "a site that will maximize convenience to operators," FlightSafety said. A second RJ145 simulator, which is being prepared for FAA certification, is slated for operation at FlightSafety's Houston training center.
AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION elected Michael Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Hughes Electronics Corporation, as chairman of the board of governors for 1998. James Wilson, chairman, chief executive and president of Thiokol Corp., was named vice chairman of the board. Don Fuqua was re-elected president of the association and George Copsey secretary-treasurer.
Air Security International, which provides daily updates on security threats around the world, says countries in Africa and Asia head its list of the ten most dangerous places in the world.
Air carriers must obtain driver records of prospective employees from individual states rather than directly through the National Driver Register, according to a final rule issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The rule, published in the Jan. 5 Federal Register, outlines the procedures for carriers to obtain National Driver Register records for potential new pilots as required by the Pilot Record Improvement Act of 1996.
WASEEM SHEIKH was promoted to vice president, aviation, aerospace and defense for A.T. Kearney, the management consulting subsidiary of EDS. Sheikh has more than 17 years of commercial aviation experience.
Precision Castparts Corp., Portland, Oregon, said it achieved "the highest sales, gross margin, earnings before interest and taxes, and income before taxes of any quarter in the company's history" for the second consecutive quarter.
The Federal Aviation Administration now estimates life cycle costs of the Wide Area Augmentation System through 2016 at more than $3 billion, nearly a 25 percent increase from estimates the agency presented in early October, according to a briefing this month for the WAAS Joint Resources Council. FAA told the House aviation subcommittee Oct. 1 that the life cycle cost of the program should be around $2.4 billion. WAAS started out as a $500 million program.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL is offering a new one-day water landing training course in cooperation with S.T.A.R.K. Survival Company. The course is designed to prepare helicopter flight crew members for ditching with instructions on water survival and underwater egress. FSI is offering the course each month at its West Palm Beach, Fla. training center, which also offers Sikorsky S-76 training.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION should review the design, manufacturing and inspection procedures of aircraft manufacturers and require necessary revisions to ensure that adequate clearance is specified around electrical wiring, NTSB said Friday. The safety board also said FAA should review the existing designs of all transport-category airplanes to determine if adequate clearance is provided around electrical wiring.
The devastating ice storms that swept through the Northeast U.S. and into Quebec Jan. 5 were continuing to cause difficulties for Canadian aerospace firms and their employees last week, but the effect on aircraft and engine production appears minimal.
