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.
BARRY VALENTINE, who retired from the Federal Aviation Administration last month after serving as acting administrator and acting deputy (BA, Dec. 22/270), has joined the Experimental Aircraft Association board of directors. Valentine, a long-time EAA member, has more than 3,000 hours in more than two dozen aircraft, ranging from single-engine piston aircraft to multi-engine jets.
INTERNATIONAL WATER-GUARD INDUSTRIES, INC., Vancouver, B.C., received an order from PATS Inc. of Columbia, Md. for eight NPS-42 on-board sterilizers that will be installed on four Boeing 757s configured as executive transport aircraft. The 9.5 -pound systems are designed to protect passengers and crew from waterborne bacterial and viral disease. International Water-Guard said more than 200 of its NPS-A2 sterilizers are flying in business aircraft and privately registered airliner-type aircraft around the world.
EDMUND PINTO, Aviation Week Newsletters publisher, will leave The McGraw-Hill Companies to become a managing director of GKMG Consulting Services Inc., Washington, D.C., effective Feb. 4. Pinto wrote for the Hartford (Conn.) Times and the Associated Press early in his career and later was a senior Senate aide, an assistant administrator of FAA and a senior vice president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
The Department of Transportation, citing poor results of oversight inspections for handlers of hazardous materials, has increased surveillance of commercial air courier shipments and asked the Federal Aviation Administration and DOT Inspector General to make further recommendations on enhancing air security programs.
MERCURY AIR CARGO held a "topping off" ceremony this month for the 180,000- square-foot air cargo facility it is building at Los Angeles International Airport. The new facility, which Mercury plans to occupy in March, will boost the company's net space on the airport from 95,000 square feet to 245,000 square feet, about 70 percent of which already is allocated to customers, officials said.
DERLAN, INC. is offering a fully-powered "VIP-class" seat for the executive aircraft market. The seat features a powered swivel with up to 360 degrees of motion, can recline up to 70 degrees from vertical and can be equipped with a power legrest, lumbar adjustment and headrest. Derlan said the seat meets FAR 25.853c standards and can be supplied without exterior covering or fully upholstered. For more information, contact Derlan at Santa Ana, Calif. at (714) 250-3123.
DASSAULT sold 98 new Falcon business jets worth a record $2 billion last year, the French manufacturer announced last week, calling the sales performance "utterly unprecedented at the top end of the business jet market." The company said its sales were balanced among its four models with several fleet sales, including one for five Falcon 50EXs to a U.S. corporation and a deal for 24 Falcon 2000s to Executive Jet (BA, Dec. 22/265). Dassault, which delivered more than 50 aircraft last year, will maintain at least that pace in 1998, it said.
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE still has not scheduled hearings on confirmation of George Donohue as deputy FAA administrator. The White House announced its intention to nominate Donohue, FAA's associate administrator for research and acquisitions, in June when it tapped Jane Garvey for the top post at FAA (BA, June 16/263). Garvey, however, has been in office since early August. The deputy's position was vacated last month when acting deputy Barry Valentine resigned from the agency (BA, Dec. 22/270).
RAYTHEON B200, B200C and B200T airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-72-AD) - proposes to require replacing the wiring for the engine fire detector system with fire resistant wiring. The proposed AD is the result of the discovery during aircraft production of the potential for the existing engine fire detector system wiring to fail because of high heat and/or fire.
LOUISE SHOFFNER was named service center manager for Integrated Lodging Service Inc., which provides transaction management services to the airline and hospitality industries, including airline crew lodging coordination. Shoffner will be responsible for day-to-day operations and strategic planning for the center. Formerly director of operations for General Electric Travel Management Services, she has more than 20 years of aviation industry experience and six years of travel management experience.
AGUSTA Model 109K2 helicopters (Docket No. 97-SW-54-AD; Amdt. 39- 10252; AD 97-26-09) - requires inspection of the Gleason crown on the main transmission for cracks and replacement of the crown if cracks are found. This amendment is prompted by reports of fatigue cracks found on the Gleason crown. The actions specified by the AD are intended to prevent failure of the Gleason crown and failure of the main transmission and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.
