Citing a report of complete power loss of the left engine and power fluctuations of the right engine on a Saab 340, the Federal Aviation Administration this month issued an emergency directive outlining certain steps for operators to avoid power loss in icing conditions. The airworthiness directive, effective Jan.
WILLIAM MORGAN has joined Diagnostic/Retrieval Systems Military Systems division as vice president, sensor systems and displays. Morgan has 17 years industry experience, serving with Applied Display Technologies, Interstate Electronics Corp., Hughes Aircraft Company and Rockwell International.
TOM HALVORSON was named vice president-marketing for Raisbeck Engineering. Halvorson, former president of Western Aircraft, has more than 35 years of marketing, fixed-base operation, aircraft sales and regional airline experience.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION named Saundra Wirtz manager, seminar services, and Jeff Lund assistant marketing manager. Wirtz, who has 15 years corporate aviation experience including stints with Midcoast Aviation and Jet Corp., most recently coordinated the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association convention. In her new position, she will be responsible for seminar logistics and promotion as well as the information sessions at NBAA's annual meeting and convention.
FATE OF FOKKER AIRCRAFT could be decided soon. DASA's board of directors will meet today to discuss how much additional financial support the company is willing to commit to keeping the financially stressed manufacturer solvent. DASA and the Dutch government have been unable to agree on a financial aid package deemed sufficient to keep Fokker in business. Fokker had a record loss of approximately $400 million in the first half of 1995 and predicted large losses for the entire year. Officials estimate the company needs well over $1 billion to stay afloat.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION last week called many of FAA's proposed flight and duty time requirements "unworkable for the existing practices of on-demand air charter/air taxi operators" and estimated the rule could raise crew expenses by at least 50 percent. Claiming FAA lacks a safety justification to include on-demand operators, NATA charged that the rule emphasizes a single labor issue and places the federal government between employers and their employees. See related article below.
Raytheon Aircraft passed the $2 billion sales mark last year - including $1.1 billion in commercial aircraft sales - for the first time in its 63-year history, officials announced last week. The company, noting that sales were "up in every competitive category," delivered 409 aircraft in 1995, comprising 175 turboprops, 138 piston aircraft and a company record 96 jets. The company shipped 363 commercial aircraft, which compares with 317 commercial aircraft delivered in 1994.
MORRIS VENEZIA was promoted to senior vice president for Barfield, Inc. Venezia, who previously served with Hughes and Cessna, will oversee sales and marketing, customer service, engineering and manufacturing for Barfield.
Mercury Air Group reported substantial increases in net income for the three- and six-month periods ended Dec. 31. For the second quarter of the company's fiscal year, net income was up 16 percent to a record $1.38 million, or 24 cents per share, compared to $1.2 million, or 21 cents per share for the second quarter of fiscal 1995. Revenue rose 13 percent to a record $55.4 million. For the first half, net income was up 19 percent to a record $2.6 million, or 46 cents per share, compared to net income of $2.2 million, or 39 cents per share last year.
JETSTREAM Model 4101 airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-128-AD) - proposes to require an inspection to verify the proper position of "door open" placards on the inside of the main entrance door and, if necessary, replacement with appropriately positioned, new placards. This proposal is prompted by a report that the "door open" placards on the inside of the main entrance door, as currently installed, may not be visible to passengers or flightcrew when the door handle is in the open position.
FLIGHTCRAFT INC. began operating as a full-line distributor for The New Piper Aircraft Corp., effective Jan. 1. David Jinings, a five-year Flightcraft veteran, was named Piper sales manager and will oversee marketing of Piper-built aircraft in Oregon, Washington and Alaska.
Nearly one month after FAA proposed strengthening flight and duty time regulations (BA, Dec. 18/263), Transport Canada announced its own upgraded flight and duty time regulations governing commercial pilots and flight crews. The strengthened Canadian regulations, to be implemented this spring, exceed International Civil Aviation Organization recommendations and are "comparable" to FAA's proposed new standards, the agency said.
The crash of a Hawker business jet operated by the Nigerian government killed all aboard Wednesday, including Ibrahim Sani Abacha, the son of Gen. Sani Abacha, that nation's military head. Details about the crash were sketchy. Unconfirmed reports said the aircraft had departed Lagos and was approaching the city of Kano in north central Nigeria Wednesday evening when it crashed, killing all 14 persons aboard. Raytheon Aircraft said it had received information that the aircraft was a 1984 Model HS125-700B.
KENT KRESA, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman Corp., was elected chairman of the board of governors of the Aerospace Industries Association. McDonnell Douglas President and CEO Harry Stonecipher was named vice chairman, Don Fuqua was re-elected president and George Copsey secretary-treasurer of AIA.
JOHN HANKAMMER, former chief of maintenance for Mobil Corporation's aviation department, was appointed manager of customer service and maintenance operations for Atlantic Aviation. Hankammer has 18 years of experience in aviation maintenance management.
UNC Inc. will nearly double its share of the business aviation overhaul and support market with the planned acquisition of Garrett Aviation Services. The two companies announced a definitive agreement last week under which UNC will acquire Garrett Aviation's six bases for approximately $150 million, a deal that UNC chief Dan Colussy expects will bring immediate benefits to his company's bottom line.
HAMILTON STANDARD 14RF and 14SF series and Model 6/5500/F propellers (Docket No. 95-ANE-66) - proposes to require initial and repetitive inspections of critical components, and removal and replacement of any components that do not meet the return to service criteria. This proposal is prompted by failure modes effects analysis, certification test data, engineering analysis, and repair actions performed at overhaul depots.
WICAT SYSTEMS won a contract from the French government pilot training organization SEFA to provide its Wings Ab Initio Pilot Training course and computer-based training delivery system. The Wings course, a joint effort between Swissair, the British Aerospace Flying College and Wicat, has been used at both Swissair and the British Aerospace Flying College for the past year. The course includes Wicat's computer-based instructional management software.
Standard&Poor's rated a $25 million debenture offering by Mercury Air Group at B-minus, a rating that reflects "Mercury Air's participation in the highly competitive and cyclical aviation support industry, modest financial resources and the risks associated with high growth, overshadowing established positions in niche markets," the rating service said last week.
BOMBARDIER, which began assembly of the Global Express late last month, expects to have the first aircraft assembled slightly ahead of schedule in late February or early March. The Canadian manufacturer mated the nose with the forward fuselage on the No. 1 aircraft and is scheduled to receive the wings from Mitsubishi's plant in Nagoya, Japan, this week. A company official said there have been "zero surprises" with the assembly of the very-long-range business jet so far.
TRACOR, INC. and AEL Industries, Inc. amended an Oct. 2 agreement that provides for the purchase of all of AEL's 4.1 million shares at $24.25 per share, a reduction of $3.75 cents per share from the price specified in the earlier agreement. Tracor said it renegotiated the price following a review of AEL's recent and anticipated performance after being advised of AEL's losses as noted in the company's third-quarter financial report. AEL shareholders had been scheduled to vote on the proposed purchase Jan.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS named two senior executives to its Washington, D.C. operation. Robert Andrews, 58, was named vice president-program coordination. George C. Roman, 39, was promoted to vice president- operations and management. Before joining McDonnell Douglas, Andrews spent 13 years with Rockwell International, most recently as director of strategic analysis for the company's Washington, D.C. office. Andrews is a former Army lieutenant colonel who also served with the Central Intelligence Agency and on the staff of Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio).
THE NEW PIPER AIRCRAFT, Inc. created a financing arm - Piper Financial Services, Inc. - to offer both financing and leasing packages to U.S. customers. "Piper is responsive to the increasing demand for new aircraft as the general aviation fleet average age approaches 26 years old," said Larry Bardon, director of marketing and sales for Piper. "By offering this attractive financing program, we now make a new Piper aircraft a viable alternative to older used aircraft."
EXECUTIVE JET AVIATION, which claimed 300 NetJets customers at the end of September, said its fractional share aircraft ownership program grew 50 percent in 1995, with the customer base now approaching 360.EJA placed a firm order for 25 Cessna Citation V Ultra business jets in mid-1994 and began receiving those airplanes in mid-1995 at a rate of two per month. That order included an option for another 25 aircraft, and EJA officials say they are working with Cessna to convert those options to firm orders. A formal announcement could come soon.
