A Beech Baron carrying three Jeppesen Sanderson executives and two others crashed into Lake Erie after taking off early last week from Cleveland, Ohio Burke Lakefront Airport. The aircraft departed shortly after 5:40 p.m. Nov. 19, but reportedly veered to the north, turned sideways and plunged into Lake Erie. The pilot and owner of the aircraft, Milford Derrick, 47, who was founder and director of Jeppesen's Aviation Training Technologies unit in Charlotte, N.C., was missing after the crash as were Susan Steirman and her son Lane.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association board of directors this month named Jeppesen Sanderson chief Horst Bergmann as chairman for 1996 and Gulfstream executive Fred Breidenbach vice chairman. Bergmann, who has spent his entire aviation career with Jeppesen, was named to the position of chairman, president and chief executive in 1988. Breidenbach, who is president and chief operating officer of Gulfstream, joined the company in 1993 after serving as vice president and general manager of the Government Electronic Systems Division of GE.
BEECH Models 65 and L-23F airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-76-AD; Amdt. 39- 9414; AD 95-20-01 R1) - publishes an AD previously sent to all known U.S. owners and operators of certain Beech Models 65 and L-23F (military conversion) airplanes. This AD requires installation of a placard that prohibits operation of the airplane with the cabin door removed and incorporation of a copy of the AD into the limitations section of the airplane flight manual. This AD was prompted by a recent accident of one of the affected airplanes that was operating with the cabin door removed.
JEROME BEAUCHANE was named general manager of Titan Corporation's Command and Information Systems Division. Beauchane previously spent 25 years with the Naval Laboratory System in fleet operational support.
EAGLE COUNTY, COLO. REGIONAL AIRPORT is seeking approval of a $3 passenger facility charge from March 1, 1996 to Jan. 30, 1998. The PFC is expected to generate $381,276 to help fund terminal planning/design, land acquisition for a runway protection zone and installation of an approach light system to Runway 25. The PFC would apply to all classes of carriers. For more information, contact Chris Schaffer in the Denver Airports District Office at (303) 286-5525.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION will hold its Seventh Annual Schedulers&Dispatchers Conference Jan. 24-26 in Nashville, Tenn. The conference will serve as a forum to discuss the most pressing issues affecting schedulers and dispatchers in corporate flight departments. For more information, contact NBAA at (202) 783-9000.
The Federal Aviation Administration adopted a new airworthiness directive that extends the inspection interval for Hamilton Standard 14RF, 247F, 14SF and 6/5500/F series propellers. A previous AD had required initial and repetitive inspections of the propeller control unit (PCU) servo ballscrew internal spline (BIS) teeth for wear and replacement, if necessary, every 1,500 hours. The new AD stretches the inspection interval to 2,500 hours time in service for propellers that have a ballscrew quill damper installed.
Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.), a strong supporter of the aviation industry who has served in the Senate since the end of 1978, said last week she will not seek re-election to a fourth term in next year's election. Kassebaum, 63, said her decision was purely personal and reached because she had concluded that it was time to pursue other challenges, including spending more time with her five grandchildren. Kassebaum, a moderate Republican held in generally high regard by members of both parties, served for many years on the Senate aviation subcommittee.
FAA's $475 million wide area argumentation system (WAAS) is in trouble again because the Pentagon has renewed its reservations over accuracy enhancements and whether such enhancements, if permitted, should be encrypted. WAAS is to be a network of 24 to 36 stations that will provide the integrity to permit use of signals from the Global Positioning System for primary navigation. The Pentagon long has been uneasy about providing civil users of GPS with accuracy enhancements due to security concerns.
Wally Congdon, a 43-year veteran of the aviation service industry, has resigned as president of the Aero Services fixed-base chain and purchased that company's facility at Houston's Hobby Airport. The base, which was renamed TigerAir, includes three large hangars on the airport's northwest corner. Congdon said the facility has enjoyed a long-standing reputation for providing quality maintenance service and began selling fuel in June. All 25 employees will be retained, including General Manager David Carter, he said.
FAIRCHILD SA229 and SA227 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-13-AD) - proposes to revise AD 95-17-09, which requires relocation of the left-hand and right-hand essential bus current limiters to the battery bus (main bus tie). FAA determined that the applicability of the AD should be changed to reflect a different serial number range and model designation for certain SA227 series airplanes. The proposed action would revise the applicability of the AD.
JETSTREAM ATP airplanes (Docket No. 94-NM-238-AD) - proposes to require inspections for fatigue cracking and corrosion in the gussets of the rear passenger door and rear baggage door apertures, and replacement of the gussets, if necessary. This proposal is prompted by fatigue tests indicating that cracking and corrosion can occur in these gussets. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent degradation of the structural integrity of the fuselage pressure vessel due to the problems associated with cracking and corrosion in the gussets.
WILLIAM ROMANS was appointed president of Sierra Technologies' Sierra Research Division. Romans joined Sierra Research in 1980 and most recently was vice president, functional operation.
Fokker's new Model 60, a stretched version of the Fokker 50 twin turboprop, made a first flight that lasted nearly four hours early this month. The new aircraft has a fuselage stretch of more than five feet and is equipped with more powerful Pratt&Whitney Canada PW127B turboprop engines. Despite the changes, the -60 "handles no differently than the Fokker 50," said Fokker chief pilot Wim Huson after the Nov. 3 first flight.
BEECH Models 60 and A60 airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-23-AD; Amdt. 39- 9410; AD 95-22-03) - requires incorporation of flight manual supplement revisions into the Airplane Flight Manual that specify a minimum airspeed for operating in icing conditions. This action is prompted by reports of several incidents and accidents related to flights in icing conditions. The actions specified by the AD are intended to prevent loss of airplane control because the airplane was flying too slowly in icing conditions.
TIERNAY METALS, a major supplier of aluminum extrusions to airframe manufacturers and their vendors, relocated its Aerospace Division from Sun Valley, Calif. to the company's corporate headquarters in Redondo Beach. Tiernay specializes in distributing raw materials and chemicals to overseas airframe maintenance operations.
HUDSON GENERAL CORP., Great Neck, N.Y., reported earnings of $480,000 for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with $235,000 for the same period in 1994. Net earnings were adversely affected by a loss of $683,000 relating to the company's land development joint venture in Hawaii, which showed a loss of $482,000 during the same period in 1994. Revenues for the most recent period totaled $34.1 million, compared with $31.3 million a year ago.
FOKKER AIRCRAFT appointed Bert Wilschut, former vice president-contracts marketing and sales, as vice president-marketing and sales for Africa, the Middle East and China. Peter Glasbeek, who headed the controlling department of Fokker's Marketing, Sales and Services sector, succeeds Wilschut as vice president-contracts. Both Wischut and Glasbeek report to Bernard Dijkhuizen, a member of the Board of Management for Marketing, Sales and Services.
EXECUTIVE JET INTERNATIONAL and Gulfstream Aerospace, as expected, have formed a new business alliance that will market fractional shares of Gulfstream business jets (BA, Oct. 30/187). The new enterprise, Gulfstream NetJets, will parallel EJI's highly successful NetJets program, under which hundreds of customers have purchased shares of EJI-operated Cessna Citation and Hawker business jets.
JOHN HORSBURGH was named director of operations at Aviall Caledonian Engine Services. Horsburgh most recently was director and general manager of the CF6 product line at Aviall Caledonian's Prestwick facility.
JSX CAPITAL CORP. sold a Jetstream 41 Corporate Shuttle to AlliedSignal, Inc. for use in its Morristown, N.J. flight department. The aircraft, which is configured in a 14-passenger layout, will make up to 12 roundtrips weekly between the company's Morristown and Richmond, Va. locations.
CORRECTION: An article in last week's issue (BA, Nov. 13/213) regarding a free avionics glossary available from Collins Commercial Avionics, listed an incorrect number. Anyone seeking a copy of the Fall/Winter 1995 Avionics Glossary, A Handy Compendium of Terms and Acronyms Associated with the Avionics Industry, should fax their request to (319) 395-4333.
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP. successfully flew the second Cirrus SR20 prototype at Duluth International Airport. The second prototype joins the initial SR20 prototype in the flight test program. The initial prototype first flew March 31 and since has logged more than 260 flight test hours. The company hopes to receive FAA certification in early 1997 and said it plans to produce up to 1,000 of the four-place, single-engine SR20s in the next five years.
