Bristow Group has taken over search-and-rescue helicopter operations in the North of Scotland. Beginning July 1, Bristow crews flying Sikorsky S-92s took over from CHC flying SAR missions on behalf of the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) under its Gap SAR contract awarded in February 2012.
Sikorsky Model S-76A, B and C helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0514; Directorate Identifier 2012-SW-068-AD] – proposes requiring inspections for cracks in the spindle cuff assembly or blade-fold cuff assembly. If any cracks were found, the cracked parts would need to be replaced. If no cracks were found, white paint would need to be applied to the inspection area to enhance the existing inspection procedure.
“Numerous” close calls at airports with certain layouts and independent takeoff and landing operations have prompted the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to ask the FAA for changes to certain air traffic control procedures. In a recommendation letter published July 1, the NTSB asks for new separation standards to set the procedures controllers use in situations in which an aircraft departs one runway and another aircraft is performing a go-around on a different, non-intersecting runway.
DARREN EMERY was promoted to vice president, product and customer services for International Communications Group (ICG). Emery, who had been director, customer service and product support, will be responsible for oversight of all product support and customer services activities in his new, expanded role. Emery has served with ICG since 2003, and before that had a number of electrician and technical positions on board several cruise lines.
Raisbeck Engineering has earned Brazilian certification of its new swept-blade turbofan propellers for Beechcraft King Air 200 series aircraft. The higher-thrust props, which Seattle-based Raisbeck developed in cooperation with propeller manufacturer Hartzell, markedly improve takeoff performance without increasing cabin noise levels. Raisbeck says the new props especially enhance operations to and from higher-altitude airports on hot days and permit operators to carry greater payloads and fuel for more range.
Rockwell Collins has launched HeliSure, a family of products designed to provide rotorcraft pilots with better situational awareness so they can meet the challenges of flying in increasingly congested and hazard-filled airspace. HeliSure delivers sensor data in real time through an intuitive user interface that features 3D visualization for information that pilots can easily, quickly and effectively process.
Business aviation and the airlines could be reopening an old debate on how best to fund the FAA as it attempts to build a $20 billion next generation air transportation system (NextGen) in the midst of potentially unstable government funding, in large part due to sequestration.
Hawker Beechcraft Model BAe.125 Series 800, 800A, 800B and 800XP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-0462; Directorate Identifier 2013-NM-092-AD; Amendment 39-17476; AD 2013-11-16] – requires revising the “Limitations” section of the airplane flight manual and installing placards on the instrument panel of aircraft equipped with supplemental type certificated winglets.
The FAA still cannot reliably determine how many flight standards safety inspectors it needs and where for commercial aviation oversight, which could be causing some staffing shortages, the Transportation Department’s inspector general’s office (DOT IG) says in a recent audit report. But the data for the FAA’s staffing model also remains so unreliable that no one can say for sure, the IG adds.
Jeppesen recently upgraded its JetPlan flight-planning engine, incorporating improvements that will enhance flight-planning capabilities for operators flying within Europe. The company says its Enhanced JetPlan European Route Availability Document and route optimization functions work to quickly comply with Eurocontrol routing requirements and determine flight plans that maximize efficient fuel consumption and flight scheduling. The Jeppesen JetPlan engine powers Jeppesen’s flight planning products, including the JetPlanner application and FlitePlan Online tools.
New Piper Seminoles delivered later this year will be outfitted with Garmin’s G1000 glass cockpit following the recent certification of the avionics suite on the twin-engine airplane. With this latest approval, the G1000 is standard equipment on nearly all new Piper products. The G1000, which replaces the Garmin G500 suite currently offered on new Seminoles, includes the GRS77 attitude and heading reference system and software that provides a vertical profile view and user-defined holding patterns.
Development of the “Helicopter of the Future” took a step forward recently as Eurocopter signed partnerships with 22 French companies. These firms are now involved in the technological initiative set up as part of an innovation program launched by the French government two years ago. The participating companies will use innovative technologies to build the technological platforms that will form part of Eurocopter’s future product range.
China is expected to receive its first Embraer Phenom 300 during the third quarter, when one of the Brazilian-built light twinjets is to be delivered to Erdos General Aviation Co., Ltd. The operator, which has a 19-aircraft fleet, is reportedly one of the top five GA companies in the Asian nation. The Phenom 300 was certificated by the Civil Aviation Administration of China last November.
Bell Helicopter Model 206B and 206L helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0488; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-002-AD] – proposes to require installing a placard beneath the engine power dual tachometer and revising the “Limitations” section of the rotorcraft flight manual. This proposed AD was prompted by several incidents of third-stage engine turbine wheel failures that were caused by excessive vibrations at certain engine speeds during steady-state operations.
AgustaWestland has sold six AW119Kx single-engine helicopters to Life Link III. The Minneapolis-based aeromedical operator has also taken options for six more AW119Kx aircraft. AgustaWestland Philadelphia will assemble the helicopters and install the aeromedical interiors at its Northeast Philadelphia Airport facility. Deliveries are to begin later this year. AgustaWestland Philadelphia is also slated to provide aircrew and maintainer training for Life Link III.
The Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) hosted a recent workshop with the FAA to address the cost barriers to avionics product certification. The event was predicated on a discussion for a “case for safety” for general aviation aircraft retrofit avionics.
Bell Helicopter Model 412, 412CF and 412EP helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0500; Directorate Identifier 2012-SW-45-AD] – proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive that requires reidentifying certain main-rotor yokes on its data plate, reducing the retirement life of the reidentified yoke, and revising the “Airworthiness Limitations” section of the maintenance manual or the “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness” accordingly.
July 11—National Business Aviation Association, Business Aviation Regional Forum, Denver, Colo., (703) 783-9000, www.nbaa.org July 29-Aug. 4—2013 EAA Airventure Oshkosh, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis., www.airventure.org Aug. 12-13—Aircraft Electronics Association Regional Meeting, Sao Paulo, Brazil, www.aea.net/events.asp Aug. 27-28—Aircraft Electronics Association Regional Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, www.aea.net/events.asp
Europe’s goal of developing a database that collects aviation occurrence reports from across the region and helps identify broad safety trends is moving closer to reality as both data quality and reporting consistency improve, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) reports.
MARY JANE MITCHELL has joined the Aerospace Industries Association as assistant vice president of acquisition policy. Mitchell formerly has held assignments within the Secretary of the Air Force’s organization as the deputy director, program integration division and the chief, congressional budget and media affairs, as well as the Electronic Systems Center’s deputy director for plans and programs and, most recently, chief financial officer of a major program office.
CHRISTOPHER WEINBERG was promoted to chief information officer for FlightSafety International. Weinberg has served with FlightSafety since 1997, beginning as product marketing manager. He later was promoted to corporate project manager and then director, business systems, where he led the launch of the myFlightSafety Customer site.
Flight Safety Foundation has created a new Legal Advisory Committee in an effort to protect safety information data. The committee will comprise leading plaintiff and defense accident lawyers, regulators and airline/aerospace counsel throughout the world. FSF General Counsel Ken Quinn observed, “It’s become readily apparent that legal regimes are lagging far behind in protecting an ever-increasing amount of safety information that is being gathered, shared and analyzed, which is critical to saving lives.
