Aaron Todd has been named CEO of the Air Methods Corp. of Denver. He will succeed George Belsey, who is scheduled to retire in June. Todd has been chief operating and financial officer. Belsey will continue as chairman through 2004.
Alitalia and Italian domestic carrier Meridiana expect to complete a code-share agreement by Apr. 15. The contract will allow Alitalia to regain lost ground in the lucrative and increasingly competitive domestic market. Meridiana, whose stronghold in providing routes to Sardinia has eroded, will gain a linkup with a major carrier's route network. Alitalia chose Meridiana over leading candidate and current code-share partner Volare Group. Vincenzo Soddu, Volare CEO, said the main reason for the switch was strong opposition from Alitalia's powerful pilots' union.
Japan Air System Corp., the new parent company for the merged Japan Airlines and Japan Air System, has postponed setting up a new cargo airline. The original plan was to establish separate business units for domestic and international passengers, and air freight by 2004. But the corporation is considering whether formation of a separate cargo airline will prompt the U.S. to ask for flight rights for another U.S. carrier in exchange for accepting the JAL freight carrier.
John M. Danko has been promoted to executive vice president/general manager from deputy general manager of the Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Space Systems Group, Dulles, Va.
Cargo pilots would be allowed to carry firearms under bills introduced in Congress. Putting bills into the hopper were Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) along with eight co-sponsors. Boxer said leaving cargo pilots without arms presents a "dangerous loophole," because cargo jets are nearly as tempting a target for terrorists as passenger craft are. In many ways, cargo carriers have less security than passenger lines. A 747 freighter headed overseas is loaded with just as much fuel as a pax version.
Former astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander of the last Apollo mission to the Moon, proposed that America send a high school student into space (AW&ST Dec. 23, 2002, p. 62). "If we can send a 77-year-old into space, why not a 17-year-old?" As a former high school teacher of computer-aided design and drafting, I can attest to the importance of his comments.
Cementing Western European political support for combat operations against Iraq is only one of the problems slowing preparations for an offensive there. Non-political barriers include difficulties in penetrating the overlapping computer networks that carry Baghdad's military and civilian communications, the shortage of U.S. tanker aircraft, the continuing threat of Iraq's air defenses and the need to reinvent or at least hone modern techniques for close air support, a skill that has languished since the war in Vietnam.
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Sigmar Wittig, head of the German aerospace center DLR, said that despite its space-budget woes Germany might be willing to increase funding for the Ariane program if the scope of work for its industry is enlarged. Bonn, which has long bridled at what it perceives to be inadequate recognition of its contribution to the program--particularly with respect to France--has welcomed the ongoing reevaluation of the Ariane launch system and the French role in it that was triggered by the EC-A failure.
On an average day, there are 22-25 C-17 departures from Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, for destinations in the Centcom Area of Responsibility including Kuwait (see p. 56). Civilian contract carriers also are supporting the airlift, which is helping to prepare the U.S. for a showdown with Iraq. Photo by Jim Haseltine.
I shed no tears for the death of an aviation disaster litigation lawyer (AW&ST Feb. 24, p. 17). Litigation has led to a sad shift in the focus of airplane accident investigations: Cause has become secondary to guilt. Am I a victim of the practices of litigation lawyers? No doubt. Insurance premiums are higher than they ought to be, and airlines cannot but reduce service in order to pay for liability insurance to cover events for which no one in his right mind would hold them responsible.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board is considering whether small but critical "gap-seal tiles" that bridge the orbiter's reinforced carbon-carbon leading edge with larger tiles on the lower wing surface could have failed after being struck by foam from the Lockheed Martin external tank.
It may seem a bit ironic that Ron Dittemore received your Laureate designation coincident with the Columbia tragedy. He is now in the public spotlight and has handled himself with courage and dignity. He accepted responsibility and his public statements have been thoughtful and clear. He not only deserves your formal acclaim, he and his team now deserve our full support and encouragement.
An Air Algerie Boeing 737-2T4, Reg. 7T-VEZ, crashed shortly after takeoff from Tamanrasset, Algieria, on Mar. 6 with 98 passengers and six crewmembers on board. An airline statement addressing the crash said there was one surviving passenger of Flight 6289, which was en route via Ghardaia to the capital city, Algiers. According to reports, an airline spokesman said weather was not likely a factor and there was no indication of terrorism.
Airbus' decision on whether to reduce its commercial transports' combined production rate or maintain the current annual pace of 300 aircraft is expected within the next few weeks. The European manufacturer, like its archrival Boeing, is closely monitoring the airline industry's ability to take on next-generation aircraft in these times of tumultuous geopolitical upheaval.
Boeing Satellite Services has agreed to pay a $32-million penalty to settle a five-year-old legal dispute stemming from a launch failure analysis that was provided to China Great Wall Industries without clearance from U.S. arms export officials.
L-3 Communications' Link Simulation and Training division will build a fifth trainer suite for the U.S. Army's Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer--Aviation Reconfigurable Manned Simulator program (Avcatt-A). The suite, housed in two 53-ft. trailers, includes six helicopter simulators that can be reconfigured to represent the AH-64A Apache, AH-64D Apache Longbow, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47D Chinook. Plans call for adding the RAH-66 Comanche to the system in the future.
Deregulation simply allowed free market forces to shape the airline industry. It didn't require carriers to operate at losses while chasing market share and other failed marketing schemes. There's no link between deregulation and the Railway Labor Act or between government employees--who are not allowed to strike but have great benefits and job and wage security--and private employees whose fortunes fall with the economy and mismanagement.
Boeing plans to have a demonstrator aircraft flying in two years that eventually may evolve into a tailless, short takeoff and landing assault transport. Moreover, the company is eying manned and unmanned derivatives of the design that could serve as future-generation gunships carrying miniaturized directed-energy weapons--lasers and high-power microwave devices--instead of cannon.
A chemical formulation similar to that used in a common type of fireworks is being examined by engineers for use in a caulk gun that could be used to repair holes or cracks in the space shuttle reinforced carbon-carbon leading edge and, possibly, areas of black tile on the orbiter's belly.
The Pentagon is in a quandary about sending additional B-1s from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Tex., to Guam to fill the void of military forces in the Pacific left when aircraft there were moved to the Middle East in anticipation of a conflict with Iraq. Eight B-1s of the 28th Bomb Wing from Ellsworth AFB, S.D., are already at Thumrait AB, Oman. Second thoughts are that the B-1s may be needed to flesh out the force in Oman since it is already flying four sorties a day over Afghanistan.
The Predator, which drew its first blood in Afghanistan, now has special operators looking with anticipation toward the next capabilities to emerge from unmanned aircraft. "I'd like my Dick Tracy watch," said Lt. Gen. Paul V. Hester, commander of U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), when asked what improvements he would like to see following his initial combat experience with UAVs. He was referring to the cartoon policeman's wrist radio that provided instant, highly portable communications.
Thai Airways International is to buy seven Boeing 747-400s (with one option) for an undisclosed price from fellow Star Alliance member United Airlines. The purchase is subject to board approval, which is expected. All of the aircraft are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4056 engines. Thai officials described a buyer's market too good to pass up.
South Korea appears to be reviving its SAM-X air and missile defense program, but with little serious commitment, industry officials indicate. Funding for SAM-X was delayed when economic problems forced South Korea to curtail its defense budget. The country decided to financially back the fighter replacement program, the F-15K, but slow several other initiatives. But now the government has put money back into the budget for the air and missile defense system. However, the amount is not nearly enough to see a procurement through to the end, industry officials warn.
Internal e-mails among NASA engineers and contractor personnel in the days prior to Columbia's disastrous reentry provide deepening evidence that serious concerns about the left wheel well and the survivability of the left wing were widespread and growing during the final days of the flight. None of the information on serious, but survivable, landing gear issues was shared with mission commander USAF Col. Rick Husband, and it will be up to the accident board to determine if more dire projections were elevated properly within NASA management.
