The loss of a Predator unmanned aircraft over southern Iraq has been declared a ``combat loss,'' allowing the small U.S. Air Force reconnaissance detachment in Kuwait to quickly replenish its stock. A protracted investigation into whether it was an accident or a shoot-down could have slowed that process, a Pentagon official said. But U.S. military officials for the Central Command, which is in charge of Middle East operations, didn't want to wait that long.
As we await the Bush Administration's proposal to reshape the U.S. military, there is a clear need to broaden the options under consideration--specifically to include increased attention to the role played by long-range airpower.
Accident investigators in the Bahamas, including officials from the FAA and NTSB, are finding that the Cessna 402B that crashed and killed the Grammy-nominated star singer Aaliyah and eight others was heavily loaded. The Associated Press reported that the Bahamian Civil Aviation Dept. found the aircraft, fuel and luggage weighed 5,495 lb., not counting the nine people on board. The maximum allowable takeoff weight is 6,300 lb. The aircraft crashed on takeoff at an airport north of Nassau. The pilot had a criminal record, including crack cocaine violations.
USN Capt. (ret.) Rodney L. Casey has become San Diego-based director of West Coast customer service and business development for the Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems Sector of Dallas. He was an organizational analyst/project manager for Navy aviation requirements, logistics and training alignment initiatives for Haulsey Engineering Inc. of San Diego.
Although National Transportation Safety Board investigators have not yet issued their final analysis on why an Emery Worldwide Airlines DC-8 crashed just after takeoff from Mather Field near Rancho Cordova, Calif., on Feb. 16, 2000, a just-released interim ``factual'' report provides some insight into their suspicions.
Eutelsat will take a major stake in Hispasat and join the Spanish company in a new venture in Brazil under a wide-ranging partnership reflecting growing interest in the Latin American market and further consolidation among satellite operators.
Lufthansa Cargo is developing a global airfreight, parcel express and logistics network in partnership with Singapore Airlines, SAS and Deutsche Post that promises to recast the air cargo business in the way that the Star Alliance has transformed air travel.
Sheldon S. Ohringer, former president/CEO of FirstWorld Communication Inc., has been named to the board of directors of the Snap2 Corp., Des Moines, Iowa.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (ret.) Jack Costello (see photo) has been named vice president-Objective Force Initiative for Raytheon Electronic Systems in Washington. He was commander of the Army Space and Defense Missile Command.
DHL Airways is heating up the transpacific competition in express letter delivery with daily service between the U.S. and Japan in a Boeing 747 from Northwest Airlines Cargo (NWA Cargo). The business-day service is more than a month old ``and we are happy with it,'' said James M. Friedel, president of NWA Cargo. The new service has two purposes: To match DHL's transpacific service with that offered by rival integrators and for Northwest to tap into the industrial Midwest in Ohio.
Midway through the comment period on options to curb demand at New York LaGuardia Airport, the FAA is seeking ``market-based'' ideas on how to avoid congestion and delays at other airports in the longer term. Market-based measures, intended to affect airline decisions by changing their operating costs, include slot auctions, congestion pricing, peak-period surcharges, off-peak discounts, and flat fees instead of charges based on aircraft weight. All are under consideration at LaGuardia, as are administrative initiatives such as regulating aircraft size.
United Airlines will use polar routing when it launches 747-400 nonstop services Oct. 27 from Chicago O'Hare International to New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport. India's decision in the late 1990s to impose capacity restraints on United's flights from Hong Kong prompted the U.S. carrier to begin looking for alternatives. When polar routing became feasible, United had a solution that avoided the regulatory cap on seating and didn't involve a stop. That makes sense to the majority of passengers outbound from New Delhi because they are headed to the U.S.
Boeing is continuing to expand its freighter aircraft product line--both new-production models and conversion programs for existing Boeing passenger aircraft--in anticipation of a projected tripling in air cargo traffic growth over the next 20 years. Boeing has developed five production freighter models, conversion programs for seven existing passenger aircraft and is continuing to study two new possible factory-built transports, the 767-400XF and the 757-300XF.
Bombardier Aerospace has acquired Air Charter Online, which develops technology and systems for the distribution of information on charter aircraft availability. The company, which was founded in 1995, is based in Mahwah, N.J.
SAS Scandinavian airlines, which is implementing an external growth policy, plans to acquire a controlling stake in Braathens despite the Norwegian competition authority's opposition. Norway last week rejected SAS' planned acquisition on the assertion that the consolidation move would create a dominant position in the domestic market, significantly reduce capacity and favor fare increases. SAS executives, who fiercely dispute such a negative analysis, plan to appeal.
The Royal Air Force has taken the next major step with its small C-17 force, inducting the airlifters into operational use by conducting several missions to deliver material and personnel to Skopje in support of the NATO peace-keeping mission in Macedonia.
In one of the strongest quarterly performances of any aerospace company this year, Bombardier Inc. last week posted a 35% increase in earnings per share (EPS) for the period ending July 31, on a 44% sales jump.
The Pentagon agrees (mostly) with a GAO report on spectrum that the mobile wireless communications industry covets for third-generation systems now being developed. Industry wants the military to ``share'' the 1755-1850 MHz. band, but the Defense Dept. believes the new systems would interfere with its control of satellites, including GPS. Still, the prospect of huge economic benefits prompted the Clinton Administration to encourage federal agencies to study the potential for sharing or segmenting the band, with an eye to auctioning spectrum by Sept. 30, 2002.
The Planetary Society has decided to build a second solar sail spacecraft for the Cosmos 1 project following launch last month of a suborbital test vehicle on a converted Russian ICBM, which failed due to reduced third-stage thrust (AW&ST July 30, p. 21). The suborbital test vehicle and Volna rocket were covered by Russian insurance.
Philip F. Schultz, Sr., has been appointed interim president/CEO of Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. of Cincinnati. He has been vice president/chief financial officer.
Ailing Air Liberte and AOM completed an agreement on job cuts with judicial authorities and worker unions. The French carriers will cut a combined 1,400 jobs in the next few days, including nearly 600 employees who volunteered to quit after negotiating workable severance payments. Air Liberte and AOM will be combined rapidly into a unified airline and operate soon under a new name, officials said.
CargoLifter has completed helium inflation tests on the CL 75 AirCrane, precursor for its planned CL 160 heavy-lift airship. According to the German company, it was the first time an airship of this size--bigger than the famed Graf Zeppelin--had ever been filled with helium gas, and the first time this had been done on a large scale using the stratification method. Separately, CargoLifter added Eaton Aerospace and GKN to its development, supply and integration team.
The Pentagon may stop considering Taiwan's arms requests just once a year. Taipei's usually-long wish list leads to an annual ritual of complaints by Beijing and debate within the Beltway. ``We are trying to make it a more normal relationship,'' said Peter Rodman, the assistant Defense secretary for international security. Taipei may get to have its requests reviewed as they are submitted throughout the year, just as arms deals with most other countries are handled.
Harris Belman has been named vice president-business development for systems integration within the Information and Electronic Systems Sector of BAE Systems North America, Crystal City, Va. He held the same position at IBM Global Services, Bethesda, Md.
Two of the industry's largest international carriers, Japan Airlines (JAL) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, have turned over management of their airframe spare parts to Boeing, much as some manufacturers outsource their infotech operations to computer services companies. The intent is for Boeing to free up capital at both airlines by more efficiently managing their aftermarket spares programs.
