Sailors on deck of the USS Cole, as it was refueling in Aden, had unloaded weapons and did not have permission to shoot, reports The Washington Post. Traditionally, Navy guards are rarely issued weapons and are given live ammunition even less often, except in a combat zone. In the Yemeni harbor, rules of engagement would have required permission from one of the ship's officers to shoot. The rules also required that the ship or its crew be shot at first, and even after the explosion troops were ordered only to fire into the air if threatened.
Under a new two-year pact, LanChile Airlines aircraft are to operate on Ecuatoriana's international routes under code-share/wet-lease agreements. LanChile, which plans to start New York-Guayaquil, Ecuador, service on Dec. 1, expects to add flights between Guayaquil, Quito and Miami.
DCT Instruments' Model JG is a differential pressure gauge that incorporates a high-accuracy transducer and an enhanced resolution four-digit display. As an in-process wet/wet differential pressure gauge, the hand-held JG delivers 0.2% accuracy in ranges from 1-10,000 psid. It's available as a battery-powered unit or will operate on 110 AC or 11-32 VDC. The unit uses tactile feedback raised membrane buttons that allow users to access high- and low-pressure readings which are updated three times per sec.
William J. Johnson, Jr., has been appointed vice president-worldport operations and Terry Rinehart has been prommoted to vice president from director of human resources and industrial relations for the Aircraft Service International Group, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Johnson was director of operations, planning and quality assurance for Delta Air Lines.
Shock waves and other flow features can be automatically detected and portrayed in the EnSight Gold 7.2 visualization software by Computational Engineering International (www.ensight.com/ensight7-2.htm). This ``feature extraction'' is the first available in commercial software, CEI says, and can also display vortex cores, boundary flow separation and reattachment, surface flow patterns, and boundary layer characteristics, including local skin friction coefficient.
United Airlines' labor woes continue. The union representing the carrier's 15,000 mechanics halted the federally mediated contract negotiations here last week. This latest setback came one day after the airline's 25,000 flight attendants, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants (AFA), threatened to scuttle the proposed United-US Airways merger unless the airline coughed up more dough. Scotty Ford, negotiator for the International Assn.
The story entitled ``ADS-B Stirs FAA Certification Plans'' in the Nov. 6 issue (p. 45) incorrectly stated the names of the competitors to UPS in ADS-B type technology. The competitors are Rockwell Collins, Honeywell and L-3 Communications. An Industry Outlook item entitled ``Flying High'' (AW&ST Oct. 23, p. 25) should have stated that Lockheed Martin is replacing all 71-meter aerostats with 420,000-cu.-ft. aerostats as part of a U.S. Air Force upgrade program.
Optimet's new noncontact measurement system offers an analog output for the Conoprobe 1000. With a standard 0-10- volt output range, the analog output can be used with a setable analog comparator to quickly detect and make go/no-go test decisions based on the relationship of the analog output voltage level in comparison with the optical measurement being made and compared to a set standard. The analog output signal can be converted to a 12-16-bit digital signal using an A/D converter or other data acquisition device.
The New StressTel TMI DPlus precision thickness gauge measures thickness of precision machines and formed metal components. It has a measurement range of 0.010-1 in. in metals and is compatible with several transducers for optimum measurement performance. Other key features include a large backlit LCD display, durable metal housing, weather resistant keypad, HiLo alarm limits with flashing annunciator, and a difference function to display the positive or negative difference between the thickness measurement and preset value.
The British Airports Authority is trying to create an e-business alliance of the world's major airports, and has held initial talks with Aeroports de Paris, Copenhagen, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston Airport System, Indianapolis, Melbourne, Pittsburgh and Tokyo Narita. Two Web sites are envisioned--a business-to-consumer site called worldairports.com and a business-to-business purchasing site called Airportsmart.com.
Craig Saddler has been appointed vice president-financial planning and analysis for Boeing in Seattle. He was vice president-investor relations and has been succeeded by Paul Kinscherff, who was assistant treasurer for corporate finance and banking. Saddler succeeds Rob Pasterick, who has been appointed vice president/controller of the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group. David Traynham has been appointed Washington-based director of commercial regulatory affairs for Boeing. He was assistant FAA administrator for policy, planning and international aviation.
EAGLE RESEARCH LABORATORIES of Sterling, Va., has developed software analysis tools that can evaluate pilot performance from data already available in a simulator or aircraft, or from a quick access recorder. The Automated Activity Analysis (A3) software can read up to 170 parameters to assess a pilot's performance against the user's standards. The company has tested the system on a Cessna 150 and Boeing Business Jet, and the Navy now plans to use A3 in training S-3B and SH-60B pilots at NAS North Island, Coronado, Calif., and NAS Mayport and NAS Jacksonville, Fla.
The FAA will need to exercise strong leadership, and probably will have to mandate installation of VHF Data Link Mode-3, to get this technology--crucial for modernization to ``free flight''--into commercial aircraft. That was the consensus of participants at an Air Traffic Control Assn. 2000 convention forum here.
Continuing its emphasis on service-related businesses, Boeing has elevated three enterprises to the status of corporate business units with their leaders reporting directly to the Office of the Chairman. In addition, the leaders will become members of Boeing's Executive Council. The units are Connexion by Boeing, Air Traffic Management and Boeing Capital Corp.
Airlines are proposing lower cost alternatives to building Tokyo's third airport offshore, a la Kansai International. They are proposing expansion of either Narita or Haneda or both. The Ministry of Transport has reportedly agreed to include further expansion at Haneda in the Tokyo airport studies that are to be funded in the next fiscal year.
Ray Kolibaba has been appointed vice president-space systems for the Raytheon Strategic Systems, Aurora, Colo. He was vice president/general manager of Raytheon's Information Technology Systems, Landover, Md. Kolibaba succeeds Rick Ambrose, who has left the company.
Los Angeles County plans to buy two Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk helicopters that have been modified to carry 1,000 gal. of firefighting liquids, and also serve as flying ambulances. Sikorsky calls the helicopter the ``Firehawk.'' The first aircraft is with the Army National Guard in Oregon, and Los Angeles will have the second and third Firehawk. Congress has funded two more helicopters for the Guard in California and Florida, plus three conversion kits.
The next economic recession may not hurt the business aviation industry as badly as it has in the past, according to a report by The CIT Group and AvData Inc. If a recession occurs during the latter half of 2001, current strong sales of new business jets, light aircraft and turboprops would begin to weaken as supply gradually outpaces demand. In addition, fractional ownership operators may choose to defer or cancel orders for new airplanes, which account for about 50% of the industry's production backlog. But the worst effect probably would not be felt until 2002.
Boeing has confirmed an order from Alitalia for six 777-200ERs, plus options on six longer range 777-300s. The 777 order replaces one for five 747-400s plus options on three more. Alitalia said the move was triggered by the collapse of its planned alliance with KLM.
Thomas Duxbury has been appointed project manager of NASA's Stardust mission to collect a comet sample and return it to Earth, which is being managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. He was acting project manager and succeeds Kenneth Atkins, who now heads a JPL program to develop the leadership of its projects.
Jim Sweedyk (see photos) has been promoted to director of business development for the Interior and Structures Div. from director of marketing, sales and customer support for the Nordam Group, Tulsa, Okla. He has been succeeded by Brett Benton, who has been promoted from director of marketing for the Prism Div.
Raytheon has been dropped in the latest round of bidding for a 46% stake in the U.K.'s National Air Traffic System (NATS), which is to be partially privatized. Three consortia have been selected by the U.K.'s Transport Dept. to move to the next stage. They are Nimbus, led by the British management group Serco; Novares, which includes Lockheed Martin; and the Airline Group, consisting of eight of the U.K.'s major carriers. Boeing and Alenia Marconi Systems are reported to be seeking to join one of the three consortia.
