Steve Townes has been appointed to the board of governors of The Wings Club in New York. He is president/CEO of the Aircraft Services International Group, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
French investigators will seek to determine why an MD-83 twinjet on May 25 hit a taxiing Shorts 360 twin turboprop freighter during a nighttime takeoff at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. The Air Liberte MD-83's left wing impacted Streamline's 360, killing its captain and injuring the copilot. There were no injuries among the MD-83's 151 passengers on the Paris-Madrid charter flight. The runway incursion occurred at 3 a.m.
DRS Flight Safety and Communications will develop signal processing units and optical lens assembly for the Sirius long-range infrared search and track system, under a $6.4-million work order from Hollandse Signaalapparaten.
BDLI, the German aerospace industry's association, lent its support to government plans to revamp the country's armed forces, saying modernization efforts were ``long overdue.'' The government announced plans to cut the size of the armed forces by 20% while placing more emphasis on crisis reaction forces and relying less on conscripts, echoing the recommendations of a special commission that issued its report last week. The report also called for strengthening reconnaissance and transport capabilities.
Lacking usual evidence, NTSB investigators face a daunting task in determining the cause of the May 21 crash of a BAE Jetstream 31 twin turboprop near Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Pa.) International Airport. All 17 passengers and two crewmembers on board were killed.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Alliance for Spacecraft Design Methodology is trying to improve satellite design and build processes. The alliance's Mission Systems Design Center has started using Engineering Animation Inc.'s e-Vis.com for a secure, Internet-enabled method of reviewing 2D and 3D design data in real time among dispersed program participants. The groups also can collectively use applications with e-Vis.com, such as structural and cost analysis tools.
The U.S./Russian crew of the shuttle Atlantis and flight control teams in both Houston and Moscow are to complete the STS-101 repair mission to the International Space Station this week as ISS managers examine a revision to the long-term assembly of the facility. The flight is the first mission to the station in a year, and the crew completed critical Russian battery replacements and other electrical upgrades that were part of more than 2,000 lb. of cargo transferred from the flight's Spacehab module.
Cathay's priority on finding a long-haul aircraft for year-round, nonstop flights to eastern North America means that Airbus' A3XX will have to stand in line. The carrier is clearly interested in the standard A3XX-100/200 (555-686 seats) that Airbus Industrie is expected to launch by year-end. With a proposed range of 7,500-8,500 naut. mi., the double-decker could satisfy Cathay's requirements for nonstop services to New York and Toronto. But its likely entry-into-service date of fourth-quarter 2005 makes it too late to satisfy Cathay's immediate needs.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries retained its role as Japan's leading aerospace contractor, accumulating $2.59 billion in contracts during fiscal 1999, mainly on the strength of its F-2 close air support fighter work--Japan's largest defense program--SH-60J, partnership in the Boeing 777 and various space programs. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, producer of the T-4 intermediate trainer, partner in the BK-117 program and developer of the OH-1 scout helicopter, is second with $1.22 billion.
President Clinton is proposing that U.S. airlines be required to carry automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) on all domestic and international flights. The move is part of the Administration's attempt to assist some 350,000 Americans who suffer cardiac arrest yearly. According to the FAA, the survival rate from the most common form of treatable cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation, can be as high as 90% if an AED is used to stimulate the heart to a normal beat. Eight U.S.
Edo Corp. has been awarded a $9.4-million work order from the U.S. Navy to supply Mod 4 Upgrade Kits for MK 105 Airborne Mine Countermeasures Systems. The contract is a follow-on award to last year's $12-million contract. Deliveries will begin in 2002.
Rolls-Royce will supply engines for 20 Boeing 757 aircraft for American Trans Air under a $380-million contract. Rolls also received a 15-year maintenance agreement worth $290 million.
Chicago Bridge and Iron Construction Inc. has won a $6.1-million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District to replace ducting for jet engine test cells at USAF's Arnold Engineering Development Center.
The addition of winglets is being studied to improve the performance--and therefore the sales appeal--of Boeing's 717 transport in the hotly contested 100-seat market. The Seattle-based aerospace manufacturer also is looking at a business jet version of the 717, with additional belly fuel tanks, that would have New York-to-London range. Potential improvements to the 717's short-field performance also are being eyed. The aim is to reduce landing field length for the high-gross-weight version to 4,540 ft. from 5,000 ft., opening more airports to 717 service.
Hiram Cox has been appointed senior vice president/controller of Northwest Airlines. He was senior vice president-finance/ treasurer of the Yellow Corp. Glenn A. Woythaler has been promoted to vice pre- sident-crew and performance analysis from managing director for operational effectiveness in System Operations Control.
A constituency is quietly building for a radical new defense concept based on continuously developing and fielding small numbers of high-technology weapon systems. The goal is to ensure the U.S. maintains a position of offensive superiority for many decades.
Kirk Rowe and Chris Heredia have been named vice presidents/general managers of Innotech-Execaire in Montreal and Vancouver, respectively, and Ric Simpson general manager of affiliate Pacific Avionics and Instruments Ltd.
David Abbott has become vice president-sales, marketing and business development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for American Aircarriers Support Inc., Fort Mill, S.C.
Ted Gavrilis has been appointed president of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, Sunnyvale, Calif. He succeeds Peter Kujawski, who is retiring. Gavrilis was named executive vice president in October and had been vice president/general manager of space systems at Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver.
The U.K.'s drive to improve public health and reduce the number of deaths by cardiac arrest is reflected in recent airline industry efforts (AW&ST Apr. 24, p. 17). British Airways within the next 1-1.5 years plans to equip its long-haul Boeing 777s and 747s with a cardiac diagnostic tool--Australia's Micromedical Industries' Biolog 3000 ECG monitor. The portable, handheld device transmits ECG data from a seatback phone via satellite to a ground station. Phone lines then transmit data to a personal computer, where signals are translated to the regular ECG waveform.
Scott Ficek has been named director of information technology for Mesaba Holdings Inc., parent company of Mesaba Aviation. He was director of information systems for International Cabling Systems, Madison, Wis.
The U.S. Army's first attempt to shoot down a Katyusha rocket with the Tactical High-Energy Laser has incurred another delay because a mirror in the laser was damaged during testing. It will take about two weeks to fix the component. THEL eventually is supposed to be deployed to Israel to protect the country's northern border against rockets fired by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists from Lebanon.
