Michael Hancock has been promoted to Miami-based staff vice president-corporate development from regional manager of East Coast operations for Mercury Air Cargo.
The crash near Bogota, Colombia, of a 727 wet-leased to Air France is raising questions about how national aviation regulators can ensure the safety of flights conducted under transnational agreements between airlines. Air France Flight 422 crashed Apr. 20 on departure from Bogota's Eldorado International Airport, killing all 53 passengers and crewmembers on board. The flight was operated by Transportes Aereos Militares Ecuatorianos, or TAME Ecuador, a commercial division of the Ecuadorian air force. The crash was the airline's 12th since 1971.
Dennis Lambell and Rex Tracy have become vice presidents/program directors of imagery/information systems and products business, respectively, for Tracor Inc. subsidiary GDE Systems Inc. of San Diego. Lambell was director of GDE's National Imagery and Mapping Agency programs and succeeds Tracy as program director for imagery/information systems.
Boeing and its staff of 56 training pilots this week will begin a second round of negotiations aimed at establishing an initial contract, following the unanimous rejection of Boeing's first offer earlier this month. Although negotiations are in the early stages and both sides agree the talks are far from a stalemate, the pilot's group last week voted unanimously to authorize a strike, should they deem it necessary.
Former U.S. Air Force Secretary Sheila E. Widnall, who is now Abby Rockefeller Mauze professor of aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, has been elected vice president of the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering.
LOCKHEED MARTIN has started testing flight control software for the X-35 Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator by flying it on Calspan's Vista/F-16 variable stability fighter. Calibration flights started at Buffalo on Mar. 29, to be followed with evaluations by four contractor and military pilots through May. The two X-35s are to fly in 2000.
After months of delays and huge cost overruns, the European Space Agency believes it finally has its Artemis experimental satcom program on track and the satellite headed into testing. Artemis is intended to enhance Europe's role in mobile and multimedia communications, serve as a stepping-stone for future European data relay and satellite navigation services, and promote critical new space technologies.
U.S. Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet recently spoke on ``Information Security Risks, Opportunities and the Bottom Line'' at a NationsBank Policy Forum organized by former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and held at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Excerpts from Tenet's address follow.
TAIWANESE AND U.S. officials are discounting rumors that a Taiwanese air force Lockheed Martin F-16B that disappeared over the Taiwan Strait Mar. 20 might have been flown to China. No trace of the aircraft has been found after it disappeared from radar about 110 mi. off the southwest coast of Taiwan, 32 min. after takeoff from Chiayi AFB on a routine training mission. The disappearance prompted media speculation that the crew had defected. Early last week, a Pentagon official said the U.S. was looking into that possibility. But later in the week, a U.S.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL at Pyongyang and Seoul are now linked by satellite and fiber-optic cables, and North Korea has fully endorsed the right of foreign carriers to fly over its airspace (AW&ST Mar. 9, p. 15). The International Air Transport Assn. has been working with North Korean officials for three years to open North Korean skies. Carriers from the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore, the Russian Federation, South Korea and Canada have begun using the new route, which can help save up to 50 min. on a transpacific crossing.
Uncertainty about the Asian economic downturn, strategic alliances and open skies for Australia have prompted Qantas and Ansett Australia to delay purchases of Airbus and Boeing's newest offerings. Qantas' board of directors has deferred a decision on whether to order up to 12 300-seat Boeing 777-200IGW (increased gross weight) or Airbus A340-300E transports. At a mid-month meeting, the board had been expected to choose one or the other to solve capacity problems and open new routes.
Horizon Airlines is scheduled to complete by midsummer a new, $20-million flight operations center at Portland (Ore.) International Airport. The 180,000-sq.-ft. facility is located on an 11-acre site and will include a 60,000-sq.-ft. hangar as well as backshops, storage and training areas. Horizon also will manage 6.3 acres of ramp for aircraft parking. The commuter, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, operates more than 5,000 flights a month from Portland and bases its flight dispatch and major maintenance operations there.
Chris Allen has become airlines sales manager for the Americas for BFGoodrich Aerospace-JcAIR Test Systems, New Century, Kan. He was senior sales representative for Mosler.
As industry and the FAA try to focus public attention on solving high-priority safety problems--and not the news-grabbing cause of the day suggested by the latest crash--the biggest challenge for these advocates of a rational agenda will be to forge and sustain their own coalition.
Embraer, Brazil's premier aerospace company, is enlarging its line of military exports with three products. Two new military aircraft--a jet strike trainer and a light turboprop transport--are being eyed for near-term production. Additionally, some company officials are anticipating sales next year to neighboring Peru of Embraer's Super Tucano turboprop trainer, which was redesigned as the AMX for the Brazilian air force's specialized combat operations against smugglers in the Amazon.
James C. DeLong, director of aviation at Denver International Airport, has been selected to succeed Robert S. Michael as general manager of the Regional Airport Authority of Louisville and Jefferson County, Ky. Michael is slated to retire on July 1.
Gloria Everett has become senior vice president-operations of Globalstar, San Jose, Calif. She was vice president-network engineering and operations of AirTouch.
TURKEY AND ISRAEL are to discuss details of a new medium-range missile project during biennial talks scheduled to be held in late May, during which officials from the two countries also are expected to evaluate rising regional threats. With Washington's negative reaction to Turkey's bid to join the U.S.-Israeli Arrow anti-ballistic missile program, Turkish and Israeli officials signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this month to cooperate on the new project for an air defense missile with a range of 150 km. (93 mi.).
TWO RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS on board the Mir space station completed the installation of a new 1,400-lb. roll control propulsion unit atop the station's 46-ft. Sofora mast during two extravehicular activities Apr. 17 and 22 (AW&ST Apr. 20, p. 28). U.S. astronaut Andy Thomas helped coordinate the EVAs from inside Mir.
The proposed alliance between GKN Westland Helicopters and Finmeccanica/Agusta represents another vote of confidence in the Italian government's drive to revitalize and privatize its aerospace and defense businesses. The memorandum of understanding signed by the two helicopter manufacturers to create an ``alliance of equals'' could lead to a merger by early 1999. It is the second such Anglo-Italian agreement this month.
Airbus Industrie forecasts that the current Asian financial crisis will have little impact on the long-term demand for air travel worldwide, which the consortium expects to triple in the next 20 years.
Sir Richard Evans has been named chairman of British Aerospace Plc., effective May 1. He was chief executive and will be succeeded by Group Managing Director John Weston. Richard Lapthorne has been appointed vice chairman and George Rose finance director.
