Lee B. Holcomb has been named chief information officer at NASA headquarters in Washington. He will succeed Ronald S. West, who has retired. Holcomb was director for information technology strategy/chief information officer for aeronautics.
NASA's Lockheed SR-71 has made the first of a series of flights in support of the X-33 program, carrying a subscale linear aerospike rocket engine piggyback to test it under different flight conditions. The Oct. 31 flight from Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, Calif., was an envelope clearance and systems test flight and did not operate the Boeing Rocketdyne Div. engine, though the propellant tanks were pressurized with inert gas.
U.S. officials want ICAO to strengthen its safety oversight efforts by setting deadlines for inspection reports on member nations and requiring those nations to submit plans for correcting problems found by inspectors.
America and Europe must jointly forge a strategic Middle East policy if they are to tame their family feuds over the best ways to protect Western interests there, according to a group of transatlantic analysts.
Gerhard Neumann, a pioneer in the field of jet propulsion and former head of General Electric' Aircraft Engines, has died from complications arising from leukemia. He was 80.
Jay Haberland has been appointed acting chief financial officer of the United Technologies Corp., Hartford, Conn. He has been vice president/controller. Haberland succeeds Charles H. Noski, who has become president/chief operating officer of the Hughes Electronics Corp.
European Space Agency and CNES French space agency technicians are investigating why an on-board computer shut down the Ariane 5's cryogenic engine earlier than planned during the booster's second qualification launch. The incident resulted in a significantly lower than planned geostationary transfer orbit. In addition to the early engine shutdown, the Ariane 5's two large solid rocket boosters, which were to be recovered, sank after their descent to the Atlantic.
Mary Frost has been appointed vice president/regional general manager for ICO Global Communications North America of Washington. She was managing director of the Entertainment, Media and Communications Group of Price Waterhouse.
Bill Magyar has become manager of the FlightSafety International Raytheon Aircraft Maintenance Technician Learning Center, Wichita, Kan. He was director of maintenance training at FSI's Greater Phi- ladelphia/Wilmington Learning Center.
Anthony Broderick's speech topic-- ``the politics of aviation safety''--was an attention-getter at the Flight Safety Foundation's 50th annual safety seminar here last week (see p. 86). Broderick, who lost his FAA job in the wake of the ValuJet crash, blasted political appointees who pander to public demands for quick answers to crashes. He also called Secretary of Transportation staff efforts to find ``politically acceptable'' solutions to technically complex and controversial issues ``the single biggest obstacle to speedy decision-making at the FAA.''
David A. Hilton, a staff scientist at the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga., has won the Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award for 1997 from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Assn. of Airport Executives and Airports Consultants Council. He was cited for establishing the Quiet Flying Program for Gulfstream and an assistance program for airports and close-in neighbor- hoods, both of which have achieved substantial aircraft noise reduction at airports.
Air Liberte and TAT European Airlines, British Airways' French subsidiaries, are being unified to help streamline operations and sustain a plan to restore profitability. Although the two companies are not legally merged yet, TAT's trade name is no longer being used. The unified carrier is known as Air Liberte and is based at Rungis, close to Paris-Orly airport. ``Our strategy in France is to integrate the two companies successfully and create a wealthy [unified] carrier that can grow,'' British Airways Chief Executive Robert Ayling said.
William J. Laule, who heads the Bundy International division of the U.K.-based TI Group will become its president on Jan. 1. Sir Christopher Lewinton, who also was president, will continue as chairman.
SETTING ASIDE COST CONCERNS, Russia's parliament has given final approval to the global Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans such weapons. Russia faces billions in expenses because it is believed to have the world's largest chemical arsenal, some 40,000 tons.
Senior executives at Hughes Electronics were thrilled by Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to the company in Los Angeles, but they have no illusions that it will yield any huge payoffs. Jiang called on Hughes' headquarters on Nov. 2 and then toured the company's nearby satellite plant. Hughes executive Gareth Chang, who acted as Jiang's tour guide, said the Chinese president, a trained engineer, asked knowledgeable questions about spacecraft and communications technologies.
William O. Mehuron has become acting deputy undersecretary of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He was director of its Systems Acquisition Office. Mehuron succeeds Diana Josephson, who resigned.
Continental Airlines management and the Independent Assn. of Continental Pilots have reached a tentative agreement that would raise pay to current industry standards, but significant issues remain before a final pact can be reached.
ROCKWELL COLLINS WILL ENTER the in-flight entertainment business with the purchase of one of the leading suppliers, Hughes-Avicom International Inc., of Pomona, Calif. IFE systems range from digital audio/video to interactive systems such as video games, individual video on demand and direct broadcast satellite TV. Fax and phone connections are also a part of the market being pursued by Collins, whose initial focus will be on long-haul jets.
FIRST FLIGHT OF THE twin-engine Bell 427 light helicopter is set for early December in Mirabel, Quebec. FAA certification is scheduled for December 1998, with initial deliveries beginning in January 1999. The chiefly composite aircraft is a joint venture between Bell and Korea's Samsung Aerospace Industries.
Boeing will scrap production of its MD-80 and MD-90 line of transports in mid-1999, as current orders for the single-aisle, twinjet transport are filled. As expected, the Seattle-based company will continue to build the wide-body MD-11 trijet. It deferred a decision on continued manufacturing of the 100-seat MD-95 until early 1998, while committing to build only the first 50 MD-95s for launch--and sole--customer, financially fragile AirTran Airways.
For Japanese shoppers, the good old days ended when the British turned Hong Kong over to the Chinese. Japan Airlines saw its passenger count jump to 2.38 million from 1.67 million on flights from Japan to Hong Kong from 1995-96. To put that in perspective, more Japanese traveled to Hong Kong in 1996 than went to Hawaii, which traditionally has been a prime destination. In 1995, the International Air Transport Assn. ranked the Japan-Hong Kong country-pair sixth among all of those in Asia.
Brian J. Higgins has been appointed vice president/manager of electron furnace operations and Sam Chen technical director of Reading (Pa.) Alloys Inc. Higgins was vice president/technical director and Chen was director of research and development.
