NTSB investigators are examining why a Scenic Airlines Cessna Caravan 208B dropped flat onto its belly on a 10,000-ft. plateau in southwest Colorado, killing its pilot and eight passengers. The aircraft, registration N12022, departed shortly after 8 a.m. MDT on Oct. 8 from Montrose Regional Airport in southwest Colorado for a 210-naut.-mi. flight to Page, Ariz., in the northeast corner of that state, according to officials of the National Transportation Safety Board. The aircraft had been chartered from Scenic Airlines by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Douglas B. Shane, director of flight operations for Scaled Composites, has received the Society of Experimental Test Pilots' Iven C. Kincheloe Award for his accomplishments in flight testing. Other honors presented at SETP's 41st symposium included: the James H. Doolittle Award to Franklin D. Robinson, president of Robinson Helicopters, for his achievements in technical management and engineering; the Ray E. Tenhoff Award to USAF Maj. Kevin T. Christensen and Capt. Greg Weber for the best paper presented at the symposium; and the Herman R. Salmon Award to Michael R.
THE ELOP GROUP IS DEVELOPING a laser rangefinder designator for the mast-mounted sight of the OH-58 Kiowa helicopter under a contract from the U.S. Army's Communications and Electronics Command. The Israeli company expects future orders could reach $75 million.
William J. Skibbe has beome president/CEO of the Mooney Aircraft Corp., Kerrville, Tex. He was president/CEO of Sargent Fletcher Inc., El Monte, Calif.
Of 65 world airlines operating in 1996, Europe's 17 major airlines led all others in utilization at 10.5 hr. per day, while their U.S. counterparts average 8.4 hr., according to Edmund S. Greenslet, president of ESG Aviation Services in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Asia's 17 major carriers recorded utilization of 9.45 hr. per day, and 18 airlines operating in Latin and South America, Africa and the Middle East averaged 9.50 hr. In calculating the difference between block hours and flight hours, Greenslet noted that in the U.S.
Arthur J. Mallamo, Jr., has been promoted to vice president-business development for Tracor Flight Systems Inc., Austin, Tex., from director of business development of its Aircraft Systems Div.
What started as an in-house project to turn the raw data of airport noise monitors into user-friendly graphics has taken on a life of its own for BCS International, an airport consultancy in Costa Mesa, Calif. Airport noise is one of the most sensitive local political issues. Residents often think air traffic is louder than it really is, but airports have a hard time communicating their view with stacks of numbers. ``People like the graphics approach,'' BCS Vice President Leigh Hughes said.
Analysis of new market surveys is leading the Asian-Airbus manufacturing alliance toward a 70-80 seater for the AE31X regional jet program, rather than a larger product. Aerospatiale Executive Vice President Claude Terrazzoni said regional airlines are showing a strong preference for a jet with 70-80 seats, especially in North America, which is expected to account for 43% of the AE31X's sales. Europe will provide about 24% of the sales; Asia 17%.
The Japanese government is planning a series of experimental satellites to test advanced telecommunications technologies as part of a broad plan to develop a seamless network of space-based and fiber-optic services.
National Transportation Safety Board officials are debating whether to expand the planned Dec. 8-13 public hearing on TWA Flight 800 to include a ``prehearing'' session to familiarize news media and the public with the extent of the probe. The main hearing will be held in the Baltimore Convention Center. But the NTSB is considering an early session at the Calverton, N.Y., hangar that holds the reconstructed fuselage and wings of the 747-100.
NASA now says it won't have the space station fully assembled until December 2003--18 months beyond the June 2002 date advertised early this year. Members of Congress are none too pleased. They've already received a NASA request for an extra $430 million in Fiscal 1998 to cover station cost overruns. NASA had hinted at the slip this spring, when it delayed the beginning of assembly by seven months, to June 1998, because Russia failed to build crucial hardware on time (AW&ST Apr. 14, p. 31).
Dassault's Falcon business jet line is having its best sales year in history. Last month, annual orders passed the $1-billion mark worldwide, with placements in critical emerging markets such as Russia and Turkey, according to John Rosanvallon, president of Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. of Teterboro, N.J. Interest also is picking up in dormant Western European markets. Although privately held, Dassault does not provide order specifics.
French startup regional Europe Continental Airways already is scheduled for a name change before it begins service next year from EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Frieburg. Owners of the airline, including Swiss carrier Crossair which has a 35% stake, want to create a more appealing name for the airline by December. The carrier will operate two Saab 340s leased from Crossair, and plans call for rapid expansion to other destinations using Saab 2000s.
BRIG. GEN. CHARLES E. (CHUCK) YEAGER (USAF, Ret.) greets Bob Hoover (right) at Edwards AFB, Calif., after Yeager marked the 50th anniversary of supersonic flight by breaking the sound barrier in an F-15D on Oct 14. Hoover flew chase in an F-16D. On Oct. 14, 1947, Captain Yeager broke the sound barrier in the Bell XS-1 as Lieutenant Hoover flew high-chase at 40,000 ft. and Bell's Dick Frost flew low-chase, both in FP-80s. Yeager has been flying military aircraft for 55 years, but plans to hang up his parachute now.
Europe's Airbus Industrie consortium has an order backlog approaching 800 airplanes. Late next year, Brazil's Transportes Aereos Meridionais (TAM) plans to take delivery of five twin-engine Airbus A330-200 long-range transports configured with 235 seats. Orders were placed earlier this month, and included options for another five airplanes. The A330s would be powered by Pratt&Whitney PW4068A turbofan engines. In addition to TAM, Finland's Finnair has ordered five Airbus A319s configured with 126 seats, three 150-seat A320s, and four 188-seat A321s.
The National Transportation Safety Board this month plans to launch the latest tests--a series of explosions in a simulated fuel tank--aimed at identifying the cause of the blast that destroyed TWA Flight 800.
Siemens Plessey Systems' MESAR-2 multifunction electronically scanned adaptive radar is set to begin range trials in the U.K. with an emphasis on detecting and tracking ballistic missiles in a heavy jamming environment. The radar testbed has been developed under a technology demonstrator program with the U.K. Ministry of Defense which included proof-of-principle tests of an earlier version. MESAR-2 uses digital adaptive beam-forming technology which Siemens Plessey officials say makes it virtually immune to jamming. The U.S.
The New Piper Aircraft Inc. is developing the turboprop-powered Malibu Meridian and plans to achieve FAA certification in 2000. First flight is scheduled for August 1998, said Chuck Suma, president and chief executive officer of the company.
ENTERTAINER JOHN DENVER was killed Oct. 12 in the crash of a Rutan Aircraft Factory Long-EZ homebuilt aircraft. Witnesses saw the aircraft dive vertically into the ocean near Pacific Grove, Calif., from about 500 ft. altitude and 150 yd. offshore. The Long-EZ was registered in 1987. Denver, 53, took possession on Oct. 11 after the aircraft had been repainted at the Santa Maria, Calif., airport with his custom tail number, N555JD. After a familiarization flight with the owner, he flew it to Monterey Peninsula airport. Denver took off from Runway 28L at about 5:00 p.m.
Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet begrudgingly reveals that the U.S. spent $26.6 billion on all of its intelligence activities in the Fiscal year ended Sept. 30. But he vows never to disclose the budgets of individual agencies, such as the CIA and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Tenet's revelation comes under pressure from a lawsuit filed in May by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) after the CIA denied the independent organization's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the figure.
THE PENTAGON TEAM that brought warfighters and technologists together to develop the conceptual architecture for the Advanced Battlespace Information System (ABIS) received high praise from Boeing's T.K. Jones. Despite funds earmarked for an operational demonstration, the hard part will be raising $5 billion a year for the next decade to build ABIS, he said. The EIA study team suggests the Pentagon take money from the $50 billion it spends annually to buy and operate information-related systems.
Turkey has warned Russia that it may be excluded from bidding on defense projects if it proceeds with the sale of up to 150 S-300 PMUO1 air defense missiles to the Greek Cypriot government, as tensions mount between Greece and Turkey over the divided island.
Lufthansa Technik has begun shifting overhaul work from its Hamburg headquarters to its Ameco affiliate in Beijing. Ameco, a joint venture between the German airline and Air China, completed a D-level heavy maintenance check, strut modification and Section 41 overhaul of a Lufthansa Cargo 747-200 in 52 days last summer. A second 747 freighter is scheduled to arrive in Beijing later this year. Ameco's hangar is big enough for four 747s.
A pod containing an interferometric synthetic aperture radar is mounted under the wing of a U.S. Navy P-3 (below). Pioneered by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., the technology, called IFSAR, can produce high-resolution, three-dimensional terrain models through cloud cover, rain and darkness. The sensor relies on about 16 in. of separation between two antennas to provide the 3D effect, according to Tom Prevender, SAR program manager at Sandia.
