An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 apparently plunged 24,000 ft. into a swamp on the Argentina-Uruguay border, while avoiding thunderstorms, killing all 74 persons on board in a crash that could increase concern about air safety in Argentina.
Sikorsky is employing Boston-based Prescient Technologies' DesignQA software to provide design product assurance for the CAD/CAM models it is using in the S-92 Helibus development program. S-92 is a multinational medium-lift civil/military helicopter designed simultaneously on four continents. It is due to roll out early next year. . . . IBM and Dassault Systemes have introduced a Java-based web browser called CATWeb Navigator designed to offer more dynamic remote-viewing capabilities over the Internet for computer-aided design and manufacturing systems. . . .
NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency have led a large international contractor team for the Cassini/ Huygens mission. Aerospace industry and research facilities from 17 different countries and 33 different U.S. states are involved in the overall $3.3-billion project. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Lockheed Martin are the primary U.S. Cassini contractors, although dozens of other U.S. companies also participated. ESA is contributing about $500 million while the Italian Space Agency is devoting $160 million (see p. 82).
Both praise and scorn greeted President Clinton's use of the new line item veto last week to cut 13 programs, worth a total of $144 million, that Congress added to his Fiscal 1998 military spending request. Majority Republican lawmakers were split between those who hailed and those who denounced Clinton for cutting so little from the nearly $248-billion military appropriations budget, which Congress cleared late last month (AW&ST Oct. 6, p. 25).
Lockheed Martin and U.S. Air Force teams at Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg AFB and Denver are coordinating an unprecedented surge in Titan 4 launch operations. Teams at the three sites are working to launch three of the $400-million heavy boosters within the span of three weeks. And last week came close to launching two of the Titan 4s within only 30 hr. before weather scrubbed two countdowns.
Beginning next year, the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems plan to modify 39 Block 40 F-16C fighters with an improved data modem capable of providing pilots digitized video imagery of intended targets.
Officials of regional carrier American Eagle have applied for FAA approval to conduct non-precision instrument approaches into Santiago, Dominican Republic, beginning in December. All of the ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft operated to that city by AMR Corp.'s Executive Airlines at San Juan, Puerto Rico, have been equipped with UNS-1M navigation units featuring GPS. Eagle pilots flying the route from San Juan and Santiago have begun their training.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have patented a new software technique that can hide secret information in the electronic ``noise'' associated with the transmission of data and electronic images. Called ``data embedding,'' the method allows classified data to be stored and transferred in open transmissions and can serve as an ``electronic watermark'' to prevent the unauthorized manipulation of digital images and other information, according to Ted Handel, project leader.
A small ocean imaging satellite that was built under a unique public-private partnership has yielded its first images, and scientists are predicting that its continuous monitoring of the global biosphere will enable a better understanding of changes in the environment.
Galaxy Aerospace Corp. broke ground on Sept. 23 for a new headquarters complex located at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport. The 140,000-sq.-ft., $12-million facility is scheduled to be completed in September 1998, according to Brian E. Barents, president and chief executive officer of the company.
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.
