In an effort to improve regional airline safety, the FAA is offering an Advanced Qualification Program to regionals. AQP training, used mainly by major carriers, would enable regional pilots to obtain systematic training following their carrier's proficiency objectives, yet integrating cockpit resource management procedures. AQP training would aid in reducing pilot errors and improving performance.
In the wake of the TWA Flight 800 tragedy, leaders of countries represented at the recent G7 economic summit--including the U.S.--called for an international program to mark explosives. Officials of the International Civil Aviation Organization believe the organization's own efforts have been ignored. In 1991, the ICAO proposed a convention to require marking of explosives, in the wake of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Since then, only 23 of the required 35 nations have signed the legal instrument. The U.S. is not among the signatories.
Andrew Clarke has been appointed manager of air transport policy for the European Regional Airlines Assn. He was senior manager for strategy of British Airways.
AIRLINE PILOTS AT HOUSTON INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT now can receive automatic terminal information service (ATIS) digitally over their Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) data link in a newly commissioned service. By year-end, the FAA plans to provide D-ATIS at 56 additional airports as part of the agency's effort to add data link to voice communications between controllers and pilots.
Shankar Ghose has been appointed regional director for the U.S. and Canada of Air India, based in New York. He was deputy commercial director of marketing services, based in Bombay.
Despite high overhead costs, Japanese suppliers continue to win U.S. aerospace contracts. Kawasaki Heavy Industries will produce first-stage turbine blades for AlliedSignal's new 131-9 auxiliary power unit ( APU). The first delivery is scheduled for 1998. Kawasaki already produces the blades and eductor for the 131-9, which is used on the McDonnell Douglas MD-90. The APU is an option on the Airbus Industrie A320 family, and has been chosen for the upcoming ``next-generation'' Boeing 737 transports.
THE FIRST BOEING 767-BASED Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft is shown on the ramp at Boeing Field in Seattle. The aircraft, one of four 767-200s to be modified to the AWACS configuration and sold to Japan, will be delivered in 1998. The second aircraft will follow during the same year, with the remaining two deliveries scheduled for 1999. The aircraft will carry the same basic mission equipment as earlier Boeing 707-based AWACS versions. The 767 is powered by two General Electric CF6-80C2B6FA engines producing 61,500 lb. of thrust each.
Investigators are working to transform the debris of Trans World Airlines Flight 800 from a mass of confusing evidence into meaningful data that will allow them to isolate the critical forces involved in the Boeing 747's breakup more than a month ago. Teams from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and parties to the investigation must sort through an enormous amount of debris and perform considerable assembly of key sections before they can begin to analyze why the aircraft broke up and fell from 13,700 ft. into the Atlantic on July 17.
JAPAN'S MITSUBISHI HEAVY Industries and Canada's Bombardier Inc. are in discussions aimed at producing a 100-seat regional jet. Boeing also has been mentioned as a potential partner in the program. The new aircraft likely would be based on the wing developed for Bombardier's new Global Express ultra-long-range business jet, which Mitsubishi builds complete with control surfaces as a risk-sharing program partner. Bombardier said it has had discussions with a number of potential partners, but has not yet decided to produce the plane.
THE NASA/McDONNELL DOUGLAS X-36 drone is undergoing ground tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California, in preparation for a first flight in late August or early September. The 10.4-ft.-span drone will test the subsonic agility of a stealthy supersonic fighter configuration (AW&ST Mar. 25, p. 20). The X-36 was built at the company's St. Louis facility and arrived at Dryden on July 2.
U.S. AND VENEZUELAN aviation officials have agreed to continue air service between their two countries until Sept. 9, when the FAA will reevaluate Venezuela's compliance with international standards for safety oversight. Since November, Venezuelan airlines have been permitted to serve U.S. destinations, but are under a heightened state of surveillance.
A ``flexible'' cabin simulator facility--offering researchers the capability of testing multiple cabin configurations at one site--would advance aircraft evacuation research, according to a recent Flight Safety Foundation report. Research now is conducted at scattered sites on retired aircraft or on ``inflexible'' simulators that are capable of duplicating, at best, a limited number of aircraft types--thus slowing evacuation data-gathering.
Gary Super has been appointed Portland-based Western U.S. marketing director for American International Freight. He headed sales and marketing for the Evergreen Air Center.
Japan has completed the first flight of the tandem-seat Kawasaki OH-X light helicopter, the first rotorcraft developed by the Japanese with their own technology. The 16-min. flight on Aug. 6 was conducted by Kawasaki test pilots Yoshinori Inayama and Takayoshi Yuasa at the company's Nagoya facility next to the Gifu air base. The flight consisted of low-altitude and low-speed passes.
Alain M. Gaubert has been appointed secretary-general of Eurospace, the Paris-based European space industries association. He succeeds Yves Demerliac, who is retiring.
Al Krusz has been named director of Gulfstream maintenance training and Harry Houckes his successor as manager of the Savannah (Ga.) Learning Center of FlightSafety International. Houckes was manager of worldwide flight operations for the Mobil Oil Corp.
VALUJET INC., already under tremendous pressure to resume revenue operations, has until Sept. 30 to persuade lenders to waive loan covenants. Otherwise, the airline is likely to default on $162 million in aircraft-secured bank debt. The carrier plans to sell some of its 51 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 aircraft, which could fetch a potential $75 million and substantially reduce the outstanding bank debt.
Delta Air Lines earlier this month began offering live, in-flight DirecTV on one of its Boeing 767-200s, whichflies a variety of U.S. routes. The system consists of a mechanically steered, 30-in. plate antenna manufactured by Datron-Transco of Simi Valley, Calif. It is located on the top center fuselage just aft of the wing under a 30 X 50-in. faired radome. An antenna controller aims the antenna at DirecTV satellites based on cockpit-generated aircraft position data, according to Alan Pellegrini, managing director of direct broadcast systems for Hughes Avicom.
UNITED AIRLINES HAS CONFIRMED a $2.5-billion order for Boeing 747, 757 and 777 transports. Details of the sale are being withheld until negotiations for procurement of additional 737 or Airbus Industrie A319 narrow-body transports, worth about $600 million more, are completed. United officials said earlier this year they hope to order almost 100 new aircraft during the next five years for fleet replacement and expansion. The airline also holds options on 34 additional 777s, for which it was launch customer.
LITTON WILL SUPPLY the APR-39A(V)2 threat warning systems for U.S. Navy and Marine Corps fixed-wing transport aircraft and helicopters, including the Presidential VH-3 and VH-60. Systems also are intended for Marine AH-1W, UH-1N, MH-53, MV-22, CH-46 and KC-130, and Navy CH-53 and HH-60 helicopters. The APR-39 will serve as the controller for the electronic warfare suite on each platform, and has been integrated to work with radar, laser and missile approach warning sensors, depending on the aircraft suite.
Results of a recently completed industry study confirm what a growing number of aerospace/defense companies at all levels of the supply chain are discovering: contractors that adopt commercial manufacturing and sourcing practices are gaining a substantial competitive advantage over rivals. The findings, based on a factory benchmarking study examining 69 business units from 38 aerospace/defense companies, coincide with the Defense Dept.'s latest acquisition reform proposal (see p. 20).
Robert T. Delaney has been named business development manager for image acquisition systems for the Eastman Kodak Co.'s Commercial and Government Systems, Rochester, N.Y. He was director of international development for Itek Optical Systems.
