Robin Coackley has become an account manager for U.K.-based Envitia. He was an executive with Exelis and has been a member on the Geological Remote Sensing Group.
Kimberly Kerry, vice president-C4I systems for the Middle East and North America for Raytheon, is among the members of the board of directors named for Raytheon Atheeb Systems Ltd., the Saudi Arabia joint venture of the Raytheon Co. and Pannesma Co. Ltd.
An MD-83 operating on behalf of Air Algerie crashed in Mali on July 24. Contact was lost 50 min. after takeoff from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and the aircraft went down around 70 km (44 mi.) from the city of Gao, according to Air Algerie. Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita told Reuters on July 24 that wreckage was spotted between the northern towns of Aguelhoc and Kidal.
Todd Bitgood (see photo) has been promoted to manager of FlightSafety International’s Learning Center in Long Beach, California, from assistant manager of the St. Louis Learning Center. He succeeds Pete Nily, who has become a regional director of training operations.
Boeing is tackling previously undisclosed development issues with wiring bundles on the KC-46A tanker for the U.S. Air Force, but says the problems are “well understood” and will not cause significant delays to the pivotal defense program. The wiring issues have forced Boeing to redesign and reengineer harnesses throughout parts of the military derivative of the 767, and the additional work triggered a one-time $272 million second-quarter after-tax charge.
Bombardier is restructuring its aerospace unit and creating three stand-alone segments in a surprise move that includes the sudden “retirement” of Bombardier Aerospace President and Chief Operating Officer Guy Hachey (see photo). The Canadian transportation giant will be reorganized into a new aerostructures and engineering services segment and the existing divisions for commercial aircraft and business aircraft. The heads of all three businesses will report to Bombardier Inc. President and CEO Pierre Beaudoin “effective immediately,” the company said July 23.
The Inside Business Aviation column featuring the Corporate Angel Network in the July 14 issue (page 28) contained an erroneous web address for the organization. The correct address is: www.corpangelnetwork.org
T hough it was apparently a ground-based air defense system that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (see page 23), shorter-range man-portable air defense systems (Manpads) are still a top concern for the TSA. Administrator John Pistole lists the threat of Manpads to arriving and departing flights at foreign airports as among his top aviation security concerns. The U.S. has good control of airport perimeter security, but not all foreign airports have assessed the vulnerabilities of their airports, he says.
With attacks on Israel so intense that the FAA temporarily banned U.S. airline flights to Tel Aviv, the U.S. is looking to speed production of the Iron Dome system credited with protecting the Israeli populace from Hamas rocket strikes. Congress has already recommended doubling the administration’s $176 million request for Iron Dome, suggesting another $175 million to offset the costs of starting U.S. production of the system. Now Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has asked Congress for still more funding: $225 million to produce components for the Rafael system.
Taiwan is investigating the crash of a TransAsia Airways ATR 72 in weather that was bad but considered acceptable for the landing that the pilots were attempting. Of 58 people aboard, 48 died. The aircraft crashed short of the runway at Makong in the Penghu Islands at 7:30 p.m. local time July 23 after a flight from Kaohsiung. The pilots were making their second landing attempt. Although a typhoon had passed over Taiwan that day, weather reports showed that conditions on the Penghu Islands were quite suitable for landing, the Civil Aeronautics Administration told Reuters.
Jim Welch has been appointed chairman of the Louisville (Kentucky) Regional Airport Authority board of directors. He was vice chairman and has been succeeded by Phil Lynch. Jon Meyer has been reelected secretary-treasurer. Welch is vice chairman of the Brown-Forman Corp. and Lynch is its vice president-corporate communications. Meyer is partner/chairman of Jones, Nale and Mattingly, certified public accountants.
David Hewitt, executive vice president for safety of Wheels Up, has been named chairman of the Alexandria, Virginia-based Air Charter Safety Foundation. Greg Kinsella, president/CEO of Key Air, is the new vice chairman. Hewitt succeeds Jeff Baum, president/CEO of Wisconsin Aviation.
The Vietnamese navy is close to completing its first fleet of fixed-wing aircraft with the delivery of the final pair of Viking Air DHC-6-400 Guardian maritime patrol and utility aircraft.
The surface of Mars is the most ambitious target for human explorers in the foreseeable future, given the state of technology, funding and political will today, according to a U.S. National Research Council study team that examined the issue over the past year and a half.
